DENVER — With a new hitting coach, mile-high altitude and an opposing starter with a 6.40 ERA working in their favor, the Yankees seemed primed for an offensive outburst at Coors Field on Friday.
They scored two runs instead.
Those came off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton, who laced a two-run, 455-foot homer off Colorado lefty Austin Gomber in the first inning. The blast started the Sean Casey era and the second half with a bang, but the tied-for-last-place Yankees didn’t score again in a 7-2 loss to the last-place Rockies, who entered the game with the worst ERA in the National League.
The Yankees had a chance to tack on more runs in the sixth, when Stanton led off with a bloop double. But Anthony Rizzo, Harrison Bader and Josh Donaldson all recorded outs as the Yankees’ offense continued to sputter like it did for much of the first half.
Carlos Rodón, meanwhile, came up short in his second start for the Yankees. The southpaw totaled four hits, four earned runs, one homer, two walks and six strikeouts over five innings and 88 pitches.
While all of Rodón’s runs were earned, Isiah Kiner-Falefa didn’t help the pitcher out in the second inning when Brenton Doyle lined a ball to left with two runners in scoring position and the Yankees up, 2-1. Kiner-Falefa’s first step was in, but the rope sailed over his head and gave the Rockies a 3-2 lead.
The ball had a 70% catch probability, according to Statcast.
The Rockies scored their first run on an Ezequiel Tovar single in the second, while former Blue Jay Randal Grichuk continued his Yankee-killing ways with a homer off Rodón in the fourth.
Kris Bryant added a dagger in the seventh when he took Michael King deep to left for a two-run homer, while Nolan Jones piled on with a 469-foot solo shot off Albert Abreu in the eighth.
The Yankees will try to rebound from the loss when Clarke Schmidt takes the mound on Saturday. Connor Seabold will start for the Rockies, giving the Bombers another chance to breakout against a pitcher with an ERA well over 6.00.
And if Seabold doesn’t do the trick, the Yankees will get a crack at Chase Anderson on Sunday. His ERA is closer to 7.00.
Gerrit Cole, fresh off an All-Star start, will pitch the series finale for New York.
