SAN FRANCISCO — Adael Amador and Brett Sullivan each hit a three-run home run Sunday to help the Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants 13-7.

Amador hit a first-pitch fastball into McCovey Cove in the second inning to take 4-1 lead. It was the 23-year-old’s first home run of the season.

San Francisco’s Rafael Devers blasted a three-run shot — his 25th home run this season — in the second.

Kyle Freeland’s gem in opener, hot bats in rubber match propel Rockies to series win in San Francisco

Zac Veen reached on a fielder’s choice and moved to second when Jordan Beck walked before JT Brubaker replaced Sam Hentges with two out in the sixth. Veen scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-7, Amador and Jake McCarthy walked to load the bases and Beck came home with Cole Carrigg was hit by a pitch.

Mickey Moniak followed with a two-run single that made it 10-7.

Hentges (1-5) allowed two runs in 1 1/3 innings in the loss.

Sullivan’s homer down the right field line capped the scoring in the seventh.

Rockies starter Gabriel Hughes allowed eight hits and seven runs through four innings.

San Francisco’s Turner Hill singled in a run in the third inning for his first MLB hit.

San Francisco starter Blade Tidwell walked five while he allowed three hits and six runs, across 4 1/3 innings.

Up next

San Francisco LHP Carson Whisenhunt (3-3, 6.11 ERA) starts Tuesday opposite Guardians LHP Foster Griffin (13-4, 3.25) to open a three-game series in Cleveland.

The Rockies return home as RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (12-5, 4.43 ERA) takes the mound Monday opposite Dodgers’ LHP Blake Snell (0-1, 5.00).

After dropping Monday’s series opener, Colorado rallied with wins on Tuesday and Wednesday to take the series, snapping an eight-series losing streak on the road.

It also broke a longer road series drought within the National League West, as Colorado had previously lost 20 straight road series against NL West teams, tied for the longest such streak against divisional opponents by any team in the Divisional Era (since 1969).

Here are five takeaways from the series victory as Colorado now heads to San Francisco for a three-game series this weekend, before returning to Coors Field on Monday to face the two-time defending champion Dodgers.

The league is adjusting to Gabriel Hughes. Can he adjust back? Following a solid first month in the big leagues in which the rookie right-hander posted a 3.33 ERA over five games, Hughes has come back down to earth in his last two starts.

The Rays tagged him for five runs in five-plus innings on Aug. 4, before the D-backs blitzed him for 7 runs in 4 innings in Monday’s series opener to inflate his ERA to 5.61. Struggles were inevitable for Hughes, especially considering he ranks in the bottom fifth of baseball in average fastball velocity at 92.3 mph. How Hughes responds down the stretch will be telling for his rotational role in 2027.

Nolan Arenado reaffirms Hall of Fame future against former team. The Arizona third baseman was central in blowing up Hughes in Monday’s opening inning, launching his eighth career grand slam. Now in his 14th big-league season, and with a year left that will take him through his age-36 season, the longtime Colorado fan favorite remains on a trajectory toward Cooperstown.

No, he doesn’t have quite the power he once did. He hasn’t won a Gold Glove Award in four years. But even in his mid-30s, he remains a solid player. He is on track, or ahead of pace, to enter the National Baseball Hall of Fame after he retires by numerous statistical predictors, including the Black Ink, Gray Ink, Hall of Fame Monitor and .

The biggest question left: Will his plaque have a Rockies cap or a Cardinals one? Arenado’s peak years largely came with Colorado, but his departure from LoDo came on a sour note.

Sugano has been stellar — and the Rockies should try to re-sign him. The Japanese starter gave up a pair of solo homers in the first inning of Tuesday’s game, then promptly settled in for a quality start by throwing five shutout innings. When Colorado’s mid-game rally put Sugano in line for the win, he became only the sixth Colorado pitcher to win 12 of his first 17 decisions in a season, and the first to do so since German Marquez in 2019.

The Rockies went 1-for-3 signing veteran free-agent starters this offseason — Jose Quintana hasn’t pitched since late May , and Michael Lorenzen hasn’t been good with a career-high 6.83 ERA. But by hitting on Sugano, the Rockies found a guy who can pitch at elevation (3.93 ERA in 10 starts at Coors Field) and whom they should make a push to bring back in 2027 considering the team’s thin options in the rotation.

