Rockies rookie right-hander doesn’t jump off the charts with his size or his velocity. The 13th-round pick has never been a pitcher defined by hype or overwhelming advanced metrics. But as his junior college coach explained — and as evidenced by three tattered pitchbacks over the course of a single summer at 11 years old — Adams’ journey to the bigs was “built in simple consistency.”

“A lot of guys you see in the majors made big jumps at some point in their career, but Mason never made a big jump,” said , who coached Adams at Florida SouthWestern State College. “Mason, slowly and surely, built himself physically, built himself mentally. He didn’t gain a bunch of weight all of a sudden. He didn’t gain a ton of curveball command all of a sudden.

“At the start of his first year (at Florida SouthWestern), he barely made the team. He was one of the last guys we put on the roster. And even when he went on to Jacksonville (University), I never had anybody call me and be like, ‘Oh my gosh, Mason Adams is suddenly this amazing dominant pitcher.’ He just made consistent jumps, and that’s why he is where he is now.”

That consistency can be traced back to Adams’ upbringing in the rural Florida Heartland, where he first developed the command that led him to fast-track through the minors. Colorado hopes that Adams, who debuted on Aug. 25 at Nationals Park, can help shore up the rotation in 2027 and beyond after the club acquired him in a deadline trade that sent center fielder Brenton Doyle to the White Sox.

The summer that Adams wore out three pitchbacks, Adams’ dad, Todd Adams, would come home from work to a broken pitchback again, sigh, and simply ask his son, “Another one?”

“The net would get frayed, the springs would get stretched out,” Todd Adams recalled with a laugh. “He would stand quite a ways back, all the way in the neighbor’s yard, and throw against it. … We spent a lot of time when he was young on his windup, working on his fastball. I sat on a bucket a lot and he threw and threw and threw. When I wasn’t there, he was constantly out there with the pitchback.”

‘An awesome opportunity’ ahead

Now with the Rockies — a team Adams rooted for and wore the apparel of growing up, because his dad had family who lived in Colorado and they would sometimes vacation to Denver — Adams is getting his shot to prove his worth in the club’s thinned rotation.

in April 2025, costing him all of that season, but returned to the mound in ’26 with a gust of momentum. The White Sox started him out slow, with rehab assignments in rookie ball and then High-A, before Adams was sent to Triple-A Charlotte on June 11.

There, he posted a 4.25 ERA in nine games (seven starts) before being dealt to Colorado on Aug. 3 in a trade that also brought 16-year-old Venezuelan infield prospect Carlos Vielma to the organization. Adams had a 2.08 ERA in three starts for Triple-A Albuquerque before getting called up to take the rotational spot of southpaw Kyle Freeland, who is on the injured list with a pinched nerve in his neck.

“I was building some steam and feeling really good (going into the 2025 season), and then to get hurt at the end of spring training sucked,” Adams said. “Sitting in Arizona all year, that taught me a lot. Then this year, I knew it was a good thing that I was getting traded, even though I wasn’t sure what the whole situation (with the Rockies’ rotation) was or anything like that at the time.

“But now, I know it’s an awesome opportunity ahead of me.”

Heading into his Coors Field debut on Saturday night against the Cardinals, Adams looked solid in his first two big-league starts.

That included four innings of one-run ball in his debut against the Nationals to help Colorado snap a season-worst seven-game losing streak. In his next outing, Adams allowed two runs over five innings in an extra-inning loss in Atlanta. Adams had five strikeouts in both games, and Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer has been impressed by Adams’ poise so far.

“That’s not normal for a young guy to come up and do that his first two starts, especially on the road in hostile environments,” Schaeffer said. “Also (impressive) is his ability to know what he does well on the mound and stick to it. He’s shown the ability to make in-game adjustments already. Obviously, the physical stuff has been really good too — his ability to spin the ball, his ability to throw his heater where he wants to.”

Considering Adams’ average fastball velocity ranks in the bottom quarter of baseball at 92.7 miles per hour, Adams’ success relies on finesse.

In addition to his fastball, Adams primarily uses a sinker, curveball and cutter, and throws from a lower arm slot that allows him to create east-west movement on his pitches. And if his minor-league homer and walk rates translate to the majors — 0.7 HR/9 and 2.4 walks/9, respectively — the Rockies could have a future rotational pillar on their hands.

, Adams’ pitching coach at Jacksonville, says Adams’ effectiveness in filling up the zone hasn’t changed since his Division I days when he entered the Dolphins’ program as a bullpen arm before emerging as

“The art of throwing strikes has been lost a little bit on us these days because we’re so caught up in the metrics, everybody trying to throw 100, the induced vertical break on pitches and all that type of stuff,” Edwards said. “What’s been lost in all that is guys that can truly pitch. And Mason is a pitcher. He’s always been a pitcher.

