Rockies’ Ryan Feltner injured, gives up three homers in 5-2 loss to Pirates

Ryan Feltner knew the nanosecond that Jack Suwinski clobbered his hanging 2-2 curveball.

He’d made a big mistake.

The Rockies’ right-hander contorted on the mound in frustration while Suwinski watched his two-run homer soar 459 feet to right to stretch the Pirates’ lead to 4-1 in the seventh inning. Pittsburgh went on to win, 5-2, in front of a Friday night crowd of 31,717 at Coors Field.

Feltner’s tough inning was then compounded by suffering an injury. Facing the next hitter, Jared Triolo, Feltner spiked a pitch and then indicated that he was injured. Manager Bud Black and head trainer Keith Dugger came to the mound, and after a brief consultation, Feltner left the game. There was no immediate word from the Rockies about the possible injury.

Colorado’s Charlie Blackmon staged a mini-rally in the ninth, hitting a solo home run to right, his third homer of the season. He also raked two doubles.

In his 7 2/3 innings, Feltner showed flashes of the talent that intrigues the Rockies, and he struck out eight and walked just one, but the Pirates launched three long home runs off him.

In the first, Bryan Reynolds hit a 432-foot solo shot into the second deck in right field. In the sixth, veteran designated hitter Andrew McCutchen hit a solo homer 448 feet to dead center to break a 1-1 tie. Then came Suwinski’s game-turning blast. It was his third home run in his last four games at Coors Field. He blasted one 461 feet last season.

McCutcheon’s one-out double, followed by Reynolds’ RBI single, put Pittsburgh up 5-1 in the eighth against reliever Victor Vodnik.

Colorado’s lone run arrived in the fifth on an RBI triple by Ezequiel Tovar, who drove in Blackmon, who had doubled. It could have been a big inning for Colorado, but it fizzled on a great throw from right field by former Rockie Connor Joe.

Adael Amador led off with a single to left and advanced to third on Blackmon’s double. Brenton Doyle hit a relatively shallow flyball to Joe, but Amador tagged up and attempted to score, only to be erased by Joe’s throw.

And so the Pirates’ mastery of the Rockies in LoDo continued. Pittsburgh swept the Rockies in their three-game series at Coors last April, outscoring the Rockies 33-14. Dating to 2015, Pittsburgh is 18-9 at Coors Field, outscoring Colorado 177-134.

Cave hit during BP. Veteran outfielder Jake Cave was struck in the head by a line drive during batting practice Friday and was scratched from the starting lineup. Cave was practicing throws from the outfield grass in right field when he was hit in the left side of the head.

Cave was taken off the field on a cart while holding a towel to his head, but he was seated and alert when he was being checked out. The Rockies later described the injury as a “minor cut” to Cave’s head.

Injury updates. Catcher Elias Diaz, working through a left calf strain, was placed on the 10-day injured list Friday. Outfielder Nolan Jones (knee and back) came off the IL and took Diaz’s place on the 26-man roster.

Jones had two rehab assignments at Triple-A Albuquerque, the first ending when he sustained his knee injury. His second rehab assignment gave Jones a chance to hone his swing. Jones hit .214 (9-for-42) during his stints at Triple-A, with one home run and six RBIs.