Rockies outslugged by Cleveland 13-7 after Guardians’ run in late innings

Guardians star Jose Ramirez did heavy lifting at the plate on Tuesday. So when he got the chance to be a passenger on the game-changing homer, he stopped short of rounding third, turned to watch the ball fly over the wall, and held up his hands in joy.

Ramirez finished with a homer, a double, two walks, two RBIs and four runs scored in Cleveland’s 13-7 triumph that took the shine off Colorado’s recent momentum over the past three weeks.

The Rockies’ loss, started by an opening homer from Ramirez and underscored by a two-homer performance from Josh Naylor, was punctuated by rough performances from both starter Ryan Feltner and the bullpen on a beautiful night at Coors Field.

“With Ryan, we’ve got to get him to consistently get the ball down,” manager Bud Black said. “There’s just too many balls pitch-to-pitch that are elevated.”

Feltner allowed seven runs (six earned) over four-plus innings, while right-hander Matt Carasiti gave up the decisive no-doubter to David Fry on a hanging 0-2 forkball that also scored Ramirez and Naylor.

“That was a really good at-bat by Fry,” Black said. “… With the way Fry has been swinging, (it’s no wonder) it was a homer.”

Fry’s swing in the seventh was the turning point in a game that see-sawed before Guardians were able to take temporary control in the fifth, chasing Feltner from the mound in the process.

“My changeups weren’t moving,” Feltner said. “Those were pitches that I probably could’ve hit out, and those were to really good hitters (in Ramirez and Naylor). They took advantage. … I just didn’t feel good with my stuff tonight. Frustrating.

“Our offense did a good job of putting up runs early in the game and giving us a chance, but I didn’t do my job.”

Cleveland struck first via Ramirez’s two-run homer to right-center in the opening inning. But the struggling Kris Bryant responded in the third, mashing a two-out, two-run dinger 428 feet to left off right-hander Triston McKenzie.

“I feel like ever since I’ve come back (from the injured list), I’ve felt good about my at-bats, I’m taking my walks, hitting some balls hard,” Bryant said. “Things are moving in the right direction, so it was nice to see one go over the fence. (McKenzie) was throwing me tons of spin, and my first at-bat he tried to sneak (a fastball) on the inside corner. I saw it pretty good, and to see one go up on the concourse like that, I haven’t done that in a while. That was a good feeling.”

The back-and-forth continued into the middle innings.

Each team plated a pair of runs in the fourth to make it 4-4, first the Guardians by using a pair of sacrifice flies with the bases loaded. Cleveland’s hitting that inning was jump-started by Bryant’s error on a grounder down the first-base line, a gaff that turned the goodwill from his homer into a chorus of boos.

“That was a fairly simple double-play ball, and I just got ahead of myself thinking I was going to tag the bag and throw it (to second),” Bryant said.

The Rockies responded in the bottom of the inning thanks to Elehuris Montero’s two-run jack to left that caused McKenzie’s shoulders to slump as the pitcher pouted around the mound.

“My focus is to keep hitting the ball hard, and keep hitting it as far as I can,” Montero said. “Thankfully today, it landed where it did. … Obviously my average isn’t the best right now (at .223), and it’s something I’ll continue to work on and want to improve.”