ARLINGTON -- C.J. Cron -- the Rockies’ hottest hitter and a strong candidate for the National League Player of the Month -- had already homered Tuesday night. But not even he could keep alive the Rockies’ chance at their first winning road trip of this odd 2021 season.
Cron grounded out with two on to end the eighth, extinguishing the late rally in the 4-3 loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field.
Cron, whose 34 RBIs this month are the second most in club history for August (Nolan Arenado drove in 36 in 2016), almost had the big hit. It took a sliding play from second baseman Nick Solak to prevent the tying run from scoring. But the Rockies fell short, en route to more road frustration.
The Rockies, who also had homers from Sam Hilliard in the third inning and Ryan McMahon immediately after Cron’s homer in the seventh, fell to 3-5 on a road trip that looked quite promising before the club arrived in Arlington. With the nine-game trip ending Wednesday, the Rockies are 17-50 away from Coors Field, with a 3-3 trip to Arizona and San Diego before the All-Star break serving as the high-water mark.
The Rockies took two of three during a weekend series with the ever-contending Dodgers. But the first two games of the three against the Rangers -- safely tucked in last place in the American League West -- followed a maddening pattern.
“We had a chance there with Cronie -- pretty good piece of hitting, going the other way with a hard grounder,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Solak made a nice play, but we just couldn’t string together enough baserunners and get a big knock. We’ve got to get back to it tomorrow and increase our on-base totals. Knocks [were] just hard to come by these first two games.”
Starting pitching problems also have beset the Rockies in Texas.
After Rockies ace pitcher Germán Márquez continued his slump by giving up three homers in Monday’s 4-3 loss, lefty Austin Gomber yielded two homers and, just as damaging, six walks in just 4 1/3 innings. After walking just five in 61 1/3 innings from May 1 to July 21, Gomber has walked 17 in his last 31 frames.
“I'm grinding a little bit right now, trying to figure it out,” said Gomber, who yielded homers to Nathaniel Lowe and Leody Taveras. “We're doing the best we can. I don't feel like I'm far off. It wasn't like I was spraying all over the place. The majority of the walks were long at-bats, just missing on a three-two pitch. And that’s how the game goes sometimes."
Couple the pitching issues with an offense that managed just one hit against the debuting A.J. Alexy on Monday, and three hits in 6 2/3 innings against Jordan Lyles on Tuesday, and it was a recipe for another losing road trip.
But the homecomings have been nice. Irving, Texas, native Trevor Story homered twice on Monday, and Hilliard -- a Mansfield, Texas, product -- went deep against Lyles on Tuesday.
“It was definitely a lot of fun,” Hilliard said. “It was my first homer in the state of Texas in the big leagues. I haven’t had much success here at this point in my career.
“It felt good to get one tonight and run around those bases, finally, for the first time in front of my family in Texas. I couldn’t hear anything, but I know they were going crazy. It was an awesome feeling.”