Here’s what we learned from this homestand as the Rockies hit the road for three games in Milwaukee, which sits in first place in the National League Central, and two games at San Diego.

Gabriel Hughes should get an extended look

After getting his first big-league start prior to the break, six innings of three-run ball at Dodger Stadium on July 8, Hughes made his first two career starts at Coors Field this homestand and looked solid. The rookie right-hander, whom the Rockies selected at No. 10 overall in 2022 and underwent Tommy John surgery in ’23, allowed two runs in five-plus innings against the Reds on July 17, followed by five innings of one-run ball on Wednesday against the Nationals.

For a franchise desperate for rotational depth, the Rockies need to keep Hughes in the rotation the rest of the year to see if the rookie can be part of the team’s long-term pitching solution.

“He’s pitching great,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He’s giving us a chance to win, attacking with his heater, throwing strikes, good body language, good poise, getting the breaking ball for punchouts, good changeup. He did it all (Wednesday) and gave us a really good shot to win this game.”

On Wednesday, Hughes battled through several key moments where his outing could’ve gone off the rails. His combination of a low-90s fastball, a mid-80s changeup and high-70s curveball was effective. He had five strikeouts, and his 18 K’s through the first three starts of his career are tied for the second-most in franchise history for a rookie.

“You get to 2-2 and 3-2, and that’s when you get (multiple) foul balls and suddenly you’re at an 8-, 9-pitch at-bat,” Hughes said. “That’s when you really find out what you’ve got and what you have in the tank. There was an 11-pitch at-bat in there. You’ve got to dig deep and get the out, and I was able to do that today.”

Rubber matches remain rough for Colorado

Following Wednesday’s 8-0 defeat that was highlighted by an ugly seventh inning in which the Nationals plated six runs and got help from a trio of errors by Mickey Moniak, Cole Carrigg and Brett Sullivan, Colorado dropped to 3-11 in rubber matches this season.

As those miscues underscored, the Rockies defense has been subpar this season. Entering Wednesday, the club had (62) in the NL. The Rockies’ .212 winning percentage in series-deciding games is the lowest in the majors, and in those missed clinchers, the Rockies have a -29 run differential. Wednesday’s seventh inning all but sealed the fate of the series, considering the Rockies are now 10-51 when behind after six innings.

“Sloppy, ridiculous, and the probably worst inning we’ve had all year defensively,” Schaeffer said of the seventh-inning meltdown. “That’s not us.”

Kyle Freeland’s recent trajectory

The Colorado native remains a Rockies workhorse, but the quality outings remain few and far between for a southpaw boasting a career-worst 7.28 ERA. Freeland has an MLB-leading nine losses, a year after pacing baseball with 17 losses.

In his outing against the Nationals on Monday, Freeland extended his streak of nine straight starts with at least five innings pitched. He allowed four runs over six innings while giving up two homers. The Thomas Jefferson alum was also at the center of with the Nationals’ Andres Chaparro, after Freeland chirped at Chaparro for going over the edge of the mound as the designated hitter jogged off the field following a flyout. Freeland doesn’t have good stuff this season, but he’s still got his signature fire.

Can Hunter Goodman set a Rockies record?

Home run machine Hunter Goodman picked up the second half right where he left off prior to the break and his second straight appearance in the Midsummer Classic.

The catcher blasted three homers in last Sunday’s 9-6 loss to the Reds, Goodman’s second time with three bombs this season as he also accomplished the feat on June 27 in Minnesota. With that, Goodman became the fourth Rockies player with multiple three-homer games in a career, joining Larry Walker, Todd Helton and Carlos González, and the fourth-fastest Colorado hitter to reach 30 homers in a season.

Goodman followed Sunday up with a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning on Tuesday in the 8-7 win over Washington, his third go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later this season. Goodman’s 11 homers in the seventh inning or later lead the majors. The way Goodman is mashing, the Rockies’ single-season home run record — 49, by Walker in 1997 and Helton in 2001 — could be within reach.

“You don’t see very many catchers in the game doing what he’s doing,” outfielder Mickey Moniak said. “You’ve got Cal Raleigh, Hunter Goodman, William Contreras, Will Smith — that’s the top.”

Monitoring the bullpen’s performance

The Rockies’ bullpen was hit-and-miss during the 2-4 homestand.

