Rockies rally, but lose 11-inning heartbreaker to Royals

It was a gut-wrenching, gut-churning, gut-punch kind of loss.

The Rockies wasted a dramatic ninth-inning rally and fumbled away chances to win in extra innings — not to mention spoiling a superb start from Ryan Feltner —  before losing 4-3 to the Royals in 11 innings Tuesday night.

K.C. backup catcher Freddy Fermin singled a line drive to center off Tyler Kinley to score ghost runner Mark Canha for the game-winner at Kaufmann Stadium.

The Rockies, 4-18 overall, have lost 11 consecutive road games, with their lone road win coming on March 29 at Tampa Bay, in the second game of the season.

The Rockies were one strike away from defeat in the ninth when Ryan McMahon drew a walk from Royals closer Carlos Estevez, the former Rockie. Then Hunter Goodman drew a walk, and so did Michael Toglia. Clutch hits have been few and far between for Colorado, but veteran catcher Jacob Stallings came through with a three-run double to left, giving the Rockies a 3-2 lead. It was Colorado’s only extra-base hit.

“We strung together three really good walks off a really good pitcher who was around the plate with good stuff,” manager Bud Black told reporters in Kansas City. “We eyeballed (Estevez) and then ‘Stahls’ fell behind but got a slider up and put the ball in the corner. What a momentum changer that was.”

But the momentum didn’t last long for reliever Seth Halvorsen. A bloop single to right field by Salvador Perez, followed by a double from Maikel Garcia and a sacrifice fly by Michael Massey, tied the game, 3-3. Halvorsen escaped being a walk-off loser with a nice pickoff move that caught Garcia between second and third.

The Rockies, 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, failed to score in the 10th, primarily because Fermin picked off Mickey Moniak at third for the second out of the inning.

“It looked like, to me, that Mickey was probably a little bit overzealous,” Black said. “It was a really great throw from Fermin on a slider down and away out of the strike zone. But it was probably a little over-aggressive lead by (Moniak).”

In the 11th, Goodman, Toglia and Braxton Fulford had three empty at-bats, leaving two runners stranded. The Rockies are hitting .195 with runners in scoring position, ranking 28th in the majors.

“We couldn’t deliver the big hit, and they did,” Black said.

Feltner’s gem had one flaw. Just one.

The right-hander gave up one run on three hits over seven innings, striking out four and walking one. One stray pitch cost him.

Kansas City right fielder Drew Waters led off the sixth with a solo home run. Waters hit Feltner’s floating changeup 408 feet and into the right-field seats. Feltner immediately knew he had made a mistake and didn’t even watch Waters’ ball clear the wall.

“He pitched great, and he had to because their guy (lefty Kris Bubic) pitched really well also,” Black said. “I thought Feltner’s pitches were on-point all night, except for that one pitch.”