“So as you’re younger and you have the ability to throw strikes like Mason has always done, then your stuff develops, it makes you a much better pitcher than the guys who develop a little bit faster and throw hard but never really are consistently in the zone.”

Rotation projection for 2027

Adams is one of several young starters the Rockies hope can help fill out their rotation as the club tries to become competitive again.

Colorado’s offense has made dramatic improvement this year, but the Rockies still rank last in baseball with a 6.05 starting ERA, a year after their historic 119-loss team set a modern record with a 6.65 starting ERA. (There’s still plenty of work to do in the bullpen, too, where Rockies relievers rank 26th with a 4.69 ERA.)

Alongside Adams, fellow rookie Gabriel Hughes (who debuted July 3) and third-year big-leaguer Tanner Gordon (who took the rotational spot of Michael Lorenzen after the latter was designated for assignment on Aug. 17) also have chances to show their stuff over the season’s final three weeks. The trio’s opportunity down the stretch is even more important considering likely vacancies in the Rockies’ rotation heading into 2027.

Ryan Feltner remains under club control for two more seasons. Despite a career-worst 5.84 ERA in 21 games this year, he is expected to be cemented into the rotation for next season, barring a surprise. And Chase Dollander, who had season-ending internal brace surgery on his elbow in late June, will be back at some point in 2027. Beyond that, there are question marks.

Tomoyuki Sugano has been Colorado’s best starter this year, even as he’s struggled lately, including an 8.61 ERA in five August starts. Sugano will be a free agent, as will longtime Colorado mainstay Kyle Freeland, who is not going to reach his 2027 conditional player option that vests with 170 innings pitched. The Rockies could try to re-sign one or both of them; whatever happens, it’s likely Colorado will bring in at least some veteran help for 2027, as the front office did with Sugano, Lorenzen and Jose Quintana (injured most of the year) in 2026.

“We don’t know what (president of baseball operations) Paul (DePodesta) and (general manager Josh Byrnes) are going to do in the offseason in terms of acquisitions and building the rotation out that way as well,” Schaeffer said. “But the young arms we’ve got, they’re good pieces, and we like all those guys.

“To be honest, I don’t think the service time matters. We just want guys who are willing to compete here at Coors Field and aid to our winning process. Age (or being a veteran) doesn’t matter for me. Production matters.”

That’s where Adams hopes he can come in, with the same mindset he’s had since arriving as a scrawny, little-recruited pitcher with a high-80s fastball and braces.

“I’m approaching (the future) the same way as I did when I first got into college ball and first got into pro ball — just getting better little by little the entire time,” Adams said. “I just got up here, but of course I want to still be here and I want to be pitching well and helping these guys win (when the rebuild comes to fruition).”

Cubs right-hander racked up nine Ks in Chicago’s 2-1 win over Milwaukee on Thursday at Wrigley Field, and with that, surpassed Hall of Famer Roy Halladay for the most strikeouts by a Colorado-born pitcher.

Gausman’s K tally now stands at 2,119 over 14 sea

sons, besting Halladay’s mark of 2,117 over 16 seasons. Gausman, a former Grandview star, says the achievement of passing a two-time Cy Young winner who threw a perfect game and a playoff no-hitter feels a little surreal.

“Obviously Roy was one of the best pitchers of his generation, so (passing his strikeout mark) is something that has always seemed unobtainable,” Gausman said. “He’s one of the best to ever do it, so to be mentioned in the same sentence as him, you know you’re doing something right. I definitely don’t take this lightly.”

Gausman had long wore No. 34 — Halladay’s number with the Phillies — as a nod to the Arvada West legend. Gausman wore No. 37 and No. 39 at the start of his career with the Orioles, but when Halladay died in a plane crash on November 7, 2017, Gausman decided to change his number to 34 for the 2018 season.

He also wore No. 34 in San Francisco, where he was an All-Star in 2021, and for the past four-plus seasons with the Blue Jays. In Toronto — where Halladay wore No. 32, which is retired by the club — Gausman again made the All-Star team in 2023 and was a pillar on the Blue Jays’ American League pennant team last season.

Toronto in exchange for a pair of prospects. While the Blue Jays currently remain in the thick of a deep American League wild card chase, the Cubs are sitting five games up in the second National League wild card spot.