For Colorado to avoid becoming the fifth franchise in MLB history to lose 100-plus games four seasons in a row, the bullpen will need to pitch better than the 4.87 ERA it possessed entering Wednesday’s finale. That mark ranks second-worst in the NL, better than only the Nationals (5.13).

On Wednesday, right-handers Jimmy Herget and Zach Agnos combined to yield seven runs (five earned) over three innings. And on a trade deadline note, right-hander Antonio Senzatela’s market value has fallen over the last month. He had a 1.36 ERA at the end of May, but has posted a 7.94 ERA across June and July. That includes giving up a two-run homer in one inning of work in Monday’s loss.

Herget, who has an 8.59 ERA in 8 games in July, was blunt in his assessment of his performance on Wednesday.

“I was absolutely terrible,” Herget said. “I’ve had some spots this year where I’ve been really, really good, but this run has been pretty brutal. The season’s a roller-coaster… We have very capable relievers, we’re just in a little rut right now.”

Tyler Stephenson went deep twice, Hunter Greene struck out seven over six innings and the Cincinnati Reds weathered a three-homer afternoon from Hunter Goodman to beat 9-6 on Sunday.

It was the third career multi-homer game for Stephenson — two of them against the Rockies. He also had a double. The Reds’ catcher is batting .357 in 23 games versus Colorado, with nine homers, 17 RBIs and nine doubles.

Goodman’s big day included two homers off Greene — a solo shot in the first and a two-run blast in the sixth — along with another two-run shot off reliever Sam Moll in the eighth to make it 9-5. He also hit three homers at . The All-Star catcher is the first Rockies players to notch two three-homer games in the same season.

The Reds’ offense heated up quick on a sweltering afternoon (98 degrees Fahrenheit, 37 Celsius) at Coors Field. Nathaniel Lowe hit a two-out, three-run homer off Ryan Feltner (3-4) in the first and Stephenson soon followed with a two-run shot.

They made it 8-1 in the second on a three-run homer from Sal Stewart.

Greene (2-1) allowed three runs in his third start since returning from the injured list on July 4. He was sidelined after undergoing surgery in March to remove bone chips from his right elbow.

Colorado rallied in the ninth as Willi Castro led off the inning with a homer off Emilio Pagán. After a single from Kyle Karros, Pagán struck out two and got Edouard Julien to pop out in foul territory to end the game as the Reds took two of three in the series.

Up next

Reds: Kick off a three-game set in Seattle on Monday. Lefty Andrew Abbott (5-5, 4.11) will take the mound for the Reds.

Rockies: Start a three-game series Monday against Washington. The Rockies are slated to send lefty Kyle Freeland (2-8, 7.36) to the mound.

The Dodgers found that out this week. For the third consecutive game, the Rockies made an early Dodgers’ lead disappear, forcing the Dodgers to put together a game-winning rally in the eighth inning to beat them, 4-3, on Wednesday night.

The Dodgers took two of three in the series but all three games were one-run decisions, .

“I think that catching a lead, letting teams hang around and kind of nip their way back, and then you kind of leave it for chance – we did that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “And to those guys’ credit – they’re young, they’re excitable, they want to make their mark, so they’re competing. But yeah, we did that. Didn’t feel great, but you know, fortunately, we won a series, But that����ap not the way you want to do it.”

Making his first major-league start (second appearance), the 10th pick in the 2022 MLB draft, right-hander Gabriel Hughes got off to a shaky start.

He gave up a one-out single to Tommy Edman and a double to Freddie Freeman. Back-to-back walks forced in a run and .

Hughes struck out Alex Call – – to end the inning.

Hughes is a quick learner – he got his degree in biology from Gonzaga in just three years. He course-corrected after that rough first inning and struck out five of the next seven Dodger batters after Tucker’s single and retired 15 in a row before the Dodgers had another hit.

By then, the Rockies had erased the three-run getaway in a mixed bag of a start from Roki Sasaki.

Sasaki came in on a four-start stretch during which he had a 10.66 ERA, was hit for a .300 average and completed five innings just once .

This was better than that. He made it through six innings and retired the last nine batters he faced.

But he also gave up solo home runs to and in the second inning and walked the No. 9 hitter, Brett Sullivan, to start the third inning. A wild pitch, a ground out and a sacrifice fly turned that into the tying run.

