Fuentes homers, Rockies beat reeling Rangers 6-3

DENVER -- — Joshua Fuentes homered to back a strong outing from Antonio Senzatela as the Colorado Rockies beat Texas 6-3 on Wednesday night, the Rangers’ 14th straight road loss.

Fuentes also doubled, singled and scored three runs to rally the Rockies to their third consecutive win. Raimel Tapia had two doubles and an RBI single.

Texas has lost eight in a row overall, all on its current road trip that ends Thursday at Coors Field. Rangers manager Chris Woodward talked to his team after the game and had veterans speak as well.

“I said my piece and I asked some of the older guys to speak their mind,” Woodward said. “It was good for them to hear that things are going to get better. We have to stay together and make sure we remain unified in that clubhouse.”

Senzatela (2-5) allowed three runs — one earned — in 7 2/3 innings. He got 12 groundball outs.

“We have a good defense, so put the ball low and let the defense work,” Senzatela said.

The Rangers held a rare lead on the road after Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s RBI single in the third made it 1-0. Colorado tied it in the fourth when Fuentes scored from third on a groundout.

The Rockies took the lead in the fifth when Tapia led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on Ryan McMahon’s sacrifice fly.

Brock Holt’s two-out, two-run double in the sixth put Texas ahead 3-2, but a bloop double by Tapia off reliever Demarcus Evans (0-1) drove in two in the bottom of the inning to give Colorado the lead again.

“It’s frustrating. We’re going through it as a group,” Holt said. “It’s really hard whenever you’re grinding like we are, we’re working and things aren’t working out on the field.

“We haven’t won a road game in two road trips, so vibes haven’t been that great. It’s not for a lack of work, we just haven’t gotten the job done.”

Fuentes hit his fifth homer leading off the eighth, and Tapia added an RBI single. Daniel Bard got three outs for his sixth save.

“Last night Josh got a couple of hits, tonight three more,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “That’s a good sign.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rangers: RHP Kyle Gibson (right groin strain) had a successful bullpen session Tuesday and is on track to start Friday at home against the Tampa Bay Rays. It was Gibson’s first bullpen since going on the injured list May 25 (retroactive to May 22).

Rockies: SS Trevor Story (right elbow) fielded grounders again and took some batting practice. Black said it looks likely that Story will be available when Colorado opens a series at Miami on Tuesday.

CHECKING IN

Texas executive vice president and general manager Chris Young is in Denver to support the team through a tough stretch.

“I’m in-between trips, amateur trips, right now. And I haven’t been to Denver in 11 years,” he said. “I thought it was a good time to pop in and be with the team and offer some support. We’re all going through this together, and I think it’s important that we all support each other when we do have these bumps in the road.”

DESPERATE MEASURES

Woodward was looking for any way to snap his team out of its funk, even if it meant sacrificing some candy.

“I feel like we need to sacrifice something. I don’t want to offend anybody in doing that. So I want to be smart with that,” he said before the game. “But maybe a gummy worm, I don’t know, or something. Cut something’s head off to change the fortunes.”

LOTS OF GLOVE

Tapia turned in some great defensive work in left field. In the second inning, he tracked down Joey Gallo’s tailing liner and made a diving catch to prevent a leadoff double. He wasn’t as lucky in the third, however. Tapia made a diving attempt on Willie Calhoun’s two-out flare and had it in the webbing of his glove but it bounced out when he hit the ground. Calhoun scored on Kiner-Falefa’s single.

UP NEXT

Texas RHP Mike Foltynewicz (1-5, 4.31 ERA) faces Austin Gomber (3-5, 4.55) on Thursday in the finale of the three-game series.

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