Gausman is 4-1 with a 4.37 ERA in six starts for Chicago, where he is wearing No. 12 because the last Cub to wear No. 34 was Jon Lester. The southpaw wore the number during the team’s 2016 World Series championship season and through the end of his Chicago tenure in 2020. Prior to Lester, No. 34 was worn

So last month, Gausman thought a change of number would be best upon his arrival on the North Side. Gausman’s daughters picked out his Cubs No. 12, the same number he

“When I got traded, the Cubs asked me what number I wanted, and I was like, ‘Does anybody have 34?’ And they were like, ‘Um, well, no, but we haven’t given it out to anybody since Jon,'” Gausman said. “I didn’t need any extra pressure (with the weight No. 34 carries in Chicago), so I just decided to let that be Lester’s (and Wood’s) thing.”

Gausman has made his name as a premier starter with his splitter, but before adopting that pitch as his signature during his big-league career, he modeled his arsenal after Halladay’s. Gausman was a sinker/breaking ball pitcher in his high school, college and minor-league days, and took cues from watching Halladay dominate with two particular pitches via a sinker paired with a dominating cutter.

“I was a sinker guy for a long time, and Roy was definitely the reason for that,” Gausman said. “If you turned on the TV and watched him pitch, it was ground ball after ground ball, and a lot of weak contact. I always wanted to throw a cutter because of him… he was so good going in on lefties with the cutter, and then throwing the front-hip sinker right after.

“… He was so much fun to watch compete, and that competitiveness is something I’ve always tried to emulate.”

While Gausman has now passed Halladay in strikeouts, he won’t ever catch the late right-hander in other metrics such as wins (Halladay had 203 to Gausman’s 121), WAR (64.2 to 29.4) and complete games (67 to 4), though the two pitchers’ career ERAs are similar (3.38 to 3.86).

No other Colorado-born pitcher , with Hall of Fame reliever Goose Gossage the closest at 1,502. Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland is the only other Coloradan with more than 1,000 Ks at 1,047, which ranks second in club history behind German Marquez’s 1,069.

Halladay’s legacy lives on in Colorado via the , which is presented annually to the top high school senior baseball player, scholar and citizen in the state. Gausman is on the selection committee for that award, as is Freeland.

His Fields of Dreams?

Stockton Sunset Little League, Princeton, W.Va., Bowling Green, Ky., Montgomery, Ala., Port Charlotte, Fla., Surprise, Ariz., Sugar Land, Texas, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, El Paso, Texas, San Diego, Taichung, Taiwan, Tokyo, Japan, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Denver.

Brett Sullivan could not take a hint. Now, 11 years after he was drafted out of the University of the Pacific, he is a hit.

“I am delusionally confident,” explained Sullivan. “I truly never let the idea of quitting enter my head. I just would not let my mind go that way.”

As Sullivan looped a single into left field Wednesday to walk off the Orioles, he stood at second base, arms open wide. Five rookies embraced him. He could live forever in that snapshot, a moment that showed how his patience and perseverance have paid off.

Known only to family, friends and teammates during his decade-long trek through the minor leagues, winter leagues, fall league and World Baseball Classic, Sullivan has emerged as a team leader in his first season in Colorado.

So much so, that if the Rockies avoid 100 losses for the first time in four years — they must win nine of their final 22 games — he will be a huge reason why.

“The boys love him inside the clubhouse, the way he helps bring people together,” pitcher Kyle Freeland said. “He keeps guys’ heads up. It is not forced. You can tell it comes from a genuine place. And it shows his true colors. He cares about his teammates, and he cares about the game.”

Sullivan joined the Rockies as a free agent this offseason. They needed depth behind Hunter Goodman, and Sullivan, like most winters, was looking for a job.

“He was a solid option we liked,” Rockies general manager Josh Byrnes said. “And we quickly realized how good he is at game planning and his attention to detail.”

The Rockies thought they were getting a viable backstop. They did not realize they had landed the ultimate Vibes Guy.

Sullivan wears a smile easily. You don’t enter a season as a 32-year-old with 43 major league games on your resume without loving the sport in an almost unhealthy way.

Sullivan is more Ned Flanders than Ned Yost. A decade as a mascot for MapQuest could have made him bitter. Instead, it made him better, hungrier, and oddly, happier.

“Of course, there are bad days,” Sullivan said. “But that’s when I step back and think about what I actually get to do for a living.”

Outfielder Mickey Moniak knew of Sullivan’s unbending optimism long before he joined the Rockies. He began training in 2017 in Southern California with Sullivan and his brother Tyler, a former pro player. They became fast friends. Moniak attended Sullivan’s wedding.

It is who Sullivan is. People gravitate toward him.

“Brett is so outgoing. He gets along with everybody. It is funny, the running joke is that Brett knows everybody because every time we play a team, he says, ‘What¶¶Òõap up to four guys over there,’^” Moniak said. “Things can get monotonous for us. You get into stretches where you don’t feel good. You can turn inward, but you have a guy like Brett to pull you out of it and let you know that everything is going to be OK.”

Sullivan’s personality led Moniak and Freeland to cast him in an outsized role behind the scenes. They needed a leader in the room, someone with experience, someone who could use humor to bring laughs and foster accountability.

During the opening-week series in Toronto, Sullivan decided it was time to fill the void of silence.

After wins, he brings the team together in the clubhouse and “runs it down.” He picks a game MVP, identifies moments of excellence and pokes fun at mistakes in a lighthearted way that conjures images of the old days of kangaroo courts.

“It is straight off the top of my head. It is the big things. But it is really the little stuff, those details you want to recognize to pump them up. A bunt, a stolen base, it’s about letting them know that is how we are going to win games with this group in this park,” Sullivan said. “It’s like, ‘Hey nobody else saw it, but we saw it.’ It brings us together. We have little chants for certain people now. If someone is a dawg during a game, we are barking.”

A major league season is longer than the last day of school. It requires concentration, professionalism, but players cannot obsess over numbers like CPAs and keep their sanity.

“Every team I have been on seems to have a guy that lightens the mood,” said pitcher Nick Frasso, one of the rookies to greet Sullivan at the second base party on Wednesday. “It really helps.”

Some of the recent Rockies who have taken on the assignment include Ryan Spilborghs, the comic duo of Gerardo Parra and Carlos Gonzalez, Ryan McMahon and Kyle Farmer.

It must be organic. Spend a few minutes with Sullivan, and it is easy to see how he fills the niche. It goes beyond the clubhouse. On the bus from the airport to the hotel when arriving in a new city, Sullivan takes the mic.

“He has some fun. He goes over the upcoming series. Talks about what guys need to know and what we are doing well. And lets them know if they did something dumb,” Moniak said. “He will have new guys come up and sing karaoke. He will ask them about themselves to help teammates get to know them. Brett is the guy who facilitates all of that.”

Let’s be honest. Sullivan could be equal parts Kevin Hart and John Mulaney, and none of it would work without baseline talent.

Sullivan can play. Few backup catchers — a position he switched to three years into his minor league career — have been more productive.

He has 21 extra-base hits in 190 at-bats and has reached base in 22 of his last 27 starts, hitting .297 during that span. And thrown out nine base stealers.

He also joined Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani as the only player to hit a home run in the same game he pitched this season, logging a scoreless inning on May 26 before going deep off infielder Miguel Rojas.

“We definitely didn’t know we were getting that,” Byrnes joked.

Sullivan ranks second in position player appearances on the mound this season, posting a 4.70 ERA in seven outings.

“When I heard that stat about Ohtani, how could you not be impressed?” said Freeland of Sullivan, who averages 61.4 mph on his pitches, maxing out at 75.6 and bottoming at 48.8 . “That’s pretty special.”

Sullivan represents part of baseball’s charm that is easier to appreciate than understand. The game gets into the veins. It is hard to shake even when it takes more than 700 minor league games to reach the big leagues.

“I always believed in him,” said wife, Hunter, who met Brett when he was playing Double-A ball in Montgomery. “It has been a journey. I think it is important he always had support at home. I knew he could do it. Maybe I am delusionally confident as well.”

Sullivan refuses to let baseball’s failure infect him. He provides pep talks that border on, breaks slumps by using a teammate’s bat and follows a daily routine that allows him to enjoy his wake-up-pinch-self occupation.

“In the clubhouse, it is about making sure there are two sides. We have 162 games. And that is serious. But you have to have ways to decompress,” Sullivan said. “If that¶¶Òõap (trash) talking, playing some games, throwing some (challenges) around, I am here for it. I love all of it.”

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WASHINGTON — CJ Abrams had the go-ahead RBI in a five-run fifth inning, Cade Cavalli won his fourth consecutive start and the Washington Nationals defeated Colorado 13-3 on Monday night to send the Rockies to their season-worst seventh consecutive loss.

Daylen Lile homered and drove in five runs for the Nationals, who had dropped three games in a row and seven of eight.

Willi Castro and Ezequiel Tovar homered for Colorado.

After going hitless for the first four innings against Rockies starter Ryan Feltner (5-8), the Nationals opened the fifth with two singles. Nasim Nuñez then laid down a sacrifice bunt toward third that Castro threw down the right-field line for an error, .

to right to drive in Nuñez and give the Nationals a 3-2 lead. Abrams stole third and scored on Abimelec Ortiz’s grounder. Lile and Brady House hit consecutive doubles to add another run.