It looked like Sasaki’s night might go further south when he gave up a single to TJ Rumfield to start the fourth inning and Karros bounced a double down the third-base line. But Sasaki struck out Troy Johnston and Julien, then got Ezequiel Tovar to fly out. He didn’t give up another hit in his six innings.

“It was good to see him just bow his neck and go compete,” Roberts said. “He had given up three runs at that point, and there was some stress, and second and third, nobody out, and he found a way to get some punchouts and a fly ball, and get out of that inning. And you can see the demeanor walking off the mound, the confidence.”

Sasaki walked off with a 5.33 ERA for the first half of the season with the Dodgers left to point at his May performance (a 3.18 ERA in five starts) for signs of progress.

“When you look at the numbers, I’m not satisfied with that,” Sasaki said through his interpreter. “But I was able to keep (in) the rotation and the velocity has kind of gotten a little bit up. So I’m kind of happy with it.”

Roberts acknowledged the “inconsistent” character of Sasaki’s first half and acknowledged there is “room for growth.”

“Certainly, the month of May was fantastic,” Roberts said. “I think he’s just continuing to get better and to learn himself. … I think there’s improvement. I do think that from the outset of the season to as we sit here on July 8, he’s a grade and a half better than what he was when he started the season.”

The Dodgers’ bullpen kept the score tied in the eighth inning despite a throwing error by third baseman Max Muncy and a double by Jake McCarthy to start the inning and an intentional walk to load the bases with one out. Alex Vesia and Edgardo Henriquez combined to strand all three.

In the bottom of the inning, the Dodgers didn’t waste their opportunity. Singles by Edman and Freeman put runners at the corners with one out against Rockies reliever Antonio Senzatela. Betts fell behind in the count, 1-and-2, but fouled off three pitches, worked the count full and stroked the ninth pitch of the at-bat into center field to drive in the go-ahead run.

“I was just trying to drive it to start,” Betts said. “And once I got down, I don’t know, I just had this calmness, to just kind of relax. Can’t force it. You can’t hit a bad pitch. You still have to get something decent to get the job done. And I think kind of relaxing actually helped me a lot.”

There wasn’t a whole lot of calmness or that kind of confidence to Betts’ game for the first couple of months of the season. But he has turned things around since mid-June.

“He’s got some confidence again,” Roberts said. “He feels good where he’s at physically. … I’m happy with what he’s done over the last month. And he’s come a ways.”

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LOS ANGELES — Dalton Rushing singled in the winning run against a drawn-in infield in the 11th inning, rallying the Dodgers to an 8-7 win over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night in Los Angeles’ first extra-innings game of the season.

The Dodgers improved to 60-32, the first team in the majors this season with 60 wins. They were the only team in the majors not to have played extras. It was also their first extra-inning game since Game 7 of last year’s World Series, when they beat Toronto for their second straight championship.

Teoscar Hernández started the bottom of the 11th at second base. Max Muncy was intentionally walked by Jimmy Herget (0-3). Pinch-hitter Tommy Edman’s sacrifice bunt moved Hernández to third and he scored on Rushing’s third hit of the game.

The Dodgers tied the game 7-7 in the 10th. Andy Pages started the inning at second and took third on Freddie Freeman’s groundout to first against Brennan Bernardino. Pages scored on second baseman Edouard Julien’s fielding error of Mookie Betts. Betts took second on Tucker’s single before Hernández lined into an inning-ending double play, with Tucker doubled off first.

Jake McCarthy’s groundout to first base gave the Rockies a 7-6 lead in the 10th.

Cole Carrigg began the inning at second base and took third on Tyler Freeman’s sacrifice bunt off Dodgers reliever Edgardo Henriquez (3-0). McCarthy grounded to first and Freddie Freeman stepped on the bag and fired to the plate, where Carrigg scored under the tag of Rushing.

There appeared to be heated words exchanged. Both dugouts emptied and both bullpens came part of the way onto the field. Muncy ran in to move Rushing away from the mound before calm was restored.

The Rockies tied the game 6-all in the ninth. Kyle Karros had an RBI double off Dodgers closer Tanner Scott. Carrigg’s two-run double to deep center with the bases loaded scored the tying runs. Hunter Goodman was also called safe at the plate, which would have been the go-ahead run, but the Dodgers challenged the call.