Sugano might want to try and sign with a contender, where he could be a valuable back-end starter, but it’s worth a try for Colorado to pursue him again after the club got its money’s worth out of the 36-year-old’s one-year, $5.1 million deal this season.

Veen makes an immediate splash in his season debut. Outfielder Zac Veen, recalled from Triple-A Albuqurque on Tuesday, made his impact felt in Wednesday’s game when he hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning for his first hit of the season. Veen played briefly in the majors last year after debuting, then spent the rest of the season in Triple-A, where he raked all summer before this week’s promotion.

Considering Colorado’s outfield depth, maybe Veen plays well enough down the stretch to stoke front-office confidence that he can be a future lineup pillar. On the other side of the coin, maybe a solid August/September performance makes him a trade candidate.

Whatever happens, there are a lot of cooks in the Colorado outfield kitchen right now, and somebody is likely to be offseason trade bait for starting pitching. It won’t be Mickey Moniak (just signed a new two-year contract) or promising rookie Cole Carrigg, but Veen, Jordan Beck, Troy Johnston and/or Jake McCarthy could all be on the block come November.

The road to avoiding 100 losses is getting tight. Even with the 6-4 win in Wednesday’s series finale, which was much-needed considering the Rockies are now just 4-13 in rubber games this season, the window to avoid becoming the fifth MLB franchise with four seasons of 100-plus losses is narrowing.

The Rockies (48-73) need to go 15-26 down the stretch to avoid 100 losses, a .365 winning percentage that’s slightly lower than its current winning percentage of .397. But keep in mind that 12 of the Rockies’ 13 remaining series are against teams that are in playoff contention. Colorado will just miss further infamy and finish with 98 losses.

Colorado’s 29-year-old outfielder was named the National League Player of the Week on Monday after slashing .519/.500/.852 with three doubles, two home runs, five runs batted in and three stolen bases in six games.

His crowning achievement for the week was a four-hit performance — with two home runs — in Saturday’s 8-6 win over the Cardinals. On the season, he’s hitting a team-leading .306 batting average with 13 home runs, 67 RBIs and a Rockies-best 20 stolen bases. He’s currently on an eight-game hitting streak, dating back to Aug. 1.

He was acquired in January from the Diamondbacks for minor-league pitcher Josh Grosz. McCarthy ranks in the top 10 in the National League in batting average (fourth), doubles (10th) and stolen bases (fifth).

He is the first Rockies player to win the award since catcher Hunter Goodman in September 2025.

Red Sox outfielder Wilmer Abreu was selected as the American League Player of the Week.

McCarthy gave Colorado the lead on the first pitch of the game with his 420-foot drive to right-center field off Matthew Liberatore (5-9), and the Rockies went on to snap a four-game skid.

McCarthy hit his second of the game and 13th of the season in the sixth. He is hitting .305 and has seven hits in his last two games.

Liberatore went five innings and struck out three while giving up five runs on nine hits.

José Fermín had a two-run double to put the Cardinals ahead, but Carrigg hit a two-run double of his own in the third that gave the Rockies the lead for good. Hunter Goodman drove in one more before the end of the inning.

Rumfield got another across in the fifth, and McCarthy belted a two-run shot to center in the sixth.

The Cardinals got within two after Jordan Walker’s eighth-inning homer, and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but Jordan Romano struck out César Prieto swinging for his 10th save.

Rockies starter Kyle Freeland tossed 4 1/3 innings. He struck out three and walked three, and allowed five hits and three runs (one earned).

Five relievers combined to hold the Cardinals to two hits and three runs. Parker Mushinski (1-0) worked 1 1/3 innings for the win.

Up next

RHP Michael Lorenzen (3-10, 6.94 ERA) starts for Colorado opposite Cardinals RHP Michael McGreevy (4-9, 3.59) in the series finale on Sunday.

A week into NFL training camps and it’s already brutal out there. And not just because of the heat.

The Giants’ Cam Skattebo, who’s built like, and plays like, a giant mountain goat, left practice Friday. So did ace edge-rusher Brian Burns. The Seahawks’ Jadarian Price got dinged with lower body soreness. The Packers’ Josh Jacobs suffered a groin injury this past Thursday.

