DENVER -- Alan Trejo watched his double bounce the wrong way off the top of the left-field wall at Coors Field on Monday night. Then he winced like a man who has been through it all, yet couldn’t believe his and the Rockies’ ridiculous fourth-inning misfortune.
Trejo has been back with the Rockies for just two games during this Purple Pratfall of 2025. Monday night’s 6-3 loss to the Braves in cold air and biting winds at Coors Field dropped the Rockies to 4-24, which tied them with the 1936 St. Louis Browns for the third-worst 28-game start since 1900. The 1988 Orioles and 2003 Tigers were a game worse at this point.
However, all of Trejo’s 176 Major League appearances since his 2021 debut have come with the club, so he is familiar with tough recent years. As Trejo’s expression showed, even happy occurrences like a two-bagger arrive as a Trojan Horse packed with pain these days.
Here’s how it started:
• The Rockies gained a 3-0 first-inning lead on Hunter Goodman’s three-run shot for his fifth homer this season. Solid, patient, veteran Braves hitting against Rockies starting pitcher Ryan Feltner in the third cut the difference to 3-2.
• In the top of the fourth, the Braves’ Michael Harris II beat a potential inning-ending double play and stole second to set some weirdness in motion.
• Eli White pounded a Feltner pitch into the ground four feet from the plate and it went far enough for White to beat catcher Jacob Stallings’ throw. The hit moved Harris to third.
• The next hitter, Nick Allen, pounded another Feltner pitch into the dirt three feet away before the ball rolled toward first base. But Stallings had to cover the plate, and Feltner -- who pitched through back spasms and soreness, and felt the pain grab on fielding plays -- had nowhere to throw. Harris scored, and the game was tied at 3.
Here’s how it got worse:
• Mickey Moniak singled off Braves starter Bryce Elder to open the Rockies’ fourth. On a steal attempt, he beat catcher Sean Murphy’s throw. But Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies kept his glove on Moniak’s leg -- as the runner’s momentum lifted him off the back and out of safety.
• Trejo followed by driving Elder’s pitch to left field. For those who like metrics, even if they don’t mean a thing, Trejo’s hit left the bat at 102.7 mph, went 393 feet and ascended at a desirable 37 degree launch angle. If you are wondering, the Braves’ hits that led to a run had respective launch angles of minus-73 degrees and minus-65 degrees. But they counted.
• Trejo’s didn’t count for anything other than his stat sheet, because Adael Amador popped to shortstop to end the Rockies’ threat. Harris’ two-run double in the fifth hurtled the Rockies toward their 15th loss in the last 16 games.
As unfortunate sequences have gone this season, the fourth inning Monday was one of them.
“You know what I’m going to say: That’s baseball,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Paper cuts there, some grenades sort of just thrown out into the shallow outfield.”
Feltner, whose start was moved from Sunday to Monday because of back soreness, gave up 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings. But the gamebreaker from Harris, on a hanging breaking ball because Feltner’s fastball had run out of steam, was more solid than most of the hits.
“I talk about things that I can control after outings -- swings and misses, weak contact, throwing strikes -- and I feel like I did all those things today,” Feltner said. “So I’m relatively happy with that, and upset with the result.”
But the lack of serendipity wasn’t fully to blame.
The Goodman homer and two doubles plus a hard-hit ball that ended up an error on Braves left fielder Alex Verdugo marked the extent of the Rockies’ offense. The team could have laughed about the fourth-inning weirdness had they done anything after Beck’s leadoff double and Ryan McMahon’s third walk of the game in the eighth, against former Rockies reliever Pierce Johnson.
However, Goodman flied to right, Michael Toglia (who has cut down on his K rate) swung over a Johnson slider to strike out, and Moniak fouled out.
“The only thing I can say is we’re taking some bigger swings from lesser service-time players when it gets a little critical,” Black said. “These are learning moments for young players. When the pressure gets a little higher, they seem to try a little harder, the swing gets a little bit longer, the effort level seems to increase, and it affects the swing.”
Right now, even the Rockies’ best swings have no effect on the result.