DENVER (AP) — Eric Lauer exited in the third inning with left elbow tightness, and the Milwaukee Brewers hurt their fading playoff hopes with an 8-4 loss to the last-place Colorado Rockies on Wednesday.
Recent call-ups Michael Toglia and Alan Trejo homered for the Rockies, who rallied from a 6-1 deficit to beat Milwaukee a night earlier. Kyle Freeland threw six innings of one-run ball.
The Brewers, which got ninth-inning solo homers from Andrew McCutchen and Luis Urías, fell 3 1/2 games behind Philadelphia and San Diego for the final NL wild card. They finished a 2-5 trip with concerns surrounding Lauer as they scramble to make the postseason for a fifth straight year.
Colorado got four in the second, capped by Trejo's two-run drive. Following Trejo's second homer, a trainer accompanied manager Craig Counsell to the mound, but Lauer (10-7) stayed in.
Toglia, a 2019 first-round pick from UCLA who made his big league debut on Aug. 30, drilled a slider an estimated 421 feet to left for a three-run homer and a 7-0 lead in the third. The trainer then returned to the mound and accompanied Lauer to the dugout.
Lauer allowed six hits and saw his ERA at Coors Field jump to 15.91 in six career starts.
Milwaukee got one back when Keston Hiura tripled off the wall in right and scored on Victor Caratini's groundout in the fifth. Christian Yelich added an RBI double in the eighth off Justin Lawrence, but the Brewers fell nine games behind NL Central-leading St. Louis. Milwaukee led the division on Aug. 5.
Freeland (8-9) allowed two hits and struck out eight on a hot, dry day that saw the temperature climb into the upper 90s. Freeland threw seven scoreless innings in a win in Milwaukee on July 25.
Brewers third baseman Jace Peterson threw a perfect eighth inning.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Brewers: 2B Kolten Wong was out of the lineup, a day after being removed in the sixth inning with a sore left knee. ... INF Mike Brosseau (oblique) went 2 for 2 with a walk as the DH for Class A Wisconsin.
Rockies: OF Kris Bryant (left plantar fasciitis) was without a walking boot in the clubhouse before the game, but is not close to returning. He has played in only 42 games because of various injuries.
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Freddy Peralta (4-3, 3.56 ERA), given three days of extra rest as he deals with fatigue following his return from a shoulder injury, will start the second game of Thursday's home doubleheader against San Francisco. RHP Corbin Burnes (9-6, 3.02 ERA) works the opener for Milwaukee.
Rockies: RHP Germán Márquez (8-10, 4.86 ERA) starts Friday night at Coors Field against Arizona RHP Zach Davies (2-4, 3.74 ERA).
