Rockies score 3 runs in 11th inning to take series from Orioles

DENVER — The soft, opposite-field single from Brett Sullivan was all the Rockies needed in that moment. Colorado scored three runs in the bottom of the 11th against left-hander Grant Wolfram to beat the Orioles, 6-5, in walk-off fashion.

Baltimore didn’t play at a high enough level to feel robbed here. In fact, the Orioles were probably fortunate not to be swept in Colorado. It means they fall to 68-70 and they finished their nine-game, three-city road trip with a series loss. Despite six wins from those nine games, the way this ended against one of baseball’s bottom dwellers appears to be a blow.

The Orioles scored twice in the top of the 11th through singles from Samuel Basallo and Blaze Alexander, but Wolfram ran into trouble immediately in the bottom half. TJ Rumfield drove in the automatic runner.

Then Adael Amador hit a ground-rule double with two outs that split the left-center gap. It sent Baltimore’s outfielders racing in this massive expanse of grass at Coors Field. And then Amador’s knock bounced up and over the fence.

Had the ball stayed in play, the Rockies likely would have tied the game. Rumfield was racing around the bags from first and looked destined to score. Instead, the ground-rule double meant Rumfield had to stop at third.

It all worked out for Colorado. Sullivan came through with his own two-out knock to win it.

There were other issues, such as the baserunning decision from Jackson Holliday in the 10th. The ground ball, a bouncer to the shortstop, was in front of him to begin extra innings. Holliday, the automatic runner beginning on second base, tried to force the issue.

He was out at third.

The aggressive baserunning decision at the onset of extra innings proved a costly one. It struck down a runner in scoring position immediately, and the Orioles wound up not scoring in the top half of the frame.

Still, left-hander Josh Walker and right-hander Alex Hoppe ensured Colorado didn’t score in the bottom of the 10th, and that allowed the Orioles another chance.

And in the ninth the Orioles were one out away from a win.

Baltimore could breathe a sigh of relief in the ninth inning after what had the distance to be a game-tying home run from Hunter Goodman proved foul. The catcher demolished a pitch from right-hander Andrew Kittredge, but the call on the field was a foul ball. It was an eerily similar moment to Pete Alonso’s foul homer last month — only this one went in the Orioles’ favor.

But that sigh of relief soon turned into a groan. With two outs, Cole Carrigg came about a foot away from tying the game himself. He powered a double off the wall in left-center. And Kittredge threw straight sliders to the next batter. Zac Veen swung through the first for a strike. The next slider hung in the zone for Veen.

He crushed it for a game-tying double that hung a blown save on Kittredge.

The Orioles scored seven runs in the first 27 innings of this series, which leaves the margin of error slim for the pitchers. Still, Colton Cowser bailed out Kittredge on Monday night with the greatest catch of his life to pull back what would’ve been a walk-off, two-run home run. There was no chance to bail out the right-hander Wednesday.

Before that breakdown in the ninth, the Orioles benefited from a stellar pitching display from one of their key starters.

The vocal Orioles contingent tinting Coors Field orange stood to cheer Trevor Rogers off the mound one more time. The left-hander earned it for his 6 2/3 innings that included a career-high 11 strikeouts.

In what amounted to another pitchers’ duel — a surprising construct, considering the way the ball usually sprays around the field here at altitude — Rogers outdueled former Oriole Tomoyuki Sugano.

Luis Robert Jr., claimed off waivers Monday and activated Tuesday, debuted as the left fielder against Sugano. The 29-year-old said Tuesday that injuries have prevented him from finding a rhythm but, now healthy, Robert produced strong numbers in August for the New York Mets.

“Feeling good right now, being able to stay on the field,” Robert said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones, “and I think that’s what’s led to that.”

He carried that into September for the Orioles (69-71). His two-out double split the right-center gap and found the wall to score two runs in the three-run third inning. Prior to Robert’s extra-base knock, Alonso drove an RBI single.

That was the lone offensive breakthrough until extra innings, although the Orioles lashed a pair of line drives right at the first baseman in run-scoring situations.

With two runners on in the seventh, Gunnar Henderson blasted a 105.6 mph liner for an out. After Samuel Basallo walked to begin the eighth, Dylan Beavers hit a soft liner to Rumfield that turned into an inning-ending double play.

But the Orioles were fortunate to receive such strong pitching performances from Rogers and the relievers to follow. In addition to striking out a career-high 11 batters, Rogers recorded six straight punchouts from the fifth to the seventh innings. Plus, he issued zero walks.

He pounded the zone in what turned into a strong bounce-back performance from allowing a season-high six runs last week against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The final stretch of the season now arrives. Following this three-city road trip, in which Baltimore finishes on a down note, the Orioles return to Camden Yards to run a gauntlet of contending teams. They play four games against the Boston Red Sox beginning Thursday, and the Cleveland Guardians — who currently hold the final American League wild-card spot — head to Baltimore on Monday.

There are no slouches the rest of the way. Only one opponent, the Mets, is really out of the postseason picture.

“You want to go up against the best to see where you’re at, and also, because they’re in the playoff hunt as well,” manager Craig Albernaz said before Wednesday’s series finale. “To me, that’s where the best baseball is played, and that’s where our guys come out and play their best baseball. We’re excited. It’ll be fun.”

It may also be nervy for a team that is hovering near .500. The season is reaching a conclusion, and there remains much for which to play.