Rockies send minimum to plate in Tigers rookie Keider Montero’s shutout

The hapless Rockies made franchise infamy again on Tuesday in Detroit.

Facing a rookie pitcher in the opener of a three-game series at Comerica Park, Colorado got skunked 11-0 in a blowout that goes down as one of the most embarrassing losses in a season full of them.

Right-hander Keider Montero threw a three-hit, complete game shutout with no walks and five strikeouts. The Rockies sent the minimum 27 batters to the plate due to a trio of double plays, marking the first time in franchise history that’s happened.

“Montero had a really solid four-pitch mix,” Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters. “He had a lively fastball, two good breaking balls (with a slider and knuckle curve) and a good change-up. He threw a ton of strikes, and we couldn’t solve the pitches in the strike zone.

“… He got on a roll pretty much the whole game of coming after us with strikes, and we didn’t square any up. It’s rare these days, to have a complete game with a low pitch count (at 96). You don’t see that type of game in this era.”

Ryan McMahon’s single in the second, Ezequiel Tovar’s single in the seventh and Aaron Schunk’s single in the eighth were Colorado’s only baserunners in the loss. All three hitters were eventually out on double plays.

The Rockies have been no-hit three times: Al Leiter in Miami and Hideo Nomo at Coors Field, both in 1996, and Clayton Kershaw at Dodger Stadium in 2014. But Colorado tallied multiple walks in the ’96 no-nos, and managed a baserunner via an error in Kershaw’s game, thus had never sent just 27 to the dish before.

Until Tuesday, when Montero wasn’t overpowering (his fastball topped out at 95.6 mph and averaged 93.2), he had Colorado hitters guessing and consistently mistiming their swings. That enabled him to tally a “Maddux” — the term for a start in which a pitcher throws a complete-game shutout with less than 100 pitches.

Meanwhile, the Rockies’ pitching was horrendous.

Parker Meadows led off Detroit’s half of the first inning with a homer on a piped fastball by Bradley Blalock, who was erratic in his four innings of work.

“The fastballs up are kind of eating me alive right now,” Blalock told reporters.

Blalock allowed five runs, including four in the second inning, while walking five as the rookie right-hander again lacked control. His ERA now stands at 5.87.