Solo shots hurt Gomber in Rockies' 6th straight loss

CINCINNATI -- Austin Gomber had a decision to make. Joey Votto doesn’t usually swing at the first pitch -- only 34.6% of first pitches since 2017, to be exact -- but he took a hack at Gomber’s 91.1 mph heater in the second inning, the first pitch the first baseman had seen since sustaining a shoulder injury last August.

Gomber pondered in the dugout between innings: Would Votto swing at the fastball again? Or would it be better to go with a breaking ball?

In the fifth inning, the southpaw chose the former, which Votto promptly delivered to the right-field seats with an exit velocity of 102 mph. It was one of three solo home runs Gomber allowed in the Rockies’ 5-4 loss to the Reds on Monday at Great American Ball Park to hand Colorado its sixth defeat in a row.

“[Since] I was in the dugout thinking about throwing a wrinkle there and opted to go with the heater and then he turns it around, that one stings,” Gomber said. “But overall, trying to give the team a chance to win. Love to keep the ball in the yard, but to get into the sixth, felt good about it. So there's definitely things for me to clean up, but definitely things to build on too.”

Gomber, who now is tied with Toronto hurler Yusei Kikuchi for the MLB lead in home runs allowed, has struggled with the long ball all season, especially at Coors Field -- 12 of his 19 homers allowed have come at the park. But that problem showed itself early on the road, as Gomber allowed a leadoff home run to Kevin Newman in the bottom of the first inning.

Nick Senzel hit another one in the second, then Gomber retired seven straight batters before Votto’s Statcast-projected 381-foot blast. Ultimately, it wasn’t until the 18th batter he faced that Gomber gave up a baserunner that wasn’t a home run, this one a single to ninth hitter Stuart Fairchild.

“A run's a run. ... [Solo home runs] a lot of times don't beat you,” manager Bud Black said. “... I thought he threw the ball fine. Elevated some pitches for the homers. And this is a ballpark where there's a [chance for a] homer in there, for sure.”

Even with the early solo homers, Gomber kept the game close enough to give the Rockies a chance. Reds lefty Brandon Williamson allowed one run on two hits in his Major League debut at Coors Field on May 16.

The Rockies would not be bested by him again. On Monday, Colorado pegged the rookie for three runs and six hits over five-plus innings, leaving the top of the sixth with a 4-3 lead.

Elias Díaz hit a home run in the fourth inning, then tacked on another RBI and run scored in a three-run sixth inning in which the Rockies brought nine batters to the plate and faced three different Cincinnati pitchers.

But a single allowed by Gomber and an error by Mike Moustakas preceded Votto's go-ahead two-run single off Jake Bird to put the Reds on top in the bottom half of the frame. Colorado threatened in the ninth with runners on the corners with no outs but couldn’t score to force extra innings or take a lead.

“We had good at-bats, getting to the three runs, and then some inexperience showed up in the [sixth],” Black said. “And then again in the ninth. We didn’t put the ball in play with a couple of veteran players.”

Perhaps most importantly, though, Gomber was able to pitch into the sixth inning to give an exhausted Rockies bullpen a break as they enter the third and final leg of their 10-game road trip.

The Rockies hadn’t had a pitcher pitch more than 4 1/3 innings since Gomber himself had a quality start against Boston last Wednesday. The team hasn’t had an off-day since June 5, and Gomber gave the relievers a chance to breathe on the slow crawl to Thursday’s off-day before heading back home.

“The biggest thing is just trying to get deep into a game,” Gomber said. “This is a long road trip, we're in the middle of a really long, tough stretch. I'm here every day, so I understand that the bullpen has been worked a little bit more than we would like.

"So every time I go out there I'm trying to give the bullpen a break, trying to give the team a chance to win. But you're definitely aware of it more in certain situations. We had a really tough weekend in Atlanta so we're trying to come here and turn it around.”