The Red Sox appeared to be in complete control through seven innings Monday night, seemingly on their way to opening the series with a win over the Rockies.
Then the wheels came off and rather abruptly.
Colorado strung together quality at-bats against Garrett Whitlock in the eighth before capitalizing on a rare meltdown from Aroldis Chapman in the ninth, rallying for a stunning 3-2 walk-off victory at Coors Field.
Chapman allowed four consecutive hits to open the bottom of the ninth. The first three were singles that loaded the bases, and Jake McCarthy delivered the knockout blow with a bases-clearing triple to complete the comeback.
The blown save was Chapman’s first of the season and his first since last July, snapping a streak of 29 consecutive successful save opportunities.
“They just took good at bats, there’s not much else to it,” said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy. “It doesn’t happen to us often and it hasn’t happened all year, those guys are tremendous at the back end and give credit where credit’s due.”
Colorado’s comeback was fueled by a stunning bullpen collapse from the Red Sox, as Whitlock and Chapman combined to allow eight consecutive hits to end the game. The loss was Boston’s first this season when leading after eight innings, dropping the club to 31-1 in those situations.
Monday’s collapse may have been the Red Sox’s most gut-wrenching loss of the season, which is saying something for a club that now sits just a half-game ahead of the Angels for the worst record in the American League.
The defeat overshadowed a brilliant performance from rookie left-hander Jake Bennett, who turned in the best start of his young career. Bennett struck out a career-high nine over six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits, all singles, without issuing a walk while throwing only 72 pitches.
“He was awesome,” Tracy said of his rookie starter. “Pounded the strike zone, got some quick outs, was in the zone, ahead in counts, a lot of weak contact, you couldn’t ask for more, he was tremendous.”
He also got plenty of help from the defense behind him, highlighted by a diving catch from Ceddanne Rafaela in center field in the third inning that robbed the Rockies of extra bases and preserved Bennett’s scoreless outing.
The Red Sox had plenty of chances to add to their lead but repeatedly came up empty against Rockies starter Ryan Feltner.
Feltner struggled with his command early, issuing two walks in the first inning and three over the first two frames, yet Boston’s hitters were unable to take advantage. The Sox were overly aggressive at times, allowing the right-hander to escape trouble.
Their best early opportunity came in the second inning. Caleb Durbin continued his hot streak with a one-out double and Masataka Yoshida followed with a walk, but Anthony Seigler lined out and Marcelo Mayer grounded out to strand both runners.
Seigler also made his presence felt on defense, ranging to his left to field a sharp grounder from T.J. Rumfield and starting a smooth 4-6-3 double play that erased Tyler Freeman’s leadoff single.
Boston finally broke through in the sixth after Feltner recorded two quick outs. Wilyer Abreu reached on a soft infield single before Willson Contreras snapped out of his 2-for-24 slump with an RBI double into right field, scoring Abreu all the way from first for a 1-0 lead.
Jarren Duran followed with a walk, and Durbin lined a run-scoring single to plate Contreras and make it 2-0. Durbin has been one of Boston’s hottest hitters, raising his batting average to .327 with eight RBI in 17 games since the start of June.
Feltner, who entered the night with a 5.05 ERA through his first nine starts, labored through a 32-pitch sixth inning but still completed six frames. He allowed two runs on four hits, walked four and struck out two.
Bennett’s outing ended after just 72 pitches, though that aligned with his workload throughout the season. The rookie has thrown fewer than 80 pitches in 12 of his 14 starts between Triple-A Worcester and the majors this year.
Tracy turned to Tyron Guerrero, and the hard-throwing right-hander delivered a perfect seventh inning while touching 101 mph on the radar gun.
After Guerrero, the bullpen imploded.
