DENVER (AP) — It seemed like the Colorado Rockies were in good shape to take both of their home games against the Texas Rangers.
A faltering bullpen cost them a chance to get either one.
Adrian Beltre hit a two-run double, Elvis Andrus added a tiebreaking single and the Rangers scored four runs in the eighth inning to beat the Rockies 7-5 on Tuesday.
The AL West leaders had five hits in the inning and handed Colorado another tough loss in the two-game sweep. The late-game rally came after the Rangers scored three times in the ninth to beat the Rockies 4-3 on Monday night.
“I feel that we have played very well the last couple nights,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “But we didn’t avoid the big innings, late. We have to be able to do that.”
On Tuesday, Texas had four consecutive hits off Scott Oberg (0-1) as Carlos Beltran drove in a run with a single and Beltre tied the game with a two-run double. Andrus gave his team the lead when he drove in Beltre with his second hit of the game.
Colorado’s shaky bullpen performance comes after Carlos Estevez blew two ninth-inning leads in four days and was taken out of the closer role.
The Rockies have lost five of six and finished their homestand 3-5. The teams head to Texas to begin a two-game set Wednesday.
“I didn’t get things done,” Oberg said. “If I execute the right pitches, I hopefully get the results that I want. Unfortunately, today I wasn’t able to do that.”
Tyler Chatwood allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings and struck out a season-high eight for Colorado.
Charlie Blackmon homered and doubled, rookie David Dahl tripled to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, and Nolan Arenado drove in his National-League leading 90th and 91st RBIs for the Rockies.
“There are going to be a lot of periods over the course of a season where you feel like (you) missed an opportunity,” Blackmon said. “Today is definitely one of those.”
Blackmon hit Griffin’s fourth pitch of the game over the wall in right-center field for his seventh leadoff home run of the season. Later in the inning, Dahl tripled and Arenado brought him home with a single to extend Colorado’s lead to 2-0.
Arenado and Gerardo Parra added RBI singles in the third. Mark Reynolds came off the bench and drove in a run with a single in the fifth to push the lead to 5-1.
A.J. Griffin struggled in his start for the Rangers, allowing five runs in 4 2/3 innings. He avoided losing his first game since July 10 thanks to another Rangers’ late rally.
Alex Claudio (3-1) threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief and Sam Dyson picked up his 25th save in 28 chances.
ESTEVEZ OUT AS CLOSER
Estevez was removed from the Rockies’ closer role after blowing two save opportunities in four days. Estevez had five blown saves in 16 opportunities this season.
“I’m going to get him out of that role for a little bit just to let him catch his breath,” Weiss said. “He’s made of all the right stuff. He’s going to be a great closer in this league for a long time.”
RHP Adam Ottavino will take the bulk of the save opportunities going forward, Weiss said. Ottavino was the team’s closer before undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2015.
NO WALKS
Chatwood didn’t surrender a walk on Tuesday after he had given up 15 in his previous 18 innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rockies: An MRI showed no new damage for OF Carlos Gonzalez (ankle), who sat out after he left in the second inning of Monday’s 4-3 loss with left ankle inflammation. It’s the third time Gonzalez has not been in the lineup since spraining his ankle on a groundout six days ago. … SS Trevor Story (thumb), who is expected to miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn UCL Thursday, will get his stitches removed Aug. 19. “He is in the strengthening phase right now,” Rockies athletic trainer Keith Dugger said. “He’s doing really good. He is pain free and has full range of motion.” Keith Dugger said. “He’s doing really good. He is pain free and has full range of motion.”
UP NEXT
Rangers: LHP Martin Perez (7-8, 4.33 ERA) is 0-4 with a 7.07 ERA in his past six starts. He allowed five runs in seven innings against Houston in his previous start.
Rockies: LHP Jorge De La Rosa (7-7, 5.24 ERA) has a quality start in eight of his past nine outings. In his previous start, the 35-year-old allowed one run in six innings.