The Rockies have shown some occasional growth spurts lately. Emphasis on occasional.

Over the weekend, they won two of three games in Milwaukee to capture just their third road series win of the season.

But their growth has been stunted in Motown against a red-hot Tigers team still hunting for a wild-card playoff berth. After a historic 11-0 blowout loss to Detroit on Tuesday night at Comerica Park, the Rockies responded with a 7-4 defeat on Wednesday.

The Tigers buried Colorado right-hander Tanner Gordon with a six-run, six-hit avalanche in the first inning. The Rockies were never able to recover.

With 16 games remaining in the season, the Rockies (54-92) are on pace for a 102-loss season. They lost a franchise-worst 103 last year, when their run differential was minus-236 (a negative-1.46 run differential per game), also the worst in franchise history.

However, the current club has a minus-228 run differential (minus-1.56 runs per game).

The Tigers lined up for batting practice against Gordon, who was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque to replace veteran lefty Austin Gomber, who is out on paternity leave.

“Tanner threw strikes but he just couldn’t put them away,” manager Bud Black told reporters in Detroit.

The avalanche began when Riley Green lined a one-out homer to right. Then Kerry Carpenter ripped an RBI triple into the right-field corner, and Trey Sweeney crushed a three-run homer to deep right.

“The back-breaker, for me, was the Sweeney home run,” Black said. “A 3-0 game in the first is manageable, and (Gordon) got ahead of him but just couldn’t put him away. He threw a slider on a 3-2 pitch, and that was the back-breaker.

“Tanner’s stuff was maybe not as crisp as when he first came up earlier in the year. … These guys are rookie pitchers, with a rookie catcher (Drew Romo), so it’s going to be a school of hard knocks — at times.”

Gordon is a strike-thrower, and he didn’t issue a walk Wednesday night, but he threw meatballs. Over 3 1/3 innings, he gave up seven runs on 10 hits. He fell to 0-6 and his ERA soared to 8.65.

The Rockies’ bright spots came from third baseman Ryan McMahon, shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and a bullpen that blanked Detroit for four innings.

McMahon led off the second with a homer to right off right-hander Casey Mize, McMahon’s 19th homer.

Tovar ripped a two-run double to right-center in Colorado’s three-run fourth inning. Tovar’s 43 doubles are the third-most in the majors and the most by a Rockies player since Charlie Blackmon recorded 42 in 2019.

Tovar’s 43 doubles also set a franchise record for a shortstop, bypassing Trevor Story, and he has hit the most doubles since Nolan Arenado hit 43 doubles in 2017. The last Rockie with more than 43 doubles in a season was Matt Holliday with 50 doubles in 2007.

The Tigers, meanwhile, continue to roll. They improved to 20-8 since Aug. 11, the best record in the majors over the last month.

Senzatela close. Right-hander Antonio Senzatela, returning from Tommy John surgery, has made five injury rehab appearances and could make his first start with the Rockies this weekend vs. the Cubs.

He last pitched on Sunday for Double-A Hartford, going 3 2/3 innings, giving up five runs on five hits, with five strikeouts and one walk. He rejoined the Rockies in Detroit on Tuesday and threw a bullpen session.