They got the call overturned and then Rockies challenged a different aspect of the play, claiming Rushing had violated the blocking the plate rule. But Colorado lost the challenge, forcing extra innings tied 6-6.

Shohei Ohtani drove in four runs, highlighted by his 299th career homer.

Up next

Rockies RHP Michael Lorenzen (3-9, 6.91 ERA) starts Tuesday against Dodgers RHP Justin Wrobleski (10-2, 2.80).

This story has been corrected to say that Hunter Goodman scored the Rockies’ run in the ninth inning that was overturned to an out call, not Brett Sullivan.

That����ap what happens when a team carries a seven-run lead into the eighth inning, blows it and trails by a run entering the bottom of the ninth before winning in extras.

Royce Lewis delivered the game-winning hit, a single up the middle against Rockies reliever Jimmy Herget to complete a 9-8 victory at Target Field. It was his first career walk-off hit.

The Twins cruised to a 7-0 lead by the fifth inning and starting pitcher Taj Bradley pitched seven strong innings against the Rockies, the team with the worst record in baseball.

Not even that was safe for the Twins bullpen, which entered Friday with the worst bullpen ERA in the majors (5.30).

It was a slow and steady collapse. Bradley left two runners on base in the eighth inning, a broken-bat double and a walk, when he exited to an ovation from the announced crowd of 27,317.

Kody Funderburk surrendered three hits in the eighth inning, allowing both of Bradley’s runners to score and one of his own.

With a four-run lead in the ninth, Eric Orze issued a leadoff walk before former Twins infielder Edouard Julien hit an RBI double that bounced past diving left fielder Austin Martin, who had just entered as a defensive replacement.

Jake McCarthy followed Julien’s hit with a two-run homer.

That brought Anthony Banda to the mound. He gave up a double to Mickey Moniak and a no-doubt homer to Hunter Goodman that electrified the Rockies dugout and drew loud boos from the home crowd.

Eleven months after the Twins traded their five best relievers, including North St. Paul native Louis Varland, who is a lock to make his first All-Star team, the bullpen has sunk into depths unknown.

The Twins tied the game in the bottom of the ninth after Martin hit a one-out single, advanced to second on a single from Ryan Kreidler and then scored when Rockies third baseman Willi Castro misplayed a one-hopper from Byron Buxton.

Rockies starter Tomoyuki Sugano yielded eight hits and seven runs in five innings, matching the most earned runs he’s allowed in his two-year major league career.

Three batters into the bottom of the first inning, the Twins had a 2-0 lead. Kody Clemens smacked his 12th homer of the season on Sugano’s fifth pitch of the evening.

Lewis opened the second inning with a single to left field, and Brooks Lee made it back-to-back innings with a two-run homer when his fly ball to right field landed a few feet from the right field foul pole.

Sugano retired 10 straight batters before the Twins scored three runs with two outs in the fifth inning. Trevor Larnach started the rally with a double to right field and Buxton, who was 1 for 27 when batting with two outs and a runner in scoring position this year, followed with an RBI double to left field.

After Clemens drew a nine-pitch walk, drawing cheers from teammates in the dugout, Josh Bell lined a 94-mph sinker that didn’t sink for a two-run double past diving center fielder Cole Carrigg for a 7-0 lead.

Bradley, who notched his 500th career strikeout, matched his longest start of the season. After giving up a walk and a single in the second inning, he retired 17 of his next 19 batters as he overpowered hitters with a fastball-heavy mix.

Jake McCarthy hit a bases-loaded triple down the left-field line off closer Aroldis Chapman to lift the Rockies to a wild, redemptive, 3-2 win over the Red Sox.

“I was just trying to put it into play,” said McCarthy, who connected on Chapman’s 99.6 mph sinker. “I wanted anything but a strikeout or a double play ball. I was just looking for a good pitch to hit.”

The Rockies connected on eight consecutive hits off Boston relievers Garrett Whitlock and Chapman over the last two innings to pull out the victory, although baserunning errors in the eighth appeared to have cost Colorado the game.  According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Colorado is the first team since at least 1961 — when the expansion era began — with eight hits in their final eight plate appearances of a game.

The winning rally began with rookie first baseman TJ Rumfield steering Chapman’s 0-2, 85.3 mph slider into left field. Then Hunter Goodman hit a solid single to left, and rookie Cole Carrigg put down a nifty bunt between the mound and third for a base hit to load the bases.

Then came McCarthy’s moment.

“That was surreal, and it obviously hasn’t sunk in,” McCarthy said. “Off a great pitcher like that … it all happened so fast. I just want to give credit to my teammates. You saw the inning before, it was like five straight line drives.”

Monday’s victory gave the Rockies their third walk-off win of the season, and it was just the third time in franchise history that the Rockies won a nine-inning game in walk-off fashion when they entered the ninth inning with no runs. Also, Colorado improved to 11-10 in one-run games after going 18-23 in one-run games during last year’s 119-loss season.

“That was incredible,” Schaeffer said. “Eight straight hits to end the ball game there against two world-class pitchers, Whitlock and Chapman. I mean, they don’t quit. We’ve been saying it all year. We fight till the end, and tonight we got rewarded for it. I mean, just hats off, hats off to all of them.”

Jake McCarthy clears the bases with a WALK-OFF TRIPLE

— MLB (@MLB)

The ninth inning was pure redemption, because a Keystone Cops eighth inning was a baserunning disaster.

With one out and two men on, Edouard Julien was thrown out at plate trying to score on Willi Castro’s bloop single to centerfielder Ceddanne Rafaela. Julien got a green light from third base coach Andy Gonzalez, but Julien was thrown out by four steps.

Then Tyler Freeman singled to right. This time, Mickey Moniak got the stop sign at third from Gonzalez, but Castro motored past second base, got caught in no-man’s land and was easily thrown out.

Schaeffer was quick to defend Gonzalez. Asked if the third base coach should have held up Julien, Schaeffer said, “No, I’ll never say that. I coached third base in the big leagues for a couple years, and it’s an extremely hard job. I will never never say that. Rafaela made a perfect throw.”

Regarding Castro getting thrown out, Schaeffer said, “We just have to run with our heads up to see what’s going on.”

The wild ending came on the back of a tight pitcher’s duel.

Boston finally broke through against Rockies right-hander Ryan Feltner with two outs in the sixth. Wilyer Abreu reached on a low roller to third baseman Kyle Karros and Wilson Contreras ripped Feltner’s 2-2 fastball into the right-field corner to score Abreu. Feltner walked Jarren Darren, advancing Contreras to second, setting up Caleb Durbin’s run-scoring single to left.

Feltner rode a rollercoaster but pitched well enough for Colorado to win. He worked six innings, giving up two runs on four hits. He struck out two and walked four.

“I felt good, I was efficient and I felt like all of my stuff was working in the zone,” Feltner said. “I was not super-sharp in the beginning, but I was able to settle in.”

Feltner walked Mickey Gasper to open the game, but Gasper was erased on a double play. Then Feltner walked Abreu but got out of the inning unscathed when Contreras flew out to center fielder Cole Carrigg.

Colorado had no solution for Red Sox lefty Jake Bennett, who allowed just four hits (all singles), struck out nine and walked none. The Rockies’ mini-threat in the third was snuffed out by a diving catch in center by Rafaela. Karros hit a one-out single to left and Ezequiel Tovar followed with a dying line drive to center, but Rafaela made his catch for the second out. Castro lined out to center for the third out.

Pitching probables

Tuesday: Red Sox RHP Sonny Gray (8-1, 3.12, ERA) at Rockies LHP Sean Sullivan (0-1, 10.29), 6:40 p.m.
Wednesday: Red Sox LHP Ranger Suarez (3-3, 2.93) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-7, 7.36), 1:10 p.m.

TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM

The Rockies never let the Chicago into the game, and the usual chants of “Let’s go Cubbies!” that envelop Coors Field were muted and infrequent.

Carrigg, making his major league debut, electrified the crowd in the fifth inning with a triple down the right field line. The speed that made him such a fan favorite at Triple-A Albuquerque was on full display as he rounded first, blew around second, and slid headfirst into third for his first major league hit.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way than to have a triple for my first one,” said the 24-year-old, whose grimy jersey was covered with dirt and shaving cream, and soaked with beer after a postgame victory shower. “I love pushing it and going for three. It’s the best feeling in the world. It was awesome.”