Abrams, who missed the previous four games with a sprained ankle, went 1 for 4 with two stolen bases as Washington’s designated hitter.

The Nationals added three runs in the sixth and two in the seventh. in the eighth.

Cavalli (12-5) struck out seven and allowed two runs in six innings. He is 7-1 with a 1.98 ERA in eight outings since the All-Star break and has started Washington’s last three victories.

Castro ripped the first pitch of the fourth . He’s hit eight of his 15 home runs since the All-Star break. Tovar led off the fifth , his 10th of the season.

Tovar was removed in the sixth with a strained left wrist. The shortstop got hurt while trying to catch Jacob Young’s single an inning earlier.

Feltner allowed seven runs — five earned — and struck out six in 5 2/3 innings.

Up next

Washington LHP Andrew Alvarez (2-5, 3.60 ERA) pitches Tuesday. Colorado had not announced a replacement for originally scheduled starter Kyle Freeland, who was .

The move was made retroactive to Aug. 21. The Denver native has a 4-10 record with a 6.37 earned-run average and 103 strikeouts in 124 1/3 innings pitched in 23 starts.

Freeland, 33, exited after two outs in the fourth inning on Wednesday against the Dodgers with “neck tightness,” according to the team.

Freeland, who was selected by Colorado with the eighth overall pick in the first round of the 2014 MLB amateur draft, is in the final year of a five-year, $64.5 million extension he signed in 2022. He has a $17 million vesting player option for the 2027 season if he’s able to reach 170 innings this season.

In his 10 seasons with the Rockies, he reached 170 innings just twice.

This is the second time he’s been on the injured list this season, having been on a stint in April due to a left shoulder inflammation.

Colorado selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Blake Adams to fill the spot. Adams, 25, has a 2-5 record with an 8.10 ERA in 17 appearances for Triple-A Albuquerque this year.

After getting blasted 11-5 in the series opener that ended with first baseman/outfielder Troy Johnston pitching for Colorado, the Rockies battled in the final two games of the series at Coors Field, but lost 7-6 and then 6-4 in 10 innings.

“We expect to win every night — I don’t care who we’re playing,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “Every guy (in our clubhouse) expects to win. We fight until the end every night, and that’s something that makes you proud. But the end goal is to win baseball games — it’s not to feel good by coming close. That’s not what we’re here to do. We’re getting there.”

The Dodgers had lost four of their last five series entering this week, but got back on track against their divisional foe that they’ve made a habit of bullying over the past half-decade.

• Colorado’s now gone 19 straight series without a series win against the Dodgers, the longest consecutive stretch against any opponent in franchise history. The second-longest stretch was 12 straight series against the Phillies from 2007 to 2021.

• Shohei Ohtani headlined the first two Dodgers wins this week, with four hits and two homers on Monday followed by another longball on Tuesday, when the Rockies’ late-game rally fell short. Ohtani continues to be the most sensational opposing hitter in Coors Field history, even as he had his 22-game Coors Field hitting streak snapped on Wednesday.

• Willi Castro was Colorado’s star in the Tuesday game, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, a homer and two walks. In Wednesday’s rubber match, Mickey Moniak’s two-run homer in the 7th tied the game 4-4. Moniak’s 20th homer of the season made him the first Rockies outfielder with consecutive 20-plus home run seasons since Charlie Blackmon (2016-19). But in the 10th, a sacrifice fly by Freddie Freeman and an RBI single by Mookie Betts (who homered earlier in the game) sealed the sweep.

• Los Angeles won the season series 10-3 as the Rockies were swept for the eighth time in 2026. It’s the first time Colorado’s been swept in consecutive home series (the Rays also broomed them Aug. 3-5 prior to the Rockies’ season-long nine-game, 11-day road trip) since June 2022.

• Of starting pitching note, Tomoyuki Sugano took the loss in Game 1, Ryan Feltner took the loss in Game 2 and then Kyle Freeland exited in the fourth inning of Game 3 due to neck tightness. Freeland, who had spun three strong starts to open August including his first career complete game on Aug. 2 against the Royals as well as eight innings of one-run ball last weekend in San Francisco, allowed four runs on six hits.