Pro football is one of those games in which the world’s best sprinters have to prepare for a marathon. You can’t win a division title in early August. But if a critical player goes down with an injury, you can sure as heck lose one.

“I don’t like the term. I feel (very) NBA when I hear ‘load management,’ right?” Payton told reporters Thursday at Dove Valley. “But I believe in the science.”

So do the wanna-be scientists up in the Grading The Week (GTW) offices, come to think of it. Which is why we’re glad to see Payton and his staff exercise discretion over the first seven or eight practices of training camp with Broncos veterans as opposed to trying to exercise them to death.

Broncos load management — B

It’s a tricky balance. The only way to master a violent game is to practice violence, repeatedly. The old fuddy-duddies among the GTW crew are now well-known for complaining about the state of NFL tackling in the 2020s, much to the chagrin of the younger crowd. They often speak of tackling as if it were some lost martial art, practiced by shoguns with single-bar facemasks.

On the flip side, the goal here is to be playing football until early February, and your “best” football from, say, late November onwards. The Broncos aren’t The Junction Boys, and Paul “Bear” Bryant has been dead for 43 years.

So if Payton chooses to keep vets such as 30-year-old wideout Courtland Sutton, who blew out his knee early in the 2020 season, on a pitch count until the middle of the month, by golly, that’s good by us. Especially after a week in which two of Sutton’s fellow receivers, Jaylen Waddle and Marvin Mims, Jr., both appeared to tweak something over the first few padded practices of camp. Nik Bonitto and Luke Wattenberg suffered injury scares early in the week, while Friday saw Mims, Nate Adkins and Matt Henningsen all leave practice early — and the latter via a cart.

So if said pal continues to fret about the Broncos being “physically ready” for September 14 in Kansas City, or the rigors of a Week 1-6 stretch that features (and the NFL did this on purpose, surely), the Chiefs, the Jaguars, the Rams, the 49ers, the Chargers and the Seahawks, ask him if he can name the NFL’s “preseason champion” from last year. Or, heck, any “preseason champ” since 2006. We’ll wait.

Rockies’ trade deadline tweaks — C

Rebuilding the Purple and Black from Rox bottom was always going to be a process — and a long one — for Paul DePodesta and Josh Byrnes. And nothing about their trade deadline activity affected our trust in said process. That’s a good thing.

Also good: The club’s top five minor-league prospects, according to MLB.com, are all still here. So is catcher Hunter Goodman, who was never likely to be moved. And outfielders Mickey Moniak (age 28) and Jake McCarthy (29), which was more of a surprise, given their experience and their left-handed bats. Maybe other teams were less enamored with the two veterans’ respective gloves — Moniak sported a minus-2 Defensive Runs Saved total,

If there’s a “down” side, it’s the logjam that remains in front of top hitting prospects, Charlie Condon and Zac Veen. And you tend to get what you give — and when you’re giving away a light-hitting outfielder and two set-up arms, you can’t expect much in return. Of the three minor-league arms acquired, Mason Adams (ex-White Sox) is now, according to MLB.com, the eighth-best arm in the farm system, while Aiden May (ex-Marlins) is now No. 10.

These are the 2026 Rockies.

They are not good, entering the weekend with a 45-70 record. But they are not awful, showing regular competence and offensive potency.

This team competes. This team cares. And it is why the final 47 games matter.

This collection of Rockies does not deserve to be forever stained by history. Colorado must win 18 times over the next six weeks to avoid becoming the first team to post four consecutive 100-loss seasons since the 1962-65 expansion New York Mets.

The ’65 Mets did not have a single player hit 20 home runs, but featured a pitcher with 24 losses. Even Hall of Famer Warren Spahn wore it, going 4-12 with a 4.36 ERA.

For a Colorado organization emphasizing “The Climb,” the incline is manageable. The Rockies must win at a 39% clip over the remainder of the season, the same pace they have performed for four months.

It is not a big ask.

Nobody on Blake Street will launch confetti canyons over 63 wins. But removing the yoke of a century of losses would lighten the burden moving forward.

“Progress is important — 100 losses is definitely something to avoid,” general manager Josh Byrnes told The Post on Friday. “But, big picture, 90-something losses is still not good enough. We have to keep making progress and build towards winning.”

