Fuentes homers, Rockies beat reeling Rangers 6-3
DENVER (AP) ā Joshua Fuentes homered to back a strong outing from Antonio Senzatela as the Colorado Rockies beat Texas 6-3 on Wednesday night, the Rangersā 14th straight road loss.
Fuentes also doubled, singled and scored three runs to rally the Rockies to their third consecutive win. Raimel Tapia had two doubles and an RBI single.
Texas has lost eight in a row overall, all on its current road trip that ends Thursday at Coors Field. Rangers manager Chris Woodward talked to his team after the game and had veterans speak as well.
āI said my piece and I asked some of the older guys to speak their mind,ā Woodward said. āIt was good for them to hear that things are going to get better. We have to stay together and make sure we remain unified in that clubhouse.ā
Senzatela (2-5) allowed three runs ā one earned ā in 7 2/3 innings. He got 12 groundball outs.
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āWe have a good defense, so put the ball low and let the defense work,ā Senzatela said.
The Rangers held a rare lead on the road after Isiah Kiner-Falefaās RBI single in the third made it 1-0. Colorado tied it in the fourth when Fuentes scored from third on a groundout.
The Rockies took the lead in the fifth when Tapia led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on Ryan McMahonās sacrifice fly.
Brock Holtās two-out, two-run double in the sixth put Texas ahead 3-2, but a bloop double by Tapia off reliever Demarcus Evans (0-1) drove in two in the bottom of the inning to give Colorado the lead again.
āItās frustrating. Weāre going through it as a group,ā Holt said. āItās really hard whenever youāre grinding like we are, weāre working and things arenāt working out on the field.
āWe havenāt won a road game in two road trips, so vibes havenāt been that great. Itās not for a lack of work, we just havenāt gotten the job done.ā
Fuentes hit his fifth homer leading off the eighth, and Tapia added an RBI single. Daniel Bard got three outs for his sixth save.
āLast night Josh got a couple of hits, tonight three more,ā Rockies manager Bud Black said. āThatās a good sign.ā
TRAINERāS ROOM
Rangers: RHP Kyle Gibson (right groin strain) had a successful bullpen session Tuesday and is on track to start Friday at home against the Tampa Bay Rays. It was Gibsonās first bullpen since going on the injured list May 25 (retroactive to May 22).
Rockies: SS Trevor Story (right elbow) fielded grounders again and took some batting practice. Black said it looks likely that Story will be available when Colorado opens a series at Miami on Tuesday.
CHECKING IN
Texas executive vice president and general manager Chris Young is in Denver to support the team through a tough stretch.
āIām in-between trips, amateur trips, right now. And I havenāt been to Denver in 11 years,ā he said. āI thought it was a good time to pop in and be with the team and offer some support. Weāre all going through this together, and I think itās important that we all support each other when we do have these bumps in the road.ā
DESPERATE MEASURES
Woodward was looking for any way to snap his team out of its funk, even if it meant sacrificing some candy.
āI feel like we need to sacrifice something. I donāt want to offend anybody in doing that. So I want to be smart with that,ā he said before the game. āBut maybe a gummy worm, I donāt know, or something. Cut somethingās head off to change the fortunes.ā
LOTS OF GLOVE
Tapia turned in some great defensive work in left field. In the second inning, he tracked down Joey Galloās tailing liner and made a diving catch to prevent a leadoff double. He wasnāt as lucky in the third, however. Tapia made a diving attempt on Willie Calhounās two-out flare and had it in the webbing of his glove but it bounced out when he hit the ground. Calhoun scored on Kiner-Falefaās single.
UP NEXT
Texas RHP Mike Foltynewicz (1-5, 4.31 ERA) faces Austin Gomber (3-5, 4.55) on Thursday in the finale of the three-game series.
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