• Of relief pitching note, the Colorado bullpen has been amid a solid stretch. It has allowed one or fewer runs in five of its last six games, with a 2.55 ERA (7 earned runs in 24.2 innings), six walks and 19 strikeouts in that span. Rookie Mark Manfredi, Nick Frasso, Jaden Hill (in his return from the injured list) and Jordan Romano all threw up zeros to send the game into extras. Manfredi, acquired via trade with the Brewers in exchange for Antonio Senzatela on Aug. 3, became the 10th Rockies player to debut this season. It’s now the third straight season that Colorado has had double-digit debuts, and the club’s 35 debuts since ’24 are second behind the White Sox (39).

Colorado resumes its homestand on Friday with a three-game series against Cleveland, which sits 1.5 games out of the second wild card spot in the American League. The Rockies (50-77) need to go 13-22 in the remaining 35 games to avoid their fourth consecutive 100-loss season.

to reach 30 homers for the sixth straight season and Freddie Freeman had two hits and two RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 7-6 on Tuesday night.

Shohei Ohtani has reached 30 HR in all 3 seasons with the Dodgers!

— MLB (@MLB)

Teoscar Hernandez had a triple and double, and Tommy Edman doubled twice as the Dodgers broke out of an offensive slump in Denver.

Los Angeles scored 10 runs in the four-game series against Milwaukee over the weekend. Against Colorado, the Dodgers have scored 18 runs on 24 hits with four homers, including three by Ohtani, in the first two games of the three-game set.

Ohtani’s 30th homer traveled 448 feet into the Los Angeles bullpen off Ryan Feltner (5-7) and gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead in the third inning. The Rockies tied it in the bottom of the inning before Los Angeles went ahead again in the fourth.

Breaking down Shohei Ohtani’s dominance of the Rockies at Coors Field

Edman, Kyle Tucker and Hernandez doubled in the inning to make it 5-3, and Hernandez scored on Freeman’s sacrifice fly.

Eric Lauer (8-6) allowed four runs on six hits with six strikeouts in five innings. The 31-yeare-old left-hander has been one of the best starters for Los Angeles since coming over from Toronto on May 17. He went 6-1 with a 3.48 ERA in his first 11 starts with the Dodgers.

Before the game, Los Angeles placed closer Edwin Diaz on the injured list with neck inflammation and recalled righty Emmet Sheehan from Triple-A. Tanner Scott, elevated to the closer role, earned his 17th save when he got TJ Rumfield to pop out to short with the tying run on.

Colorado’s Will Castro hit his 14th homer of the season, a solo shot in the fifth inning.

Up next

Dodgers RHP Roki Sasaki (5-5, 4.46 ERA) faces Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (4-10, 6.27) in the finale of the three-game series Wednesday night.

The Rockies designated Lorenzen for assignment on Monday ahead of the series opener against the Dodgers at Coors Field, ending the one-year experiment with the veteran who never was able to find any semblance of a rhythm in purple pinstripes. A 2023 all-star with the Tigers who also threw a no-hitter later that season with the Phillies, Lorenzen posted a career-worst year for the Rockies.

Playing on a , Lorenzen’s Coors Field debut for the Rockies offered an early warning for his struggles this season. In that 10-1 drubbing by the Phillies on April 3, the 34-year-old was blasted for nine runs on 12 hits in three innings in the worst home opener loss in franchise history. Philadelphia was up 3-0 before Lorenzen even recorded an out, and posted seven runs in the opening inning.

It didn’t get much better from there for Lorenzen, who leads the majors in hits (168) and earned runs (91) while opposing hitters ripped him for a .338 average, also the worst in baseball. His 7.08 ERA in 26 games (25 starts) is the highest ERA in baseball for pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched. And Lorenzen’s hard-hit rate is 42.6%, the second-worst in the majors only behind another Colorado arm, southpaw Kyle Freeland’s 45.2%.

“It was just time,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said of Lorenzen’s DFA in one of the biggest understatements of the Rockies’ season. Lorenzen ranked toward the bottom in as his eight-pitch mix was utterly ineffective at Coors Field, where he posted a 9.12 ERA in 11 starts.

If Lorenzen isn’t claimed on waivers, he’d be released, and the Rockies will owe him a $250,000 buyout that is part of his club option for 2027. Lorenzen’s departure opens a door for right-hander Tanner Gordon to re-join the rotation as a proving grounds for the rest of the season.

Gordon, 28, has a 5.55 ERA in 17 games (five starts) this season. He posted a 8.65 ERA in eight starts as a rookie in 2024, then a 6.33 ERA in 15 starts last season. The rest of the season will be a chance to show he’s improved enough to warrant a shot at starting in 2027. Gordon’s pitched much better in the second half, with a 3.43 ERA in five relief appearances.

“He’s going to get a shot to pitch every fifth day, and he just needs to keep doing what he’s been doing lately,” Schaeffer said.

