Rockies, hurt by poor defense, lose to Reds, limp into All-Star break 22-74

The Rockies limped into the All-Star break in altogether fitting fashion Poor defense and a failure to deliver key hits two characteristics that have plagued the club throughout its historically bad first half again cost Colorado on Sunday in a - loss to the Reds at Great American Ball Park The Reds hanging on to playoff hopes improved to - More significantly manager Terry Francona got his th career win becoming just the th manager to reach the -win milestone The Rockies go on vacation carrying the baggage of a - record Colorado s losses before the All-Star break are the bulk since the year of the first All-Star Battle Colorado surpassed the White Sox who were - at the break The Rockies killer mistake came in the fifth With the bases loaded and two outs Noelvi Marte hit a routine chopper to rookie shortstop Ryan Ritter but Ritter fumbled the ball and TJ Friedl scored from third giving the Reds a - lead Cincinnati tacked on a bonus run in the seventh on Spencer Steer s RBI single off reliever Zach Agnos All-Star shortstop Elly De La Cruz led off the inning with a double and advanced to third when Rockies second baseman Kyle Farmer committed another error The Rockies errors are the bulk in the majors and their fielding percentage is the worst The Rockies had seven hits but hit for with runners in scoring position and left eight men stranded In their - walk-off loss to Cincy on Saturday night the Rockies were for with runners in scoring position On Sunday Colorado s two runs came in the third against Reds right-hander Nick Martinez Farmer and Austin Nola opened the inning with back-to-back singles and Mickey Moniak came through with a two-out two-run single But Colorado s offense sputtered from there Colorado lefty starter Austin Gomber did his job though he needed pitches to get through innings Friedl led off the Reds first inning with a homer to right on Gomber s belt-high - fastball But Gomber settled in and finished with a decent line three runs two earned on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts Related Articles Rockies Journal Drafting Ethan Holliday is a baseball decision not a sentimental journey Ethan Holliday could well be best athlete available when Rockies pick fourth on Sunday Rockies waste multiple scoring chances lose in walk-off fashion to Reds Grading The Week Are Rockies Ryan McMahon Jake Bird blowing their best chance to escape Coors Field nightmare Rockies draft-and-development philosophy has serious flaws Here s why Gomber - ERA deserved a better fate in the third inning He gave up a one-out walk to Friedl and made a good pitch to Matt McClain who hit a shallow fly to left but rookie Yanquiel Fernandez made a poor break on the ball and McClain got a cheap single Gomber got the dangerous De La Cruz to ground into a fielder s choice but Austin Hayes drove an RBI single up the middle to sum Friedl tying the event - The Rockies on pace to set a modern era record with losses are off until Friday when they host the Twins at Coors Field Want more Rockies news Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis