CINCINNATI — The Rockies’ June swoon is in full bloom.
Lefty Austin Gomber served up three more home runs in a bitter 5-4 loss to the Reds on Monday night, the Rockies’ sixth consecutive defeat.
The Rockies had a chance to rally in the ninth when Mike Moustakas and Jurickson Profar delivered back-to-back singles off Reds closer Alex Diaz. But Diaz struck out Randal Grichuk and Ryan McMahon and got Elias Diaz to ground out to shortstop Spencer Steer for his 19th save.
Decimated by injuries, plagued by terrible starting pitching, and getting erratic at-bats from players getting their first taste of the big leagues, the Rockies fell to 5-13 this month.
The latest defeat came on a night when Great American Ballpark threw a welcome-home party for Cincy icon Joey Votto and as the red-hot Reds won their ninth consecutive game, the longest active winning streak in the majors and their longest since a 10-game winning streak from July 19-29, 2012.
The 39-year-old first baseman, making his 2023 debut after returning from surgeries last August to repair his left biceps and torn left rotator cuff, responded with a solo home run in his second at-bat and then delivered a go-ahead, two-run single in the sixth off of reliever Jake Bird to put the Reds in front, 5-4.
Votto made a curtain call after his home run and was serenaded with chants of “Joey! Joey!” after his clutch single.
The night did not begin well for Gomber in this homer haven on the banks of the Ohio River. Kevin Newman hit Gomber’s third pitch of the game over the center-field wall.
Then Nick Senzel hit a two-out solo blast to center in the second. Great American really started rocking when Votto launched Gomber’s first pitch of the fifth inning into the right-field seats.
Colorado has now given up 15 home runs over five consecutive road games (in the same road trip) for the first time in franchise history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Votto’s homer gave the Reds a 3-1 lead, the Rockies’ lone run coming on Elias Diaz’s solo homer in the fourth off lefty Brandon Williamson.
Colorado’s three-run sixth inning gave it a short-lived 4-3 lead. The Rockies sent nine men to the plate and got RBI singles from Diaz and Jorge Alfaro. Mike Moustakas, the former Reds player, drew a pinch-hit walk to force in another run.
The Rockies had a chance to put up a crooked number in the sixth but rookies Brenton Doyle and Coco Montes both struck out with the bases loaded.