Manager Warren Schaeffer thought so, too.

“Just pure joy,” Schaeffer said. “It couldn’t have been a better first hit for a player like that. Super exciting, just watching him run around the bases like a young colt. Impressive. Fun. Happy for him, happy for his folks, and for all the people who came to watch him. That was vintage Cole Carrigg.”

Carrigg joined Ryan Ritter (June 6, 2025 vs. the Mets) as one of only two Rockies to record a triple in their first big-league game, and also the only two Rockies players to record a triple as their first major league hit.

The Rockies staked an early lead on Goodman’s two-run, opposite-field homer in the first off right-hander Colin Rea. Goodman has 18 home runs, the most for a catcher in franchise history before the All-Star break. He broke his own record of 17, set last season.

Goodman usually pulls the ball when he hits home runs, but he said he’s been trying to make some adjustments with his swing.

“I’ve been working on some stuff in the cage, hitting fastballs,” said Goodman, who has homered in five of his last seven games. “I’ve been struggling to hit four-seam (fastballs) more than I have in the past. I have been doing a lot of work on that.

“I wasn’t trying to go ‘oppo’ on purpose, but I got a pretty good pitch to hit on 0-2, and it worked out. I put a good swing on it … went with it.”

Tovar led off the second with a 433-foot missile to left-center, his fourth homer of the season.

Edouard Julien, who’s broken out of a deep May slump, went 2 for 3 with a double and drove in three runs.

Sugano did what he’s been doing: provided a solid foundation and put Colorado in a position to win. The veteran right-hander pitched five-plus innings, yielding three runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out three.

He was not very efficient, needing 93 pitches (54 strikes) and falling behind in a lot of counts, in part because the Cubs weren’t biting on split-finger. But he never let the game spin out of control, as so many Colorado starters have done lately.

“They were taking my splitter down, but on the other hand, I was able to throw my two-seamer and four-seamer well, and that was really helpful,” said Sugano, who improved to 6-4.

He became the first Rockies starter to notch at least six wins in their first 13 starts with the club since Kyle Freeland, German Marquez, and Antonio Senzatela all did it in 2017.

“Maybe some abnormaly deep counts for  ‘Tomo’ tonight, but he made pitches when he had to,” Schaeffer said. “I thought his slider was really good tonight. He gave us a chance to win, as he always does.”

Sugano did lose his edge in the sixth when Chicago leadoff hitter Michael Busch led off with a 424-foot homer to left. Busch ripped a 3-2 fastball left over the middle of the plate and high in the zone. When Sugano subsequently gave up a single to Alex Bregman, Sugano’s night was done.

Colorado’s bullpen, a disaster area of late, put the Cubs away with relative ease. Four Colorado relievers — Seth Halvoren,  Brennan Bernardino, Antonio Senzatela and Jaden Hill — were charged with no runs and gave up only two hits.

During their last four games at Coors, Colorado’s bullpen had allowed 35 earned runs, the most earned runs allowed in a four-game span at home in franchise history. The 35 earned runs in a four-game span at home tied the most allowed by any major league team since earned runs became an official statistic (1912 National League, 1913 American League). The 1928 Phillies also allowed 35 earned runs from July 31 to  Aug. 4.

Pitching probables

Wednesday: Cubs LHP Shota Imanaga (4-6, 4.74 ERA) at Rockies RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-8, 8.01), 6:40 p.m.
Thursday: Cubs RHP Edward Cabrera (3-3, 4.99) at Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (2-1, 4.22), 1:10 p.m.
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM

But the fireworks didn’t begin until after sundown when the Brewers scored four runs in the ninth inning and four more in the 10th to shock Colorado, 9-7.

“There was some good and some bad, for sure,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “The boys kept fighting all the way to the end. They were dealing with a ton of adversity late in the game.

“It’s no secret that we have to take care of the baseball, and walks kill you, especially late in the game. We just have to tighten it up towards the end of the game. That’s all.”

Jake Bauers’ two-run double off struggling Colorado reliever Juan Mejia (6.67 ERA) was the big blow of the 10th inning, in which Rockies pitchers walked three. The Brewers won for the first time this season when trailing after eight innings. They are now 1-17 in those situations.

