By Hal McCoy
For the Colorado Rockies, it was like actor Peter Finch’s line in the movie Network: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this any more.”
When Saturday afternoon’s game began in Coors Field, the Cincinnati Reds had beaten the hometown Rockies seven straight times on their home turf.
The Reds had beaten the Rockies 18 times in their last 23 meetings.
So it was enough is enough and the Rockies took it out on Reds starter Rhett Lowder — eight runs and 11 hits in just 2 1/3 innings on their way to a 10-3 romp.
The Rockies had lost five of their previous six games and scored a total of 14 runs, but they came out swinging haymakers at Lowder.
The Reds are now 15-22 in blowout games decided by five or more runs and the Rockies are 11-23.
And it was the 11th time the Reds have witnessed an opponent score 10 or more runs.
The Reds were stifled by Japanese-born pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano, known to his teammates as Tommy Sugar.
He came into the game with an 8-4 record, but a 4.80 earned run average. In his previous start againsgt Minnesota he gave up seven runs and eight hits in five innings.
But he silenced the Reds on three runs and six hits over 6 1/3 innings and had trouble only with Reds catcher Jose Trevino, who homered twice.
Sugano signed with the Baltimore Orioles in 2025 for $15 million, but when he went 10-10 the O’s released him and Colorado signed him for $5.1 million for this season.
Lowder was victimized by misfortune in the first inning that led to two runs.
Jake McCarthy swung at Lowder’s first pitch and lobbed one to shallow center field. Both center fielder Dane Lewis and shortstop Elly De La Cruz lost it in the sun and it plopped on the grass for a double.
With one out, rookie Cole Carrigg, lined one to left and JJ Bleday nearly made a diving catch. But when he hit the ground, the ball squirted out of his glove and Carrigg had a run-scoring double.
Carrigg then scored on TJ Rumfield’s line single to right, the first of four Rumfield hits that included a 456-foot two-run home run into the upper deck off Caleb Ferguson.
Lowder had two outs and a runner on third in the second inning, one out, one pitch away from a scoreless inning.
But McCarthy shocked everybody in Metropolitan Denver by dropping a two-out suicide squeeze bunt up the third base line. The Reds couldn’t even make a play on it and McCarthy had a run-scoring single.
The extremely aggressive Rockies kept swinging at first pitches and putting them in play. After McCarthy’s bunt, the Rockies punched four straight singles to put together a four-run inning and a 6-0 lead.
Edourd Julien led the third with a first-pitch double and with one out Ezequiel Tovar. 2 fprf 31 at the time, beat an infield single up the middle.
Julian Garcia replaced Lowder and the runners scored on a ground ball by McCarthy and a single by Mickey Moniak to make it 8-0 and both those runs were charged to Lowder’s ugly line.
Lowder took it like a man after the game as he addressed reporters.
“They were being ultra-aggressive and I just made too many pitches that they could hit and find holes,” he said, after his record dipped to 3-7.
“This is a tough place to pitch, everybody knows that,” he added. “The ball doesn’t do what it usually does. Still, I have to make better pitches than that.”
The Rockies were in early swing mode and seven batters put the ball in play for hits in the first two innings.
“They were so aggressive, swinging so early in the counts, but you want to stay aggressive, too, and stay ahead in the counts,” he added. “But I was a little too close to the edges.”
Lowder harped on the last pitch he made, the infield single by Tovar, who was 2 for 31 at the time.
“I had him 0-and-2, but I allowed him to put it in play,” he said. “He didn’t hit it hard, it was a ground ball, but I needed to expand a little bit more there. Even if he takes it, you give yourself a little better chance to get a strikeout. But you bring it back that close to the zone, they are going to be able to put it in play.”
And the Rockies put it in play over and over and over again.
What about having two outs and one on in the second only to have McCarthy drop the suicide bunt, followed by four straight hits and four runs.
“Yeah, that was frustrating,” he said. “I got the two outs, then he did a good job of getting the bunt down. And they stayed agressive, y’know.
The Rockies were 8 for 14 with runners in scoring position while the Reds had only five opportunities and produced once.
Trevino homered in the third when it was 6-0 and he homered in the fifth when it was 8-1.
The Reds’ other run came in the seventh, an inning started by Sagano, who coaxed 10 ground ball outs with his diving cutter.
With one out, Noelvi Marte doubled and Sagano was finished. Relief pitcher Juan Mejia walked Dane Myers, putting runners on second and first with one out.
With two outs, Marte stole third, but Myers remained anchored at first. When pinch-hitter Nathaniel Lowe singled, Marte scored and Myers would have had he stolen second while Marte stole third.
But it didn’t really matter. The Reds were down 10-2 at the time.
The Reds haven’t won a series since late June, losing four straight, but they have an opportunity to take two of three if Hunter Greene can stop the Rockies Sunday afternoon.