With squinting, it is easy to see the offensive pieces falling into place. After somehow struggling to score the previous three seasons — imagine not being able to catch fish in a barrel — the Rockies are averaging 4.81 runs, while hitting .255 with 130 home runs.

The year-over-year jump is substantial enough — 3.68 runs, .237 average, 160 homers in 2025 — to create optimism. There are multiple players — Hunter Goodman, T.J. Rumfield, Jake McCarthy, Cole Carrigg, Mickey Moniak and Kyle Karros — who represent potential mainstays. And perhaps Ezequiel Tovar will figure out how to handle the high fastball — if not, Carrigg is a viable option at shortstop — and Charlie Condon will provide a September boost.

The lineup is lengthening, and making better swing decisions.

Pitching remains the problem.

The Rays broomed the Rockies earlier this week at Coors Field, showing the ground Colorado must cover to become a contender. There will be hiccups after trading away Antonio Senzatela and Victor Vodnik. But it is time for the young arms, like Nick Frasso, to prove they belong.

The rotation needs a bump.

The second half is about figuring out if Ryan Feltner is worthy of a spot — his stuff plays, but his inconsistency remains maddening. Is Gabriel Hughes’ cutter a sustainable weapon or a mirage? Will Mason Adams, acquired in the Brenton Doyle deal, make his case with a handful of starters over the next month? And can those three anchor the rotation in 2027 — if there is a season — before Chase Dollander returns around July?

The Rockies can always find a veteran bounce-back candidate for cheap, but there is no escape from the prison of the NL West basement or flirting with 100 losses without a young core of starters.

Colorado is projected to win 20 more games than last season. A 63-99 mark is nothing to boast about, but it represents an important baby step toward relevance.

Radio silence: The Columbus Blue Jackets eliminated their radio team, opting to simulcast their television audio feed. This is a horrible trend, depriving fans of a call that fills in the gap and provides color. If the Jackets are that broke, maybe they should cut a player instead of this corner.

He said what? New Purdue athletic director Tommy McClelland delivered one of the worst one-liners ever at an introductory presser. “We are here to win championships and if you don’t want to win championships, go to Indiana.” McClelland admitted his attempt at humor failed. He went off script, but this leak was so bizarre it raises questions about his judgment. Purdue hasn’t won a national championship since the women’s golf team in 2010.

Colorado president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta believes the beleaguered franchise took another step toward returning to contention on Monday, as the Rockies swung three deals ahead of the MLB trade deadline.

The Rockies shipped center fielder Brenton Doyle to the White Sox in exchange for two prospects; sent reliever Antonio Senzatela to the Brewers for two prospects; and completed the whirlwind of a day with a final last-minute deal, giving reliever Victor Vodnik to the Marlins in exchange for infielder Connor Norby and a prospect.

But while the return on those trades can impact Colorado’s big-league team in the near future, and also possibly down the line, who the Rockies didn’t trade amid a sellers market says even more about how the front office feels about the current core of the team. All of the team’s position players, as well as a bulk of the pitchers, are under control through next season.

In the lineup, catcher Hunter Goodman, outfielders Jake McCarthy and Mickey Moniak, and outfielder/first baseman Troy Johnston — all the subject of trade speculation, especially Goodman — remain in purple pinstripes.

“We had a lot of players that were asked about, and we had a set price in mind of what it would take to acquire any of our players,” DePodesta said. “We think we’ve got a lot of good players here. We think we have the foundation of something that has a chance to be pretty good.

“So with that, it was going to take a lot to pry any of those pieces away. And I don’t think we got particularly close on any of those players because our internal price was going to be higher than what the market would bear.”

While the Red Sox — one of the teams interested in trading for the slugging Goodman — paid a premium for a catcher DePodesta says the Rockies didn’t hear any offers that warranted trading Goodman, who is tied for second in baseball with 33 homers. Goodman has a lot more power than Rutschman, but the former is below-average defensively, while the latter

Boston sent three of its top five prospects to the Orioles in exchange for Rutschman, who has one year of club control left as opposed to Goodman’s three.

“So far this year, (Goodman) has been as good as any offensive catcher in all of baseball,” DePodesta said. “He’s here hopefully going forward for a little while now, and we still have control of him for a few more years. We think he’s the centerpiece of our offensive team right now. So if we did entertain (a trade), it was going to have to be a really substantial deal to do that because we value him really highly.”

