Anthony Molina bombed on Blake Street. That was not a good thing.
Called up from Triple-A Albuquerque as a replacement part for the Rockies’ rickety rotation, the right-hander gave his team a fighting chance for five innings Tuesday night. True, he gave up a solo home run to Nathan Lukes in the third and a two-run blast to Daulton Varsho in the fourth. But the Rockies trailed only 3-2.
Then the Blue Jays played Home Run Derby in the sixth, launching three bombs in four at-bats en route to a 10-4 victory that clinched the three-game series.
The five home runs Molina served up tied a Rockies franchise record. The last time was when left-hander Kyle Freeland gave up five on June 11, 2021, at Cincinnati.
Varsho had a huge night, launching two homers and driving in a career-high six runs. Varsho’s two-run double off Jaden Hill in Toronto’s three-run ninth iced the game.
Two injuries to infielders compounded Colorado’s third straight loss at home. In the fifth, third baseman Orlando Arcia singled to right but immediately headed to the dugout after reaching first base. The Rockies didn’t immediately say what his injury was.
In the sixth, second baseman Thairo Estrada appeared to injure his leg as he crossed the first base bag trying to beat out an inning-ending double play. Estrada missed the first two months of the season after suffering a broken wrist during spring training and missed five games in June with a bruised right hand.
Toronto’s sixth-inning power display was impressive. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off with a 107 mph liner into the right-field seats, ambushing Molina’s 3-0 fastball. One pitch later, Addison Barger sent Molina’s slider into the right-field seats.
Looking rattled, Molina walked Alejandro Kirk, setting up Varsho’s second two-run homer of the night — this one clanging off the third-deck facade in right, 467 feet from home plate.
Molina was cooked. He departed having allowed seven runs on nine hits. Colorado starters have a 6.36 ERA this season, on pace for the highest in franchise history (6.19 in 1999). Over the last seven games, their collective ERA is 14.40.
The first-pitch temperature at Coors was 96 degrees, and the Rockies got out of the gate hot. Ezequiel Tovar slashed a double to left off Jose Berrios and trotted home on Hunter Goodman’s homer to left, Goodman’s 22nd homer.
Berrios mostly shut down Colorado for the next four innings. In the sixth, the Rockies reached him for two runs on RBI singles by Mickey Moniak and Warming Bernabel, cutting Toronto’s lead to 7-4.
With a 30-83 record, Colorado needs to win 12 of its final 49 games to avoid matching the 2024 White Sox’s modern era record of 124 losses.