But give Colorado credit for getting up off the mat. Sterlin Thompson’s broken-bat, two-run single to center cut Milwaukee’s lead to 9-7, but Edouard Julien grounded into a double play and Aaron Ashby struck out Jake McCarthy to clinch the game.

Colorado seemed to have the game well in hand, especially when closer Antonio Senzatela took his 1.30 ERA on the mound in the eighth and ninth. But Senzatela melted down in the ninth and committed a critical error as the Brewers rallied for four runs to take a 5-3 lead.

Brice Turang led off the ninth with a single, though it looked harmless enough when William Contreras grounded back to the mound for a likely double play. Except that Senzatela short-hopped the ball into center field. The Brewers’ rally was on.

An RBI single by Bauers, an RBI double by Sal Frelick, and a two-run single by Andrew Vaughn compounded Senzatela’s error and put Milwaukee ahead, 5-3.

Asked if he thought Senzatela “double-clutched” on his errant throw to second base, Schaeffer answered, “That’s very un-Senza like. I think he just threw it (badly) and made an error. That’s very unlike him.”

Asked if he thought Senzatela “got flustered” after committing the error, the manager said, “Does it affect him after that? I would say no. Senza is one of the most level-headed people I have ever met in my life. So, no, he turns the page very well.”

Colorado sent the game into extra innings with two runs in the bottom of the frame when Chad Stevens drew a bases-loaded walk off of Trevor Megill and Hunter Goodman hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field.

Before the late-night craziness turned scorecards into a Rorschach test, Feltner pitched six innings of one-hit, one-run ball in what looked like it would be a quick, easy victory for Colorado. The slider continues to be Feltner’s best pitch.

“The slider has been working the last two starts, and I feel like I can go to it pretty often. … It’s definitely one of my go-to pitches, and it was on tonight,” said Feltner, who has a 0.75 ERA in his two starts since being reinstated from the injured list, where he was rehabbing a sore elbow for much of the spring.

Feltner got better as the game went along. He opened by plunking leadoff hitter Christian Yelich, but no harm came of it. Bauers led off Milwaukee’s second inning with a double, and Feltner walked two and needed 37 pitches to escape the inning. But Feltner limited the damage to an RBI groundout by Luis Rengifo and got out of big trouble by striking out Yelich on a wicked changeup with two men on.

“I thought Ryan attacked the zone very well with all of his stuff,” Schaeffer said. “In the second inning, he got into some trouble and lost his command a little bit and was about one hitter away from being removed from the game. But he came back and started pounding the zone and made a good adjustment.”

Feltner, who retired the last 13 batters he faced, walked two and struck out four. He threw 81 pitches, 51 for strikes.

Colorado backed up Feltner with timely hits early, the biggest a 411-foot home run to left by  Goodman in the third. It was Goodman’s 16th homer, and he’s gone yard in three of his last four games.

McCarthy, leading off, sparked Colorado to a 1-0 lead in the first, smacking a double off Milwaukee right-hander Brandon Sproat. McCarthy stole third and scored on Tyler Freeman’s groundout to second.

Ezequiel Tovar’s leadoff double and Edouard Julien’s RBI single to left put the Rockies ahead, 3-1, in the third.

Pitching probables

Saturday: Brewers RHP Jacob Misiorowski (6-2, 1.65 ERA) at Rockies TBA, 7:10 p.m.
Sunday: Brewers LHP Shane Drohan (2-1, 2.87) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-6, 8.06), 1:10 p.m.
Monday: Off day

Here’s how: In the fourth inning of the Rockies’ 8-2 win over the Angels on Tuesday night, TJ Rumfield hit a 97.1 mph line drive to right center. Angels right fielder Jo Adell caught up to the ball, but it glanced off his glove, ricocheted off his forehead, and went over the yellow line for a home run. Adell’s header gave Rumfield his eighth homer of the season.

It was reminiscent of the moment Canseco used his noggin on May 26, 1993. In that game, Cleveland’s Carlos Martinez hit a high flyball to right field at old Municipal Stadium. Canseco, playing for the Rangers, whiffed on the catch, and the ball bounced off the top of his head for a homer.

Rumfield’s homer was one of three the Rockies launched Tuesday night. Hunter Goodman led off the second with a blast to left, his 15th homer of the season (11th on the road). In Colorado’s five-run fifth, Willi Castro mashed a 433-foot, three-run homer to right. Rumfield immediately followed up with his head-aided homer.