One player involved in each of the three of Wednesday’s deals will start in Colorado’s organization in Triple-A.

Right-handed starting pitcher , the White Sox’s No. 8-ranked prospect who was the centerpiece of the return for Doyle, could help the Colorado rotation as soon as 2027. That is an area where the Rockies need the most help in order to become relevant again. Southpaw reliever Mark Manfredi (who came from the Brewers as part of the trade for Senzatela) and corner infielder Connor Norby (big-league experience in return for the Vodnik trade) will join Adams in Albuquerque.

Meanwhile, the Rockies stood pat on Moniak — who is under club control through next season and was the subject of ample trade interest — because DePodesta believes the 2016 No. 1 overall pick by Philadelphia is “an important part of what we’re doing (with our turnaround) … his value both on the field and off the field is really important to us.”

A club source says the Rockies have been working on an extension for Moniak that would eliminate his final arbitration year and add two years to his contract, keeping him in Colorado through the 2028 season. On Monday evening, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding first reported for a price tag of $16.25 million, which a club source confirmed. Moniak is playing on a $4 million salary this year.

The deal will be made official on Tuesday.

“He is a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat for us. He’s a leader in our clubhouse. He’s a veteran who’s been around a little bit longer,” DePodesta said. “He’s also been in some different organizations. So he knows what it should look like. He also knows maybe what it shouldn’t look like, which is just as valuable. And that’s important, not just for his peers in the clubhouse, but also for me and for (manager Warren) Schaeffer as we try to shape our culture here.”

Because of the control that the Rockies have over the majority of their roster, DePodesta says he entered 2026 viewing the season as the start of a multi-year runway to see how the club could improve. That gave Colorado “a lot less sense of urgency” to sell off more players at the deadline.

“(These position players who were the subject of trade interest) are playing well for us,” DePodesta said. “There’s no reason for us to move them unless it gave us a real opportunity to improve ourselves.”

DePodesta added that when he came to Coors Field on Monday, he wasn’t set on any of the three trades that ended up finalizing prior to the 4 p.m. deadline. The Rockies had extensive conversations with the White Sox and Brewers over the past week, but the specifics of those trades came into focus on Monday, and the Vodnik deal with Miami was largely put together over the course of the day.

To cap off a day of ample roster activity, the Rockies recalled outfielder Jordan Beck and right-handed reliever Nick Frasso from Triple-A ahead of the series opener against the Rays at Coors Field. Frasso, who was acquired via a July 20 trade that sent reliever Seth Halvorsen to the Dodgers, will be the ninth Colorado player to debut this season.

The Rockies sent the center fielder to the White Sox on Monday, hours ahead of the MLB trade deadline, in exchange for two prospects.

In return for the Gold Glove outfielder, Colorado gets right-handed starting pitcher (Chicago’s No. 8-ranked prospect) and infielder (unranked).

The emergence of Jake McCarthy and rookie Cole Carrigg into the Rockies’ lineup made Doyle, who has a controllable contract through 2029, expendable. McCarthy, who came over via an offseason trade with the Diamondbacks, is hitting .289 which ranks 13th in baseball. And Carrigg, who debuted on June 9, is hitting .305 with 5 homers through 46 games.

And the trade directly addresses Colorado’s most pressing need: starting pitching depth.

“With (the trade for) Brenton Doyle, we got a starting pitcher that has a chance to impact our rotation as early as 2027,” Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta said. “… Probably the only way we would have moved Brenton was with a guy we thought could be one of our starting pitchers in relatively short order.”

Rockies sweep Royals at Coors Field as MLB trade deadline intrigue peaks

Doyle won consecutive Gold Glove Awards in 2023 and '24 while looking like a future pillar in the lineup. In the latter season, Doyle batted .260 with 23 homers and 30 steals while accumulating 3.9 bWAR. But his offense fell off last season, and then nosedived in 2026 as Doyle spent more than two months on the injured list with oblique and and groin issues. He is hitting .214 with one homer.

During Doyle's time on the IL, Carrigg and McCarthy shared duties in center field.

