April 13, 2026 | @rockiesmilbreport
The Rockies flew into San Diego as the hottest team in baseball, coming off of a four game win streak and sitting at a .500 winning percentage. The vibes were high and Colorado was eager to keep the pace going. However, after allowing two walk-off home runs and trouble preventing early game runs, the Rockies four-game winning streak quickly turned into a four-game losing streak.
Game 1 – April 9: Rockies 3 @ Padres 7
The series started off with an emphatic showing from the 2026 Rockies. 12 innings straight of competitive baseball, and for the most part, the Rockies looked like the better team. Right-handed reliever Jimmy Herget opened the game and tossed a scoreless first, the zero tallies on the board was a similar trend for four other Rockies pitchers to end the game.
Coming into his Sophomore season out of the bullpen, Chase Dollander shined especially bright. Tossing 4.1 innings while allowing only one earned run and striking out three.
On the offensive side, the Rockies opened up scoring with a third inning solo home run coming from Brenton Doyle, his first of the season. The Padres responded with a run for themselves in the bottom of the third, and that was it for scoring until the game was forced into extra innings.
The Rockies bats showed off their manufacturing skills in extra innings. Given there is a ghost runner on second to begin extra innings, Colorado went back to the basics. Jake McCarthy sacrifice bunt, Doyle walk, then a Tyler Freeman go-ahead single all in a consecutive sequence. Then with a San Diego response the Rockies were up to bat again. This time it was backup catcher Brett Sullivan’s time to shine, and in the top of the 11th he hit a go-ahead double.
In the bottom of the 12th offseason Minor League signee RHP Valente Bellozo came in to pitch. After an immediate pop up, the Rockies chose to intentionally walk the next two batters to set up a double play at every base. Then just like that, one misplaced fastball to Xander Bogaerts resulted in a grand slam and ended the game abruptly.
Game 2 – April 10: Rockies 2 @ Padres 5
After a heartbreaking extra-innings loss the night before, the Rockies came into game two with a chip on their shoulder. Rockies legend (through three games) Tomoyuki Sugano started the game for the Rockies and continued his hot streak. Firing 6.0 innings pitched while allowing two earned runs (both solo homers).
The Rockies offense stayed relatively quiet all game, it wasn’t until the 8th inning where they scored a run. With one of the best left-handed relievers in the game on the mound in Adrian Morejon, the Rockies managed to score two runs off the Padres lefty. 2025 Silver Slugger Hunter Goodman and outfielder Jordan Beck both credited with RBI singles.
In the bottom of the ninth the Rockies brought in young right-hander Juan Mejia in a tie game to hopefully take the game into extras. Leadoff single, walk, fly out, three-run walkoff home run by Gavin Sheets. Rockies fans had to endure a second abrupt walkoff loss in as many days.
Game 3 – April 11: Rockies 5 @ Padres 9
The Rowdy-Rockies don’t let two games bring them down, however. In game three the Rockies came out of the gate swinging. Outfielder Mickey Moniak blasted a two-run homer off of familiar friend Germán Márquez in the first inning to quickly put the Rockies ahead 2-0. Two innings later Eduoard Julien connected for his first home run of the season for a solo shot, 3-0. Two batters later Moniak slugged his second homer of the day and those Denver Boys were up 4-0!
The Padres were quick to respond, and just an inning and a half (and a couple of San Diego home runs) later, the Rockies saw themselves down 4-6. Putting an end to Ryan Feltner’s night, earning all six runs in 4.0 innings pitched.
Later on in the sixth the Padres connected for another three runs. Colorado had no response until the 8th inning where Moniak fittingly hit an RBI single, but it was nowhere near enough to put the Rockies back into the game. Colorado ultimately lost this game without much sign of competition in the later innings.
As a member of the Colorado Rockies, Germán Márquez compiled 68 wins. In game three, Márquez had his first career win playing against the Rockies.
Game 4 – April 12: Rockies 2 @ Padres 7
In the series finale and coming off of a three-game skid, the Rockies were faced with an unexpected obstacle. Scheduled starter Kyle Freeland was scratched because of left posterior shoulder soreness. So the Rockies–already with a thin lineup–had to find a solution to make it through the game. The solution was having four pitchers throw one or less innings, and have Bellozo throw for the bulk of the game. This resulted in seven runs allowed as a pitching staff.
The offense was as quiet as it has been all season. In a long nine innings, only two hits were on the boxscore for Colorado. The double-catcher (Goodman – Designated Hitter, Sullivan – Catcher) lineup worked out, as the two were the only players to record a hit for the Rockies.
This performance is about as expected for a team who previously lost three mentally excruciating games in a row, and it sends the Rockies to Houston as they play the Astros, a team they swept earlier in the season.
Three Takeaways
- The Rockies are competitive. The Rockies played great baseball against a team who is coming off of back-to-back 90-win seasons. The Rockies won roughly 80 less games than San Diego in that span. So the fact they were able to outperform them the first two games (albeit the outcomes) is extremely encouraging. We have not seen competitive Rockies baseball in quite some time, so this has been a welcoming sight to see.
- The Rockies could use a proven closer. The Rockies are in an interesting situation. They have a lot of good relievers on their team, as they have the 12th lowest bullpen ERA in all of baseball (3.38). However, it is important to have one not good but great reliever. Somebody more proven the Rockies could have turned to in both walkoff losses is the difference between a tied series and a swept series for Colorado. It is worth noting that Seth Halvorsen is in Triple-A currently after immense struggles in Spring Training, but he is showing off a 1.23 ERA in 7.1 innings pitched. He has the best stuff of any pitcher in the system, so he could possibly be that great reliever down the road.
- The Rockies need to take better at bats. Currently the Rockies are walking the second least and striking out the fifth most out of every MLB team. These trends are similar to what we have seen in recent years, which has resulted in back-to-back-to-back 100 loss seasons (which is as redundant as it sounds). The Rockies aren’t Moneyball-ing and getting on base at whatever cost, which will be a determinant for a lot of close ballgames.
Check out our top 50 prospect list here!
The Colorado Rockies head to Houston for a three-game series against the Astros looking to end their four-game losing streak.
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