Rockies swept by red-hot Diamondbacks

First, the ugly small picture.

The Rockies lost 11-4 to the Diamondbacks on Wednesday afternoon at Chase Field as the D-backs completed a three-game sweep and won their season-high sixth straight game.

Colorado rookie starter Tanner Gordon failed to get out of the first inning, the Rockies committed three errors over the first two innings and hit four batters, while D-backs’ right-hander Jordan Montgomery (who entered the game with a 6.37 ERA) dominated Colorado for five of his six innings.

After the Rockies cut Arizona’s lead to 6-3 in the top of the sixth, Eugenio Suarez hit a grand slam off reliever Riley Pint in the bottom of the frame to ice the game. Pint, the fourth overall pick in 2016, hit two batters and walked another before Suarez clobbered a first-pitch slider for the slam.

Pint’s inability to command his fastball allowed Suarez to ambush the slider. In his limited time this season (four games, 3 1/3 innings), Pint has a 21.60 ERA.

Now for the ugly big picture:

These are two National League West teams heading in opposite directions. Arizona (69-53) lost 110 games in 2021, was a surprise World Series team last year, and is threatening to overtake the mighty Dodgers in the NL West this season. The D-backs have won 24 of their last 30 games.

The Rockies (44-78) lost a franchise-high 102 games last season and are on pace to lose 104 this season. Since 2023, the D-backs are 18-5 against the Rockies, including 12-2 at Chase.

“Obviously, they outplayed us, and we shot ourselves in the foot a number of times,” Rockies manager Bud Black told Rockies.TV. “That’s the way you look at it. We didn’t play a very clean game — early in the game.

“And the pitching wasn’t crisp all day long. Some of our younger pitchers just did not throw enough good pitches. And their inexperience showed up today.”