Also of note regarding the rotation, right-hander Mason Adams — acquired at the deadline in the trade that sent Brenton Doyle to the White Sox — is off to a good start with Triple-A Albuquerque. He’s allowed two runs over a pair of four-inning starts. Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta said that Adams will get a shot in the rotation either this season or early in ’27.

TJ Shook’s re-arrival. In a corresponding move to Lorenzen’s DFA, the Rockies recalled right-hander TJ Shook from Triple-A. Shook has a 3.02 ERA in 40 games with the Isotopes this season, including 28 games finished and 11 saves.

Colorado will use Shook in a variety of ways out of the bullpen, and Shook says he made adjustments since his debut in June, when he was blasted to the tune of a 9.53 ERA in four games before being sent down. Shook, a starter-turned-reliever, was acquired by the Rockies from the Mets with the first overall pick in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 Draft in December.

“(I used that first MLB stint) to see how my stuff plays (at Coors Field) and I went back to look at some video, fine-tuned some mechanical things on the lower half, and my body’s feeling good, arm’s feeling good, and hopefully I get out there and throw up some zeroes,” Shook said.

Hunter Goodman update. The Rockies’ all-star catcher didn’t play in the series against the Giants over the weekend in San Francisco due to left shoulder inflammation that occurred from a swing in the previous series in Arizona.

Goodman was a scratch again on Monday, and Schaeffer says he remains day-to-day, but didn’t rule out of the possibility of a stint to the injured list. He will be re-evaluated ahead of Tuesday’s game. Missing these games is dwindling Goodman’s outside shot at the franchise home run record of 49, set by Larry Walker in 1997 and Todd Helton in 2001.

Brett Sullivan has been catching in Goodman’s place. The Rockies don’t have another catcher on the roster, so should something happen to Sullivan while Goodman is unavailable, Colorado’s likely emergency catcher is Cole Carrigg. The rookie played the position briefly in college and in the lower minors.

The Thomas Jefferson graduate and Rockies mainstay has struggled this year, with a 6.27 ERA in 22 starts that ranks among his worst seasons in purple pinstripes. But the southpaw has turned it on in August as his contract year winds down, including another gem this weekend in San Francisco to jumpstart Colorado winning a second straight road series.

Freeland threw eight innings of one-run ball in a 5-2 win on Friday at Oracle Park. After San Francisco won 7-1 on Saturday, the Rockies bounced-back with a see-saw 13-7 victory on Sunday to clinch the series against their fellow National League West cellar-dweller.

“As we come down the stretch here, I’ll have a lot of those thoughts the last (six weeks of the season) of what my time meant here and how I want to finish everything up, and how I want to say my goodbyes to this organization as a whole,” Freeland told The Denver Post last homestand. “Because it’s been a long time and I’ve made a lot of friends, created a lot of family and created a lot of memories here. So it’s going to be bittersweet.

“This isn’t the end of my career. I still plan on playing baseball after this year and we’ll see where that is.”

He has a 1.27 ERA in three August starts, which began with his first career complete game against the Royals at Coors Field on Aug. 2. He entered that game as one of two pitchers in MLB history with at least 250 starts and no complete games, along with Diamondbacks’ left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez.

Freeland has a conditional player option for 2027 that vests if he pitches 170 innings this season. He’s currently at 120 2/3 innings, with eight scheduled starts remaining. He’d have to average more than six innings per start the rest of the way to vest that option, which is unlikely.

The Rockies’ starting pitching depth is extremely thin, so it’s possible the club entertains bringing Freeland back on a short deal to try and prop up the rotation in 2027. But it’s also possible that Freeland, despite a down year, signs elsewhere. Playing for a contender is on his radar, and wherever he goes, he could project as a back-end starter or even possibly a middle reliever.

“I obviously want to be a starter,” Freeland said. “But if it comes down to a prove-it contract (somewhere else) or that I could potentially be on a contender out of the bullpen — whether it’s this, that, or the other, that would be a decision that myself and my wife (Ashley) would have to make and see what would be the best fit for me.”

Freeland’s next start comes against the Dodgers on Wednesday in LoDo opposite Los Angeles right-hander Roki Sasaki. Freeland has a 5.23 career ERA in 28 starts against the Dodgers, against whom he made his MLB debut on April 7, 2017, with six innings of one-run ball.

Rockies road offense revitalization continues. The Rockies hammered the Giants pitching on Sunday. In only the fifth time in 233 games at Oracle Park where Colorado has scored 10 or more times, the club’s 13 runs were the third-most runs in franchise history in San Francisco. (The record is 17 in a win on May 5, 2016).

Colorado is averaging 4.33 runs per game on the road in 2026, a significant jump from its 2.81 road scoring average in ’25 that is the largest year-by-year increase in franchise history.

On Sunday, every starter in the lineup got a hit minus Jordan Beck, who walked twice. The Rockies were 5-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Adael Amador hit a three-run homer in the second inning, and Brett Sullivan hit a three-run homer in the seventh that put the game on ice. Zac Veen also had a highlight when he dashed home from third on a blocked pitch in the four-run sixth, a play that made it 7-7 and tilted the momentum permanently in Colorado’s favor.

“Veen, playing with his energy, was awesome when he took home there,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer told Rockies TV. “I had Veen in ’22 in the (Arizona) Fall League, so I’ve seen that many times. I’ve seen him walk and run directly to second base on a passed ball.

“He plays the game differently than other people. Having him and (rookie utilityman) Cole Carrigg on the same team is pretty special. He plays without fear — that’s what that is, and we like that.”

Hunter Goodman shoulder issue. The Rockies’ all-star catcher did not play in the series in San Francisco due to left shoulder inflammation, which Schaeffer Schaeffer said the injury occurred earlier in the road trip during a swing in the Rockies’ series win over Arizona, and Sullivan caught all three games against the Giants.

Goodman entered Sunday ranked fifth in the majors with 34 homers. He’ll have to remain healthy, and get piping hot over the last six weeks, to make a push for the Rockies’ single-season home run record of 49. That mark was set by Larry Walker in 1997, and then matched by fellow National Baseball Hall of Famer Todd Helton in 2001.

Also of note to track: the NL single-season Reds Hall of Famer Johnny Bench holds that record at 45 (38 hit as a catcher) in 1970, while the Braves’ Javy Lopez holds the NL record for most homers while playing the position at 42 in 2003. Goodman has a better shot at breaking Bench’s mark. He’s hit 28 homers this season while playing catcher and 6 as the DH.

Up next. The Rockies now head home from their season-long 11-day, nine-game road trip to host the two-time defending champion Dodgers followed by the Guardians at Coors Field.

Entering Sunday, Los Angeles remains in command of the NL West but is two games back of the Brewers for the top seed in the league. And Cleveland is one of a bunch of teams hanging around the American League wild card race, as the Guardians are one game back of the second spot.

The Rockies (50-74) need to go 13-25 down the stretch to avoid their fourth consecutive 100-loss season. With the series win in San Francisco, Colorado is also just one game back of the Giants for fourth place in the division. The last time the Rockies didn’t finish last in the NL West was 2021.

“This was huge (to win consecutive road series), especially in-division,” Brett Sullivan told Rockies TV. “We believe in this group, and we’ve shown it this road trip.”

PHOENIX — Brett Sullivan hit a three-run homer in the second inning and the Colorado Rockies, despite walking 10 batters, held on to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 on Wednesday.

Sullivan connected on a shot down the right-field line to cap a four-run inning against Arizona starter Merrill Kelly.

Zac Veen, in his first game of the season, added a two-run homer in the fourth for the Rockies. The 2020 first-round pick was called up earlier in the week. The Rockies won consecutive road games for the first time since June 1-2 at the Los Angeles Angels. That was also Colorado’s previous road series win.

Ryan Feltner (5-6) went five innings for the win. He gave up seven hits and two runs, walking three and striking out two.

Jordan Romano pitched the ninth for his 12th save.

Kelly (8-10) gave up six hits and six earned runs in five innings.

Corbin Carroll hit his 100th career home run, and 18th of the season, an opposite-field shot to left-center off lefty Brennan Bernardino in the eighth. Earlier, the Arizona All-Star hit his 14th triple of the season, twice as many as any other player has. His 57 career triples lead all active players.

The Diamondbacks stranded 15 baserunners, including the bases loaded in the fifth and sixth. In the sixth, Gabriel Moreno struck out looking in an at-bat that saw three of plate umpire Emil Jiménez’s calls overturned — two called strikes that were well out of the strike zone, and the final pitch was changed to a strike.

Of the 10 walks, only one Diamondback scored — on a bases-loaded walk.

Up next

Rockies: Off Thursday. LHP Kyle Freeland (3-10, 6.63 ERA) was set to starts Friday in San Francisco against Giants RHP Landen Roupp (7-11, 4.22).

Diamondbacks: Off Thursday. RHP Brandon Pfaadt (6-1, 3.36) was scheduled to start opposite Braves LHP Chris Sale (12-7, 2.20) on Friday in Atlanta.