With Goodman raking, but Rox reeling, backstop focused on bigger picture

DETROIT – Maybe by the time this story posts, Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman can take a moment to enjoy his accomplishment – his 38th homer of the season and MLB-leading 23rd on the road.

Maybe.

In some ways, the ending of Saturday afternoon’s 11-7 loss at Comerica Park – a seven-run Tigers eighth inning -- was unusual. It was set in motion by reliever Jaden Hill’s high-speed implosion: five runs on four hits and a walk without recording an out – in 12 pitches. But while the conclusion was, um, vivid, there is a same ol’ same ol’ quality to the Rockies’ sixth straight loss.

The short story was it was a winnable game with clear reasons why it was not won. Goodman had said after Friday night’s 6-2 loss, “At some point, it’s going to break out. You have to believe that, right?”

Not Saturday.

But the homer was a legit accomplishment. Goodman’s 23 road homers are second in Rockies history to the 29 that Hall of Famer Larry Walker hit away from Coors Field in his National League Most Valuable Player season of 1997. His 38 homers are the most for an NL catcher since Javy Lopez’s 43 in 2003, and the most for a Rockies player since Nolan Arenado hit 41 in 2019.

“I try not to [enjoy] in the game, but maybe after the game, or tonight or something, I’ll think about it a little more,” Goodman said. “But I’m just like all of us. I want us to be good. All of us want to win ballgames, so it’s trying to put that foot forward and really keep moving in the right direction.

“I think we will. It’s just going to take some time.”

Goodman’s three-run shot brought a 3-0 lead in the third, and Ezequiel Tovar’s 11th homer of the season led off the eighth and gave the Rockies a 7-4 lead. But Rockies pitchers, starting with Tanner Gordon’s four-inning start, didn’t retire the leadoff man in any inning.

The most impressive part of Goodman’s season is he carries the successes and struggles of his pitchers.

Gordon, who had 0-2 and 1-2 counts to 14 of the 22 batters he faced but still struggled, gave up four runs. While Juan Mejia and Brennan Bernardino (who entered with no outs and two on but finished out the sixth unscathed) escaped their self-induced trouble, Hill fell into trouble so quickly that closer Jordan Romano was called upon an inning early. Romano entered and was charged with a pitch timer violation before the first pitch of his bases-loaded walk to Spencer Torkelson for the tying run, and he walked Ben Malgeri for the fall-behind run before fully entering survival mode.

“I mean, maybe some of it is execution,” Goodman said. “Some of it might be me calling pitches. Some of it could be any of those things. It’s something we’ve got to figure out. I like the way some of the guys today threw after they had a guy on – they were battling. The end of the game was tough. It happens sometimes.”

At times during the second half, the plus-side (when the team is ahead) bullpen has been dependable. But nothing has gone swimmingly during a current 5-19 stretch. In too many games, solid accomplishments – like Goodman’s homer and three-hit days from Connor Norby and TJ Rumfield – end up footnotes that manager Warren Schaeffer has to use to keep heads up.

“That’s right where you want to be – you want to have a three-run lead going into the eighth inning and have Jaden and Jordan ready to close the game down,” the skipper said. “Hopefully, that exact same scenario comes up tomorrow.

“There’s positives all through this game.”

History assigns the Rockies a mirthless goal – win eight of the season’s final 14 games to avoid their fourth straight season of at least 100 losses. For those like Goodman who are living it, counting L’s isn’t the point.

Feeling the anger and feeding the hope is.

“You have to look at both sides of it,” Goodman said. “Right now, in the moment after the game, you should be pissed off. We’ve lost a lot of close ballgames. We’re a better team than our record shows, and we’re just struggling with the end of the game. But you look at the positives and the bad stuff.

“You learn from the bad stuff and celebrate the little wins, or whatever you want to call it. … It’s not always focusing on the negative stuff.”