WASHINGTON -- With the scare of landing awkwardly on his left wrist and having to leave Monday night’s 13-3 loss to the Nationals behind him, Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar could muster a bemused smile.
Tovar left before the sixth inning at Nationals Park and was diagnosed with a strained left wrist that isn’t expected to sideline him for an extended period. He sustained the injury while diving -- and nearly corralling -- a soft line drive from Jacob Young to open the bottom of the fifth.
“I told Doogie [head athletic trainer/director of medical operations Keith Dugger], the second time in three days I did the same thing,” Tovar said. “Same wrist, getting stuck in the grass like that.”
What happened after Tovar’s play, however, is sticking in the craw of the Rockies, who can add poor defense to the list of reasons for their seven-game losing streak that began with an 0-6 combined homestand against the Dodgers and Guardians.
A home run by Willi Castro (extending his career high to 15 homers) to open the top of the fourth and another by Tovar (his 10th during a season he has struggled to a .209 batting average) to lead off the top of the fifth had given the Rockies and starter Ryan Feltner a 2-0 lead. But after Tovar nearly made a diving catch, Colorado unraveled defensively.
Castro’s wild throw from third base after fielding Nasim Nuñez’s sacrifice-bunt attempt let two runs score. Later in the frame, the Nationals scored their fifth run when Daylen Lile stole third -- the Nats’ second steal of the inning -- and trotted home when catcher Brett Sullivan’s throw sailed into left field. By the end of the inning, a 2-0 lead had become a 5-2 deficit.
Feltner walked two batters in the first and the leadoff man of the second, but held the Nats without a run or a hit through the first four frames. But he faltered after the defense flailed behind him, and finished with seven runs (five earned) and six hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Leaky defense is a vexing problem. During the seven-game skid, the Rockies have finished four contests with two errors. For much of this season, the Rockies have cut down on the defensive miscues that accompanied last year's MLB-worst 43-119 finish. But Monday's defensive breakdown, especially with the offense struggling to capitalize on scoring opportunities, provided an unwelcome flashback.
“We’ve got to take care of the baseball better than that,” said manager Warren Schaeffer, who worked with standout Rockies fielders in the Minors and as third-base coach/infield instructor before taking over the Major League club last May. “That was an inning that got out of control. This is the big leagues. We need to play better than that.
“Felt, aside from the three walks the first time through, threw the ball really well. Up until that point [the hit Tovar nearly saved and the messy play afterward], he didn’t have a hit. Then the two soft hits, then the E5 on the bunt kind of spiraled things out of control after that.”
The sloppiness led to Schaeffer resorting to Troy Johnston, a corner bat, for his second pitching outing in a week. Sullivan has pitched seven times. The Rockies have now used a position player to pitch nine times this season, matching the MLB-high total set over the entire 2025 regular season by the Dodgers, who went on to win the World Series.
At 50-81, the Rockies are one loss away from clinching a franchise-record eighth consecutive losing season. They will not have the same happy ending as the Dodgers.
A 2024 Gold Glove Award winner, Tovar included himself among those who need to be better defensively.
“It’s just baseball,” Tovar said. “We don’t want to make errors. We want to help the team as best we can.”