DENVER -- The first-pitch sweeper came out of Jason Adam's right hand and spun through the strike zone, settling into a spot where Ryan McMahon wanted it. McMahon launched the ball toward the second deck in right-center field, trotted around the bases and stopped for a celebratory shower from his teammates at home plate.

All Adam could do was turn and watch, put his hands on his hips and walk back toward the third-base dugout. The Rays’ frantic five-run rally in the ninth inning had immediately gone to waste. Closer Pete Fairbanks loaded the bases, then Adam surrendered a walk-off grand slam to McMahon to conclude the Rays’ 10-7 defeat in the Rockies’ sold-out home opener at Coors Field, their fifth loss in eight games to begin the season.

“We did such a nice job in the ninth to come back there,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Just an odd game. Really odd game.”

That was an appropriate description for everything that happened Friday afternoon, from the weather (an unseasonably warm 75 degrees at first pitch) to the way it ended.

McMahon’s game-ender was the 13th walk-off grand slam the Rays have given up in their 27-year franchise history, with all of them coming in the regular season, and the first since Josh Donaldson hit one out at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 17, 2022. No other club has allowed more than seven walk-off slams since Tampa Bay’s inaugural season in 1998.

For all the pregame talk about this rare visit to the hitters’ paradise of Coors Field, the Rays spent eight innings scratching and clawing and waiting for their lineup to come to life. It finally happened in the ninth, when they erased a 6-2 deficit by putting up five runs against Colorado closer Justin Lawrence.

The Rays jumped all over Lawrence with four straight hits and tied the game -- on a two-run single Ben Rortvedt hit from one knee -- before the right-hander could record two outs.

They completed the comeback against former Tampa Bay left-hander Jalen Beeks, as Rortvedt scored the go-ahead run when first baseman Kris Bryant couldn’t handle an errant throw from McMahon on Jose Siri’s ground ball.

“Our position players, I mean, they showed their heart out there,” Adam said. “They did a phenomenal job of getting us back in that game.”

So the bullpen door swung open, and in came Fairbanks. Game over, right?

Not this time.

Fairbanks’ control disappeared, as he threw only five of his 17 pitches for strikes while walking all three hitters he faced. The right-hander was clearly unhappy with the condition of the baseballs on the mound and emphasized that point afterward, saying they “didn’t feel right” and weren’t consistent from ball to ball.

“No excuse, though. Didn't throw strikes, and that's what happens when you don't throw strikes. You get punished for it,” Fairbanks said. “There's nobody to blame but myself for not being able to adjust to some of the quality issues.”

Cash pulled Fairbanks, which left Adam in a tough spot with the bases loaded and nobody out. He struck out Kris Bryant with three straight sweepers, but said he put the next one to McMahon “pretty much where every lefty likes it.”

“I was trying to get either a take or a swing-and-miss there, and he swung,” Adam added. “He did not miss.”

The ending soured what had been an impressive display of resilience by the Rays, but it was not their only frustrating moment. For one, they could have built up a bigger lead early on. They had Rockies starter Austin Gomber on the ropes right away, but scored just one run on two hits and two walks during the 41-pitch inning.

“A big hit there, maybe he's out of the game [and] we get into their bullpen a little earlier,” Cash said.

Starter Zack Littell pitched five excellent innings, only to be removed with a 2-1 lead after throwing 69 pitches. Cash said the Rays felt good about their bullpen, which was fresh after Thursday’s off-day, especially with lefty Colin Poche coming in to face a part of the order with a pair of left-handed hitters in the sixth.

But Poche was pitching with noticeably diminished velocity -- three miles per hour off his average fastball velocity on the season, in fact -- due to what he described as an issue with the timing of his delivery. Nolan Jones singled, McMahon doubled two batters later and then, Elias Díaz tied the game with a sacrifice fly. Poche then fired a 2-1 fastball to Ezequiel Tovar that clocked in at just 88.1 mph, and Tovar launched it out to left-center to put the Rockies up by two.

“Didn't have my best stuff and was still trying to compete in the zone, and good hitters are going to make you pay for that,” Poche said. “That's what they did.”