Rockies air it out after 'a dang knife to the heart' of a loss

DENVER -- Prior to Monday night’s 2-1 loss to the Orioles at Coors Field, Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer was asked if it would be significant for his rebuilding club to avoid 100 losses for the fourth consecutive year -- especially since Colorado would become only the fifth team in MLB history to have such an ignominious streak.

While he said there is little practical difference in the grand scheme of things between 99 losses and 100, Schaeffer does believe the distinction is important.

“I’m publicly on record last year saying, ‘What’s the difference between 99 and 100 losses?’” Schaeffer said. “But there is something to that for the organization. Everybody [externally] talks about it incessantly -- I mean, you can decide where you put your importance on that.

"But we have lost 100 games three years in a row, so it’s a real thing. We want to win as many games as we can this year, and we’re going to try to.”

About seven hours later, after a game that was delayed an hour and 38 minutes by rain after the fifth inning, Schaeffer’s pregame statement echoed even louder.

Trailing Baltimore by a run with a runner at second and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Rockies leadoff man Jake McCarthy smashed a ball deep to center field. Orioles center fielder Colton Cowser turned and sprinted back, leaped at the fence and robbed McCarthy of what would have been a walk-off homer.

As the Orioles’ imminent dejection flipped to incredulous jubilation in an instant, McCarthy -- who by this point was rounding second base -- was stunned. As were the rest of the Rockies, who, despite heading for a fifth straight last-place finish in the National League West, feel the sting of such a defeat because they expect to win a game like that.

“This isn’t like we’re counting down the days until the end of the season,” said McCarthy, whom the Rockies acquired in an offseason trade with D-backs and who has been one of the club’s best offensive performers in 2026. “We want to improve. We have a young team and I think we want to take momentum into what we’re building next season and in the future seasons.”

It was another reference point in a season of change for the franchise. It began with a major shakeup in the front office this past offseason and has progressed through signs of improvement and indications that there is still a long way to go.

Add Monday’s outcome to the frustrating loss pile. Or perhaps it’s better to create a new pile for this one, one that you hope doesn’t become any taller.

“Listen, four walks in the seventh -- not good, obviously,” Schaeffer said. “ … That’s a great play to end the game. Jake, just a heck of a swing in a big moment. Three more inches, we win. But we lose.

"We lose. And we’re going to come up tomorrow and try to win that ballgame.”

With that, Schaeffer abruptly got up and left the postgame press conference, leaving the air thick with frustration following a painful loss.

The silver lining on Monday, though faint, was starter Tanner Gordon's outing. He went five innings and gave up one run on three hits, walking one and striking out three on 60 pitches (40 strikes).

Had it not been for the skies opening above the ballpark prior to the top of the sixth, Gordon certainly would have had an opportunity to go deeper into the contest. Over his last two starts, the 28-year-old right-hander has yielded two runs over 12 innings (1.50 ERA).

Left fielder Jordan Beck has hit safely in each of his past five starts after driving in the Rockies’ only run Monday with a fourth-inning single. He’s batting .438 over that span.

But as Schaeffer has alluded to before, the Rockies aren’t looking for a consolation prize. There is no column for moral victories in the standings.

Yes, Schaeffer’s club is 52-86 after losing for the 12th time in 14 games and for the 10th consecutive time at home -- a franchise record. But if a game like this doesn’t hurt, what does that say of the future?

The smoldering undertone of his comments after Monday’s game suggests that this one did hurt … bad. Schaeffer used vivid language in an effort to describe the feeling while it was still raw:

"It’s like a dang knife to the heart.”