These Rockies aren’t those Rockies. At least that’s what the early April returns tell us.
Playing push-the-envelope baseball, combined with solid pitching and timely hitting, the Rockies beat the Astros 9-1 on Wednesday afternoon at Coors Field to polish off the three-game sweep. Last season, en route to 119 losses, the Rockies managed one sweep, taking three games in Miami from June 2-4.
And get this: The heretofore swing-happy Rockies had more walks (nine) than strikeouts (seven) for the first time since July 1, 2024, vs. Milwaukee, when they walked five times and struck out four times.
“We are playing in a ballpark that is like no other, right?” said All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman, who smacked a bonus solo home run in the fourth inning. “So, getting guys on base and in scoring position is huge. We’ve been doing that. When you get guys on base, you are going to score a lot of runs here.”
The irony here is that Wednesday’s announced crowd was 15,189, marking the lowest home attendance in franchise history, excluding pandemic-affected seasons. The previous low crowd came on Monday night, with an announced crowd of 16,301.
Starter Michael Lorenzen rebounded from his debacle against the Phillies in last Friday’s home opener — nine runs allowed on 12 hits, including two homers over three innings — to turn in a quality start. He allowed one run on seven hits across 5 2/3 innings. He struck out four, walked two, and sliced his ERA from 14.73 to 9.00.
Lorenzen credited the Rockies’ pitching coaches and analytics team for the turnaround.
“We have some smart people here, and we all put our heads together and tried to figure it out,” he said. “I have a lot of good data from today that we can build off of. It’s not all there yet, but it’s a good, good start.”
Manager Warren Schaeffer said he never doubted that Lorenzen would produce. Colorado signed the veteran right-hander to a one-year, $8 million contract that includes a $9 million club option for 2027. The Rockies need him to deliver.
“He located better today, and he had all of his pitches working,” Schaeffer said. “He was getting ahead in counts. He was big for us today … saving our bullpen.”
Colorado’s five-run second inning was a prime example of the Go-Go Rox style of baseball that Schaeffer has been preaching since spring training.
“That (inning) was fundamentally sound, with sac bunts involved, base-hit bunts involved, and sac flies involved,” Schaeffer said. “We were taking our walks — some really, really tough walks today.
“That’s what we want to do. We want to pass the baton; we want to execute with runners on third with less than two outs. That was very good today.”
The Rockies sent 10 men to the plate in the second, beginning with a leadoff double by Troy Johnston. Included in the track meet were a two-run single by Edoward Julien, a bunt single by Brenton Doyle, an RBI double by Ezequiel Tovar, a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Freeman, a sacrifice fly by Mickey Moniak, three walks, and two stolen bases.
Julien, who’s taking over the leadoff spot, went 5 for 12 with four RBIs during the three-game set.
Lorenzen wasn’t the only pitcher to rebound on Wednesday. Right-hander reliever Zach Agnos, who had allowed 11 hits combined over his last two outings and owned a 12.27 ERA coming in, pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out two.
“It started with (Lorenezen) today, but I just went out there and attacked the zone today,” Agnos said. “Pitching, like hitting, can be contagious. People have picked me up plenty of times, so it was fun to be able to pick them up.”
His biggest moment came in the sixth inning when he relieved Lorenzen with two outs and the bases loaded. He got Christian Vasquez to ground out to third.
“With the way we are playing, you want to get in on the fun,” Agnos said.
The Rockies take their momentum on the road beginning Thursday night when they open a four-game series against the Padres in San Diego.
“The attitude of this club is, every day, no matter where we are, we want to play good baseball,” Schaeffer said. “We are not going to make it a thing and worry about the road as opposed to home. We are just going to go to San Diego tomorrow and try to play a really good baseball game.”
Rolling Rox
The Rockies won their fourth consecutive game and completed a three-game sweep of the Astros on Wednesday. Not a big deal for most teams, but it was for the Rockies, who:
• Captured their first sweep at Coors Field since May 10-12, 2024, vs. the Rangers.
• Won a home series in April. Last season, they didn’t want their first home series until taking two of three from the Twins on July 18-20.
• Improved to 6-6, the latest in the season they’ve been .500 since 2022, when they were 17-17 on May 15.
• Have won four straight games, matching their longest winning streak of 2025, which they did twice.
Pitching probables
Thursday: Rockies TBD (opener) at Padres RHP at RHP Randy Vasquez (1-0, 0.75 ERA), 7:40 p.m.
Friday: Rockies RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (1-0, 1.69) at Padres RHP Walker Beuhler (0-1, 9.45), 7:40 p.m.
Saturday: Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (1-0, 4.32) at Padres RHP German Marquez (1-1, 4.50), 6:40 p.m.
Sunday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-1, 2.30) at Padres RHP Nick Pivetta (1-2, 5.54), 2:10 p.m.
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
