By almost every measure, the 2026 Rockies are exponentially better than the ’25 Rockies.
Consider: This year’s team enters May with a 14-18 record. Last year’s trainwreck was 6-26 after 32 games. It’s a quantum leap, for sure, but manager Warren Schaeffer and “his boys,” as he calls them, were not satisfied after losing 6-4 to the Reds on Thursday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.
The Rockies whiffed on their chance to turn a good road trip into a great one. After sweeping the Mets in three games in New York, Colorado dropped two of three in Cincinnati to finish the trip 4-2.
“It would have been better if it was (5-1), for sure, but we’ll take it,” Schaeffer told reporters. “But it was a good road trip for us. Anytime you get a winning record on the road, it’s a good thing. We look forward to going home and continuing tomorrow.”
Thursday, the Rockies failed to cash in on potential payoff innings, something that plagued them all last season when they hit .233 with runners in scoring position, second-lowest in the majors and the lowest in franchise history.
Colorado has been much better this season — .274, fourth-highest in the majors. On Thursday, they were a solid 3 for 7, but still failed to get the big hit in the big moment.
The Rockies’ would’ve, could’ve, should’ve inning was the fifth. They packed the bases, but Brenton Doyle grounded into a forceout at home and Hunter Goodman struck out on a 1-2 fastball by starter Andrew Abbott. In the seventh, Colorado had two on with two out, but reliever Connor Phillips whiffed Goodman on an 0-2 sweeper.
Goodman leads the team with nine home runs, but he also has a 38% strikeout rate.
“We had opportunities to add on with bases loaded in the fifth,” Schaeffer said. “We couldn’t push anything across, and they got the job done when they needed to.”
The Rockies’ pitching, excellent for most of the trip, was only so-so on Thursday. In the first five games, Colorado pitchers posted a 2.66 ERA, with 37 strikeouts and only 10 walks. Starters had put up a sterling 1.82 ERA.
However, Cincinnati tagged starter Michael Lorenzen for four runs on four hits (two homers) over 5 1/3 innings. Though he struck out five, he walked three, and a leadoff walk to Spencer Steer in the fifth was costly because TJ Friedl followed with a two-run homer. Nathaniel Lowe led off the second with a solo homer off Lorenzen.
“This ballpark is a nightmare to pitch in … I pitched here for seven years,” Lorenzen told reporters after his ERA climbed to 6.09. “This was a lot like my debut.”
The right-hander pitched his first big-league game 11 years and one day ago (April 29, 2015) at Great American Ball Park. In Cincy’s 8-3 loss to the Brewers, Lorenzen was charged with three runs on eight hits over five innings. He struck out five and walked one.
Thursday, Cincinnati buffered its lead with a two-run eighth off Victor Vodnik, the key hits a double by Tyler Stephenson and an RBI double by Steer. The inning proved costly for Colorado, as it rallied with two runs in the ninth but fell short. Vodnik’s ERA now sits at 7.82.
Tyler Freeman hit a two-run homer off Abbot in the first inning — Freeman’s first homer of the season — but the Reds’ excellent pitching staff silenced the Rockies for the next seven innings.
Colorado opens a six-game home stand against the Braves on Friday at Coors Field. The Braves, led by former Rockies player and manager Walt Weiss, have a 22-10 record, the best in the majors.
Pitching probables
Friday: Braves RHP Grant Holmes (2-1, 3.62 ERA) at Rockies LHP Jose Quintana (1-2, 4.91), 6:40 p.m.
Saturday: Braves LHP Chris Sale (5-1, 2.31) at Rockies TBA, 6:10 p.m.
Sunday: Braves TBA at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-2, 3.48), 1:10 p.m.
TV: Rockies TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM
