Helpless in Seattle: Rockies, Ryan Feltner beat up by Mariners

There’s no crying in baseball, but what happened to Ryan Feltner on Saturday night was a crying shame.

For three innings, the Rockies’ right-hander was crisp, efficient and in total command of all of his pitches. Feltner illustrated, for a small slice of the game, why manager Bud Black and the Rockies’ brass love his stuff.

But …

It all caved in on Feltner in the fourth inning when the Mariners sent nine men to the plate and scored five runs en route to a 9-2 laugher at T-Mobile Park.

“Hard lessons,” manager Bud Black told reporters in Seattle.

The Rockies (5-10) have lost four consecutive games and fell to 2-6 on the road.

The Mariners’ fourth-inning at-bat began with a bad omen for Colorado when Eugenio Suarez muscled a leadoff, opposite-field homer to right, tying the game 1-1. The Rockies entered the night 0-9 this season when allowing at least one home run vs. a 5-0 record when not giving up a homer.

Following Suarez’s long ball, Cal Raleigh reached on an infield single, but Feltner struck out Teoscar Hernandez and Jarred Kelenic and was one good pitch from escaping trouble.

But Feltner walked No. 7 hitter Tommy La Stella and No. 8 hitter Kolten Wong — both on full counts — to load the bases.  No. 9 hitter J.P. Crawford followed with a bloop RBI single to left, and then Julio Rodriguez ripped a three-run triple into the right-field corner.

Feltner’s night was done: 3 2/3 innings, five runs on five hits, three walks and five strikeouts, leaving the right-hander with an unsightly 8.78 ERA after three starts.

“For Ryan, that’s where a young pitcher with lesser service time needs to grow and really understand the importance of throwing strikes at that point in the game and challenging the bottom of the order,” Black said. “Those walks should not happen. It’s a growth moment for Ryan. You saw what he’s capable of doing with his stuff, but you have to continue it.”

The game turned really ugly in the sixth when the Mariners scored four runs on just two hits but cashed in on an error charged to Rockies rookie shortstop Ezequiel Tovar who was handcuffed on a throw by C.J. Cron, and two walks and two hit batters as relievers Brent Suter and Connor Seabold imploded.

Seattle had only eight hits, but Rockies pitchers walked six, something that has gnawed at Black all season.