Rockies blow late lead, fall 4-3 to Brewers while wasting strong start by Ryan Feltner

The Rockies were on the doorstep of a rare three-game winning streak, but the majors’ worst bullpen reverted to the typical script instead.

Nick Mears and Justin Lawrence combined to yield two runs in the ninth, messing up Colorado’s well-pitched game to that point and giving the Brewers a 4-3 comeback win on the second night of the series on Tuesday at Coors Field.

Mears’ blown save negated a strong outing by starter Ryan Feltner and wiped away another strong night at the dish by Brenton Doyle, who homered and had an eighth-inning RBI double to give Colorado a short-lived lead.

Sal Frelick gave the Brewers an early lead with his RBI single in the second inning that made it 1-0.

But the Rockies responded in the bottom of the second. Doyle blasted a leadoff homer down the left-field line that just cleared the fence inside the foul pole for his third homer this series. Then after Jacob Stallings’ triple, Michael Toglia’s sacrifice fly gave Colorado a 2-1 lead.

From there, the game settled into a pitcher’s duel. Feltner finished with one earned run over five innings, while former Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel — acquired last week from the Mariners for $1 — threw 5 2/3 innings with two earned runs.

The Brewers tied the game in the seventh off Ty Blach, capitalizing on Jackson Chourio’s leadoff single. Two batters later, Brice Turang skied a pop-up to right field that Hunter Goodman lost in the lights. It fell in for a double that should’ve been an easy out, scoring Chourio to make it 2-2.

But the Rockies defense overcame that blunder to ensure the game stayed tied. With two outs in the inning, Willy Adames singled to left and Nolan Jones threw out Turang at the plate. Jones’ 100.8 mph throw was the second-fastest assist in the majors this year, behind his 101.3 mph throw in the third inning of Monday’s series opener.

Before Doyle’s decisive stroke in the eighth off southpaw Bryan Hudson, Ryan McMahon drew a leadoff walk and then advanced to second on a throwing error by William Contreras, who threw an ill-advised attempted back pick into right field.

After Jalen Beeks threw a scoreless eighth, Mears was in line for his first career save in the ninth. But a leadoff single by Andruw Monasterio, a walk to Turang and a broken-bat infield single by Christian Yelich loaded the bases. A sacrifice fly by Adames tied the game. After another walk to re-load the bases, Mears was lifted for Justin Lawrence, who plunked Rhys Hoskins to hand Milwaukee a 4-3 advantage.

Right-hander Trevor Megill then worked around McMahon’s two-out single in the ninth for his 18th save of the season.

Colorado fell to 12-12 in one-run games this year. The last and only time the Rockies won three games in a row was in mid-May, when they put together a season-high seven-game winning streak.

Injury updates. Right-hander Antonio Senzatela continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery. He threw a bullpen on Tuesday at Coors Field, the first day he started re-incorporating breaking balls into his routine. The next steps: a couple more bullpens, then live hitting simulations against Colorado hitters, which may happen on next week’s road trip. A rehab stint would follow, and a September return to the rotation remains in the cards. … Rookie Jordan Beck, who has missed 34 games with a fractured left hand suffered on a dive in the outfield, is progressing. His cast is off and he’s back to doing baseball activities. … Outfielder/first baseman Kris Bryant ran, threw and hit again on Tuesday as he continues to ramp up baseball activities, but there’s still to timetable for his return in rib/oblique injuries that landed him on the injured list on June 3.

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