Rockies blow late lead, fall to Brewers, wasting Ryan Feltner’s strong start

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.