The Rockies blew a 5-2 lead on June 11 as the Giants scored 4 in the 9th to win 6-5. See how a bullpen meltdown featuring a Yastrzemski hit led to a loss.
StatPro MLB Beat Reporter
For eight innings, it felt different. For eight innings, the Colorado Rockies looked poised to secure a much-needed win against a division rival. But this is the 2025 season, and no lead is safe. A comfortable 5-2 advantage evaporated in a disastrous top of the ninth, as the bullpen imploded and the San Francisco Giants stormed back for four runs to steal a 6-5 victory at a stunned Coors Field.
Up 5-2 heading into the ninth, the Rockies allowed four runs on a homer, three walks, a sacrifice fly, and two singles to lose 6-5.
The nightmare began with a Casey Schmitt home run that cut the lead to 5-3. What followed was a complete loss of command and composure. Three consecutive walks loaded the bases with no outs, setting the stage for the inevitable. A sacrifice fly by Heliot Ramos made it a one-run game. After an infield single from Wilmer Flores tied it, Mike Yastrzemski delivered the final, decisive blow with a go-ahead RBI single. What should have been a routine save turned into a showcase of everything wrong with the 2025 Rockies, dropping them to a league-worst 12-54.
The bullpen's failure overshadowed a decent, if not spectacular, day for the rest of the team. Starter Kyle Freeland battled through 5.2 innings, matching his Giants counterpart Robbie Ray with three earned runs allowed. The offense, ranked 29th in MLB, showed flickers of life, powered by another strong performance from Nick Martini, who hit two homers and drove in four. Yet, it wasn't enough. The team's inability to tack on more runs against Ray and the Giants' bullpen left the door open for the late-game disaster, a familiar story for a team that has now hit the team total under in 34 of its last 54 games.
While the major league club provides daily heartache, the future offers a glimmer of hope. The organization's farm system is stocked with promising sluggers who could one day reverse the team's fortunes. 2024's No. 3 overall pick, outfielder Charlie Condon, is tearing it up, while Robert Calaz, the Arizona Complex League's MVP and Triple Crown winner, looks like a future star. With Yanquiel Fernandez also making waves at Double-A, the talent pipeline is the one area where the Rockies are showing signs of life.
The chaos on the field is mirrored by an unusual situation in the dugout. The club has been splitting managerial duties between veteran Bud Black (7-33) and Warren Schaeffer (5-20). This unorthodox arrangement speaks volumes about the front office's search for answers and accountability in a season that has spiraled out of control. It's a sign of instability that does little to inspire confidence that a turnaround is imminent at the major league level.
It's another brutal loss in a season full of them, and it's hard to find silver linings in a collapse of this magnitude. The ninth-inning meltdown underscores the deep-seated issues plaguing this club from the bullpen to the manager's office. For fans, the focus must shift from the daily results at Coors Field to the box scores in Hartford and Spokane. The future, with prospects like Charlie Condon and Robert Calaz, is the only compelling story left in a season that's otherwise a lost cause. The pain is real now, but hope is brewing in the farm system.
