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DENVER — The crater Erick Fedde dropped the Cardinals in was too big to escape.

The decision he’s forced upon them can no longer be delayed.

Several weeks after the Cardinals first acknowledged discussion of how long the right-hander would remain in the rotation, Fedde allowed six runs before he could get an eighth out Tuesday night against Colorado at Coors Field. His abbreviated start lasted only three innings, and it took a sturdy relief outing by Kyle Leahy to not capsize the bullpen completely with another game to go in the Cardinals’ visit to Coors Field.

The Cardinals’ lineup teased a comeback before stalling in a 8-4 loss, their fourth in five games coming out of the break.

Fedde lost for the seventh consecutive decision.

The Cardinals have lost 10 of his past 12 starts.

When it comes to deciding who continues in the rotation, the contrast was stark this week: Juxtaposed with Fedde’s struggles Tuesday were Michael McGreevy’s seven strong innings in a win Monday.

The Cardinals have been looking to trade Fedde (3-10) ahead of the July 31 deadline to make the choice for them and open up a spot in the rotation. There is another turn of the rotation before the deadline, so the Cardinals will have to face the decision possibly without the move.

Fedde’s start over in 1-2-3

The Cardinals’ embattled right-hander ran into trouble from the outset with the pitch that has betrayed him throughout the season.

At his best with the White Sox a year ago, Fedde had one of the top sweeping sliders in the majors and he had a cutter that he could play other pitches against. This season, his cut fastball has lost some of its bite, and the nature of that pitch is that it’s tough when it’s sharp and it’s clobbered when it’s not.

The Rockies tagged Fedde with two extra-base hits in the first two innings.

Both came on cutters.

And not just any cutters – but the second or third cutters of the at-bat.

The second batter of the bottom of the first, right fielder Mickey Moniak, got consecutive cutters from Fedde and launched the second one 450 feet into the right-field seats. Moniak’s 15th homer of the season set a new career high and started the Rockies on their way to a six-run lead by the end of the third inning. In the second, No. 9 hitter Adael Amador, crushed a cutter for a two-run double. The .163 hitter saw three cutters in the at-bat and ripped the third one for the extra-base hit that widened the lead to 3-0.

The hits kept coming in the bottom of the third.

The Rockies sandwiched two singles to right around a fly out to left to bring No. 5 hitter Ryan McMahon to the plate. A third baseman available via trade that could draw interest from the Cubs and Yankees – two of the teams shopping for the hot corner – McMahon got ahead in the count 3-0 from Fedde. The Cardinals’ right-hander missed with a changeup, missed with a cutter, and couldn’t get McMahon to chase after a sweeper. When Fedde came back over the plate with a 93.7-mph sinker, McMahon put it over the wall for a three-run homer.

In the span of 14 batters, Fedde allowed seven hits and six runs.

The Rockies scored on him easy as 1-2-3 in three innings, respectively.

Fedde did get 12 swings and misses, eight of them on his sweeper. But it was the pitches he used other than that one that caused such trouble. In the second inning, Fedde struck out shortstop Ezequiel Tovar on three pitches – all of them sweepers that Tovar couldn’t combat. The Rockies only put 10 of his 24 strikes in play against Fedde, but seven of them went for hits.

Back in May, Fedde had the first complete-game shutout of his career and he followed that with 5 2/3 shutout innings at Philadelphia. He hasn’t been the same since. Entering the game Tuesday, the Cardinals lost nine of his previous 11 starts before reaching Coors Field. He was 0-6 in those games. He allowed 85 baserunners in his previous 52 innings.

Including Tuesday, his ERA mushroomed from 3.44 to 5.22.

Tuesday was the third time in five starts he allowed at least six runs.

Leahy superb in homecoming

Where the extended appearances leaves Leahy and his availability in the coming days will be clearer in the hours following Tuesday night’s game. The Cardinals are already carrying one fewer reliever due to McGreevy remaining on the roster after his stellar start and win in Monday’s victory.

Leahy stemmed any momentum the Rockies had going from the moment he entered the game in the fourth inning.

The Erie, Colorado, kid who once pitched at Coors Field in high school, pitched around a double and a walk to do so in the fourth inning. He then struck out three batters around a run in the fifth, and the blitzed through a perfect inning in the sixth.

A few of his peers see Leahy as a potential starter and the Cardinals are intrigued by that too because of his mix of pitches and ability to miss bats. Leahy struck out seven in his 3 2/3 innings of relief that calmed the game for the Cardinals to at least attempt a rally.

Dynamic catch halts Cards rally

When the Cardinals were down 3-0, Victor Scott II drew a one-out walk in the top of the third inning. That brought the lineup around to the top with the speedster at first. Predictably, he took off for second when he had the chance.

His attempt just happened to coincide with a pitch crushed by Brendan Donovan.

The Cardinals’ All-Star sent a deep fly ball to right-center field. Scott was around third as the ball seemed destined to reach the wall – maybe even on the fly. And then, soaring in from his left, came Gold Glove-winning center fielder Brenton Doyle. He dove to catch the ball just before it touched grass, and then scrambled to his feet in plenty of time to throw out Scott at first for the double-up double play.

Cardinals nibble into lead

The chances to score did not end with Doyle’s catch as the Cardinals started dropping hits where even he could not catch them.

A trio of singles and a double in the fourth inning combined to give the Cardinals a two-run rally that had the potential to be more. Masyn Winn had the RBI single with two outs that added the second run, but when the inning ended there was Winn and Jordan Walker stranded on base. In the sixth inning, the Cardinals got back-to-back singles to start the inning – and then it went nowhere as neither runner advanced with a ball in play from any of the next three batters.

Walker lined out to second to end the inning with a teammate at third.

The Cardinals trimmed the lead by another run in the seventh inning when Scott again drew a one-out walk. Donovan pulled the ball down the right-field line – far from Doyle’s reach – for an RBI double. The inning ended like several other. The Cardinals had two on and less than two out and two consecutive batters failed to advance the runner.

In the eighth, pinch-hitter Yohel Pozo rescued the Cardinals from a missed opportunity with two outs. Walker tagged a ball off the wall in the deepest part of center field to revive the Cardinals. Pozo dropped a double down the line to score Walker and bring the Cardinals back within three – with just as many outs to go.

A scoreless ninth inning for the Cardinals came after they issued a bases-loaded walk to the Rockies to increase the lead.