The Colorado Rockies opened their six-game road trip with a 5-3 loss to the New York Yankees on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

For Colorado, there were a few factors that made up its defeat:

On Tuesday, rookie right-hander Gabriel Hughes got the starting nod, and his rough season continued.

On an individual level, the 25-year-old was not bad. In fact, his 11th start of the season was one of his better ones. 

Hughes provided five innings of work, and in that span, he struck out six batters while allowing four hits and one earned run. For the first time this season, he did not allow any walks.

Still, Hughes was assessed the losing decision, which dropped him to 0-7 for the season. Nothing has come easy for him this year, and his struggles have been part of a bigger picture overall regarding the Rockies’ woes.

The silver lining was that Hughes was productive while limiting mistakes, and those are things he can build on.

The Rockies got home runs from Adael Amador and Hunter Goodman. The problem was that they accounted for half of their hits.

Colorado went 4-for-31 at the plate while striking out 13 times. The final score should have been much worse, but Goodman’s two-run home run in the ninth shrunk the deficit.

In many of the wins the Rockies have been able to muster this season, the offense has had to be stout, and that was not the case on Tuesday. The pitching has not been good enough to be a primary contributor to a win, and when the offense struggles, as it did on Tuesday, it leads to losses.

Despite their offensive struggles, the Rockies could have won this game had it not been for the eighth inning.

Before Goodman’s home run, reliever Brennan Bernardino took the mound for Colorado, and the Yankees jumped on him. Bernardino opened the bottom of the eighth with a walk before giving up a double to Cody Bellinger.

Then, he gave up a three-run home run to Heliot Ramos that put New York ahead 5-1 and ended up being the deciding blow. Had it not been for Bernardino’s meltdown, perhaps the Rockies could have stolen the series opener.

Unfortunately for Colorado, its season has featured a lot of what-if moments. The Rockies have taken a slight step in the right direction, but their trajectory for the remainder of the season indicates that they will endure 100 losses once again. 

For Colorado, the best thing to do is try and finish strong while looking ahead to next year.