In his first appearance at Kauffman Stadium since 2015, Greg Holland could not shake off his August 2017 struggles with the Rockies.

Holland entered the bottom of the ninth with a 4-3 lead and proceeded to walk the No. 9 hitter, Alex Gordon. Raimel Tapia tracked down a hard-hit ball to left field by Whit Merrifield to earn the first out of the inning. Lorenzo Cain lined out to Carlos Gonzalez in right to bring Holland within one out of his NL-leading  36th save before Melky Cabrera lined a ball opposite field to left to keep the Royals alive. Eric Hosmer then drove a 1-1 slider down the right field line and out to walk off Holland and the Rockies, 6-4.

The All-Star closer, who still leads the National League with 35 saves, is now 1-4 in August with three blown saves. He has allowed 12 earned runs in August after allowing just seven in the first four months of the season.

Holland pitched for Kansas City for the first six years of his MLB career, winning the World Series and twice being named an All-Star (2013, ’14).

Antonio Senzatela, making just his second start in the month of August, allowed two runs on nine hits over five innings. Senzatela struck out two and walked one. Chris Rusin allowed a hit in one inning of scoreless relief. Pat Neshek struck out two of the three hitters he faced in the seventh; however, Merrifield – who had four hits on the night – singled and stole second base in the process. Jake McGee allowed a base hit to Hosmer, scoring Merrifield to bring Kansas City within one through seven. McGee rebounded in the eighth to retire the Royals in order.

Nolan Arenado hit his second home run in as many nights, this time a solo shot with two outs to get the Rockies on the board in the first inning. Charlie Blackmon added a solo homer of his own to lead off the third inning and also reclaim the team lead in home runs from Arenado with 30. The Rockies loaded the bases in the fifth inning with no outs for the heart of the order, but produced just one run – a sacrifice fly by Gerardo Parra. DJ LeMahieu drove in Trevor Story with a two-out single in the sixth to extend Colorado’s lead.

The Rockies and Royals wrap up their three-game series on Thursday. First pitch is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. MDT. German Marquez (10-5, 4.24) will start for the Rockies opposite Jake Junis (5-2, 4.99).