"We've talked about wanting three center fielders out there," DePodesta said. "So it wasn't a situation where we were thinking, 'Oh, well, we're going to move (one of) them.' But the fact that Jake has played so well, and Cole has played so well, at least freed us up a little to entertain it probably more than we would have five months ago."

Colorado re-instated Doyle from the IL last week ahead of the series against the Royals at Coors Field. He played in Friday and Saturday's game, with one hit in each game, but did not play in Sunday's series finale. For Doyle, the trade presents a chance to finally play for a contender. Doyle was a starter on three straight 100-plus loss teams in Colorado, but will now suit up for AL Central-leading White Sox, who are one of baseball's biggest surprises just two years after setting a modern record with 121 losses.

"We're happy for him that he's going to have chance to compete this year and get into the postseason," Colorado outfielder Mickey Moniak said. "Maybe a little change of scenery will be good for him (and his bat), and I know that as well as anyone."

In Adams, the Rockies get a prospect who is close to debuting after coming off Tommy John surgery in 2025. A 13th-round pick in 2022 out of Jacksonville University, the 26-year-old has a 4.25 ERA in nine games (7 starts) in Triple-A this season. He's a strike-thrower with plus command who has a low-90s fastball with a curveball, sinker, slider/sweeper and changeup that has cutter movement.

He features a low arm slot, allowing him to create good movement on east-west pitches, like the cutter, sweeper and curveball.

For a franchise hurting for starting pitching depth, taking a chance on Adams to become a part of the rotation in 2027 could be worth it. He is not on the 40-man, but would likely be added  this offseason if he doesn't get promoted to this big leagues this summer. On paper, his potential is a strong return for Colorado in the trade, considering the Rockies' outfield depth, Doyle's injuries this year and Doyle's lack of offensive productivity the last couple seasons.

Prior to his elbow injury, Adams posted a strong 2024, with a 2.44 ERA in 18 games in Double-A before getting a late-season promotion to Triple-A. That season included a 5.32 strikeout/walk ratio.

With Vielma, the Rockies are looking far down the road. The 16-year-old Venezuelan just completed his first season in the Dominican Summer League, where he slashed .337/.508/.474 while playing most third base, but also second and first.

"If you have a .500 on base in any league (like Vielma does in the DSL), that's pretty good, right?" DePodesta said. "He controls the strike zone really well. There's a really good foundation there offensively. Obviously, he's a long way away. But what he's done so far has been really impressive."

Doyle's trade was the second such move the Rockies made leading into the deadline, as Colorado also sent reliever Seth Halvorsen to the Dodgers on July 20 in exchange for Triple-A reliever Nick Frasso and Class-A outfielder Landyn Vidourek. And it ended up being the first of three deals that Colorado swung on Monday, as the Rockies also traded two relievers: Antonio Senzatela to the Brewers and Victor Vodnik to the Marlins.

After losing their previous six series, the Rockies took three from the Royals this weekend to open a six-game homestand at Coors Field. In the process, Colorado surpassed its 43-win total from 2025 while also showcasing several roster pieces whom the Rockies could move ahead of Monday’s 4 p.m. MT deadline.

In Friday’s homestand opener, right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano threw 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball Sugano’s been Colorado’s best starter this year, with a 4.47 ERA and 1.9 bWAR in 19 starts. That includes a 3.78 ERA and 7-2 record within hitter-friendly LoDo. He’s surged as of late, with a 2.95 ERA in three second-half starts.

Sugano’s salary is affordable ($5.1 million this year) and he’ll be a free agent at the end of the season. Among the teams in the hunt for the playoffs, the AL East-leading Rays, NL Central-leading Brewers and wild card contenders in the Cubs, Diamondbacks and Phillies could all use another reliable starter for a postseason push.

Saturday’s blockbuster trade that sent Cy Young southpaw Tarik Skubal from the Tigers to the two-time defending champion Dodgers took the top starting pitcher off the market.

Skubal, who is on an expiring contract, was dealt for three prospects in a deal that lacks a wow factor for Detroit’s return. The Tigers got outfielder Zyhir Hope, MLB Pipeline’s No. 25 prospect, plus right-handers River Ryan (No. 68) and Brady Smith (the Dodgers’ 17th-ranked prospect).

