Rockies lose to Tigers in 10 innings, slide to a 6-29 record

Patrick Saunders, The Detroit News on May 8, 2025

Published in Baseball

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This one’s going to leave a mark. And that’s saying something considering that the Rockies now own a 6-29 record.

The Tigers beat them 8-6 in 10 innings on Wednesday night at Coors Field. Spencer Torkelson drove a double off closer Zach Agnos into the right-center gap to score ghost runner Riley Greene.

Agnos got the next two hitters, but then came Colorado’s Keystone Cops moment. Trey Sweeny hit a flyball to shallow left, where left fielder Jordan Beck and shortstop Alan Trejo converged. There was confusion and a near collision, and the ball glanced off Beck’s glove for an error.

It was perhaps the most crushing loss in the Rockies’ difficult season, especially considering that four relievers combined to blank Detroit for five innings.

Touting the best relief corps in the American League, the Tigers entered the night with the AL’s best record. But the Rockies went toe-to-toe with them.

And Colorado was on the doorstep of a victory in both the eighth and ninth innings. In the eighth, it loaded the bases against right-hander Tommy Kahnle, who once briefly pitched for the Rockies. Brenton Doyle ripped Kahnle’s 2-2 changeup — straight into the glove of third baseman Zach McInstry.

In the ninth, McMahon ripped an opposite-field, one-out double to left-center off Will Vest, McMahon’s fourth hit of the game. But Vest struck out Hunter Goodman and pinch-hitter Kyle Framer, leaving McMahon stranded.

The game was billed as a battle between two of the majors’ most promising young pitchers: Tigers 22-year-old rookie right-hander Jackson Jobe and Rockies 23-year-old righty Chase Dollander. Neither starter stuck around very long, and the game turned into a battle of the bullpens.

Rookie reliever Seth Halvorsen rescued the Rockies in the seventh. Detroit put two on against lefty Scott Alexander with a leadoff double by Gleyber Torres and a one-out walk by Riley Greene. Enter Halvorsen, who struck out the dangerous Torkelson, walked McKinstry to load the bases, and then struck out Dillon Dingler with a wicked 2-2 slider.

Two big swings powered the Rockies early.

McMahon, emerging from the worst slump of his career, hit a 436-foot, two-run homer to center in the first inning to give Colorado a 2-0 lead. McMahon mashed Jobe’s 2-1 slider.

In the third, McMahon drew a leadoff walk and jogged home on Michael Toglia’s moonshot homer to right off Jobe. Toglia’s fourth homer put Colorado in front, 5-3.

Dollander blanked the Tigers for the first two innings, but his command went from sketchy to haywire in the third and fourth. The right-hander had to leave his last start early because of a bleeding, cracked fingernail on the middle finger of his pitching hand. That same issue might have cropped up Wednesday night.

Dollander walked Dingler to open the third, followed by a looping double down the left-field line by Trey Sweeny and a two-run single up the middle by Javier Baez. A single by Kerry Carpenter and a sacrifice fly by Torres tied the game, 3-3.

Dollander’s fourth inning was messy. He walked Zach McMinstry, plunked Dingler and walked Sweeny to pack the bases. Baez followed with a carbon-copy two-run single up the middle to put the Tigers ahead, 6-5.

Dollander’s six-run, five-hit, three-plus inning night left him with a 7.71 ERA after his first six big-league starts. He walked three and didn’t register any strikeouts.

Jobe pitched 3 2/3 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits, including the two homers. He walked one and fanned two.

The teams finish up their three-game series on Thursday with a traditional doubleheader.