Starter Tomoyuki Sugano set the tone for the Rockies’ win, pitching five strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits, walking two, and striking out five. The veteran right-hander, Colorado’s most consistent starter, improved to 5-4 and trimmed his ERA to 3.98.

Key moments: Colorado sent nine hitters to the plate in the fourth inning, but all of its runs came with two outs. The onslaught began with three consecutive singles by Kyle Karros, Edouard Julien, and Jake McCarthy, and then came to homers by Castro and Rumfield.

Who’s hot: Leadoff hitter Jake McCarthy, who added a double in the sixth to go with his RBI single in the fourth. McCarthy has hit .327 (37 for 113) with eight doubles, two triples, four home runs, 23 RBIs, and five steals over his last 34 games.

Who’s not: Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar went 0 for 4 with a strikeout a night after he went 0 for 5 and struck out five times. Tovar drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to right field in the second. Tovar is hitting .212 with a .583 OPS.

Worth noting: By taking the first two games of the series at Angel Stadium, Colorado clinched its second series in a row. The Rockies won back-to-back series for the first time since Aug. 11-17, 2025, when they took two of three at St. Louis and three of four vs. Arizona.

Pitching probables

Wednesday: Rockies RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-7, 7.22 ERA) at Angels RHP Walbert Urena (2-4, 2.44), 7:38 p.m.
Thursday: Off day
Friday: Brewers RHP Jacob Misiorowski (6-2, 1.65) at Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (2-1), 4.85, 6:40 p.m.
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM

The right-fielder punched a single to right field with two outs in the eighth inning off lefty Tanner Scott to bust up the Dodgers’ combined no-hitter on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. But Freeman couldn’t save the Rockies from a 4-1 loss at the hands of Shohei Ohtani.

The Dodgers’ super-duper superstar put on an incredible show. Not only did he pitch six no-hit innings, but he also led off the Dodgers’ first inning with a 424 homer run to center off of fellow Japanese native Tomoyuki Sugano.

Ohtani became the first pitcher to hit a home run and allow no hits through the first six innings since the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta on Sept. 27, 2015.

The Dodgers, who outscored Colorado 24-10 in a three-game sweep, have beaten the Rockies 10 straight times in Los Angeles.

Key moments: The first inning decided the game. After Ohtani’s leadoff homer, Freddie Freeman hit a one-out homer to left-center off Sugano to make it 2-0.

Colorado scored its lone run off Ohtani in the fourth. TJ Rumfield drew a walk, Ohtani plunked Hunter Goodman, Troy Johnston’s fielder’s choice groundout moved Rumfield to third, and Willi Castro’s groundout scored Rumfield.

Who’s hot: Ohtani, of course, improved to 5-2 on the mound, even though his ERA actually rose from 0.75 to 0.82. His home run was his ninth, and at that point, he was 7 for 8 with three homers and three doubles against Sugano (including both the Nippon Professional Baseball and the majors).

Sugano (4 2/3 innings, three runs allowed on six hits) struck out Ohtani looking in the second inning and got him to ground out to first in the fifth inning.

Who’s not: Centerfielder Jake McCarthy, who went 0 for 3 and struck out three times against Ohtani. And infielder Edouard Julien’s slump keeps getting deeper. He went 0 for 2 with a strikeout. Julien is hitless over his last 34 at-bats, and is 1 for 40 over his last 15 games. The franchise record for consecutive hitless at-bats is 35, set by Ryan McMahon in 2025.

Worth noting: As impressive as Ohtani was, his command was not sharp. He exited the game after throwing 99 pitches through six innings, and only 56 went for strikes. He walked four and hit Rumfield, but he struck out seven.

Pitching probables

Thursday: Off day
Friday: Giants RHP Logan Webb (2-4, 5.06 ERA) at Rockies RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-7, 7.21), 6:10 p.m.
Saturday: Giants RHP Adrian Houser (2-4, 5.30) at Rockies TBD, 7:10 p.m.
Sunday: Giants LHP Robbie Ray (3-6, 4.60) at Rockies RHP Tanner Gordon (0-0, 5.85), 1:10 p.m.
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM