ATLANTA - Ryan Feltner arrived at Sunday’s game still fighting through the stomach bug that had knocked him out of Saturday’s start, but by the end of the afternoon he’d done enough to keep the Rockies in the game and spare a taxed bullpen from more work.
Feltner was supposed to be a question mark after spending much of Saturday on fluids and dealing with what he called “hard to diagnose, but it only lasted 12 hours, or 24, maybe,” but he ended up taking the ball for the final five innings in Colorado’s 3-2, 10-inning loss to the Braves at Truist Park. He struck out six, allowed five hits and gave up only one unearned run in four-plus innings. The loss went to Feltner after the automatic runner scored on Matt Olson’s walk-off single.
The Rockies needed every inning they got from him. Their bullpen had already shouldered a heavy load in Saturday’s 2-1 loss, and rookie Mason Adams made just his second major league start Sunday before handing things off.
Adams worked five innings and allowed two runs. From there, Feltner stepped in and handled the rest.
“I’m just tired,” Feltner said, adding that he was glad to repay the bullpen for what it had covered the day before. “I’m glad I could make up for the work that I had the bullpen do yesterday and do my part today.”
Even while not feeling right, Feltner showed the version of himself the Rockies want to keep seeing: aggressive, efficient, and willing to attack. Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said the changeup stood out, and that Feltner didn’t spend the day overthinking anything.
“I thought his changeup was really good, to both hitters - right-handers and left-handers,” Schaeffer said. “Felt was awesome, no nonsense. He just went right at guys.”
Feltner said the time he spent recovering helped keep him from spiraling into too much planning.
“Not much of a plan,” Feltner said. “I did my normal scouting, but coming out of the bullpen is just a little different. I was just really following Sully [catcher Brett Sullivan] and what he wanted, and I thought he called a great game.
“I knew I wasn’t going to feel great, so I almost leaned into that with more intensity. I just made sure to turn up the dial as much as I could.”
Colorado finished the road trip to Washington and Atlanta at 2-5, and the Braves completed the sweep with one-run wins on the final two days after Friday’s two-run game. Each loss was there to be taken, but Atlanta kept executing in the biggest spots while the Rockies came up short.
“In the 10th inning, they execute, we don’t,” Schaeffer said. “That’s the difference.
In the big moments we talk about, you have to execute to beat good teams. That’s why we lose.
“You can be as frustrated as you want, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to start getting the job done better to win ballgames. We don’t want to be in the basement forever.”
The defeat dropped Colorado to 52-85, tied with the Angels for the worst record in the majors, and assured the club of its eighth straight sub-.500 finish. Feltner, under club control through 2028, said the bigger picture for him remains the same: keep improving.
“It’s hard to speak for the team, but for me personally, it’s a combination - you see light at the end of the tunnel, the quality of baseball getting better,” Feltner said. “Then, on an individual level, we’re always trying to get better. But we can also see how close we are.”
In Other News...
Cole Carrigg Just Put The Rockies In An Awkward Spot
Cole Carriggs brief stint in the spotlight turned into a messy footnote in a rough weekend for the Rockies. With the Braves leaving Denver after taking two games from Colorado and sweeping the Dodgers in a pivotal National League series, the Rockies were already dealing with the usual frustration of another difficult stretch. Then the rookies error in Saturdays loss drew extra attention, not just because he missed a catch, but because of what appeared to follow in the direction of the fans.
Warren Schaeffer responded by benching Carrigg for a couple of days, a move that underscored how quickly a young player can go from useful depth to a clubhouse issue. Carrigg was back Sunday as a pinch hitter, but the bigger question now is how the Rockies handle a situation that has grown past a simple bad play and into something more uncomfortable for a team already trying to manage plenty of those. [Read more 🡒]
Rockies Enter Final Month Facing Another Embarrassing Finish
The Rockies are heading into the final month of the season at 52-84, and the math on the rest of the schedule is as unforgiving as it sounds. With 26 games left, they need to play well enough down the stretch to avoid a fourth straight 100-loss finish, a burden that has hung over the franchise all summer and now sits squarely on the final few weeks.
There is a bit of balance left in the schedule, with 16 games at home and 10 on the road, but there is also no hiding from the quality of what comes next. The Yankees and Tigers are still on the docket, and the Rockies will have to navigate one of their toughest late-month stretches without much margin for error if they want to escape another embarrassing ending. [Read more 🡒]
Rockies Let A Gritty Bullpen Effort Slip Away Late
For much of the night, the Rockies had exactly the kind of bullpen effort they needed to stay in a tight game with Atlanta. Several relievers worked effectively and kept Colorado within reach, which made the end result sting even more after a 2-1 loss that played out like a contest waiting for one mistake or one clean break to decide it.
The turning point came in the eighth inning, when a play in the outfield quickly shifted the pressure onto Colorados defense and left manager Warren Schaeffer talking afterward about the sequence. Schaeffer praised the bullpens overall work, but the late breakdown overshadowed it and left the Rockies looking back on a game where one play wound up carrying too much weight. [Read more 🡒]