Of course Sugano won’t demand a return like Skubal, who is just the sixth reigning Cy Young winner to be traded in-season. But for a team desperate to shore up the back end of their rotation with someone who can gobble up quality innings, Colorado could get a prospect or two in return for the Japanese veteran.

In Saturday’s 12-6 win, all-star catcher Hunter Goodman continued his torrid season with two homers in his MLB-best sixth multi-homer game of the season. Pitchers are scared to attack Goodman with the fastball but he continues to hammer offspeed pitching, with his 32nd homer coming on a slider and his 33rd coming on a changeup. His 33 homers are tied for second in the majors with the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber, with the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez setting the pace at 35.

Somewhat suspiciously, a day after blasting 808 feet worth of homers amid a 4-for-5, 5-RBI day, Goodman sizzling bat was not in the lineup in Sunday’s 8-1 victory that was highlighted by Kyle Freeland’s first career complete game. It was the Rockies’ first complete game since Chad Kuhl threw one on June 27, 2022, as Freeland allowed just one run on five hits and two walks. The 115-pitch effort came amid 99-degree temps at first pitch, the second-hottest first pitch temperature in Coors Field history behind a 100-degree game in 2012.

Back to Goodman: While there are reservations about Goodman’s defense — his sabermetrics at the position — his overwhelming offense and the fact that there are several teams in the playoff chase in need a power bat at the position could outweigh those concerns.

Whatever the case, the asking price for Goodman remains high.

Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta previously told The Denver Post a couple weeks ago that the return to trade Goodman would need to be substantial, as the front office sees him as a piece of Colorado’s next competitive team. So whatever the Rockies could get in a last-minute deal for the catcher would have to accelerate the club’s hopes of a rebuild faster than keeping Goodman’s power bat in the lineup for the three more years does.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosental reported last week that the Rockies want multi-player packages in return for Goodman. Colorado told Boston and Tampa Bay those packages would need to included each organization’s top prospect (shortstop Franklin Arias of the Red Sox and outfielder Theo Gillen of the Rays). The Yankees, whose catcher Austin Wells is hitting .162 with 7 homers, figure to remain in the mix as well.

Colorado’s other most obvious trade candidates are outfielders Mickey Moniak and Jake McCarthy, plus reliever Antonio Senzatala. McCarthy is among the best hitters in the National League with a .289 average along with 11 homers, including one Sunday, while Moniak is hitting .273 with 17 homers. Senzatela, who has a $14 million club option for 2027, has a 3.61 ERA in 34 games this season.

Trading Moniak or McCarthy would conceivably be a quick way to clear a roster spot for the debut of Charlie Condon, the first baseman/corner outfielder who is one of Colorado’s top prospects and has been knocking on the door in Triple-A Albuquerque.

Kyle Freeland gave up one run and struck out eight in his first career complete game, Jake McCarthy hit a three-run homer, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Kansas City Royals 8-1 on Sunday to finish off a three-game series sweep.

The 99-degree temperature at first pitch made it the second-hottest Rockies home game in franchise history, behind only a 100-degree game against the Washington Nationals on June 25, 2012.

Rockies sweep Royals at Coors Field as MLB trade deadline intrigue peaks

Freeland (3-10) won for just the second time in his past 18 starts. Colorado’s veteran left-hander had allowed 19 earned runs in 22 1/3 innings over his previous four starts. It was the first complete game for the Rockies since 2022.

Brett Sullivan had two RBIs and two doubles, and rookie Cole Carrigg matched a career high with three hits for Colorado, which outscored the Royals in the series by a combined 23-8.

McCarthy’s home run was his 11th of the season and he now has 34 RBIs in his past 26 games

The Royals were swept for the ninth time this season, the most of any team in the majors. They’ve lost five of their past six games.

Royals starter Seth Lugo (4-7) gave up five earned runs and walked five in five innings.

Luke Maile drove in the run for the Royals, who put only two runners on base after the third inning.

Up next

Rockies: RHP Michael Lorenzen (3-9, 6.54 ERA) and Colorado will host LHP Ian Seymour (7-3, 4.37) and Tampa Bay on Monday.

Royals: RHP Randy Dobnak (1-0, 1.04) and Kansas City will host RHP Joe Ryan (6-7, 3.52) and Minnesota on Tuesday.