Eli Whitney | April 18, 2026

The four-game winning streak that briefly made Coors Field feel like a different place seems like a long time ago now. After going 1-6 on the road through San Diego and Houston, the Rockies returned home on Friday night with a chance to reset against the Los Angeles Dodgers – and ran into Tyler Glasnow on a 35-degree night that left little room for optimism. The result was a 7-1 defeat in front of 28,783 fans, a loss that dropped Colorado to 7-13 and served as a reminder of just how large the gap remains between this club and the best team in baseball. 

Tomoyuki Sugano had been one of the quiet revelations of Colorado’s early season, posting a 2.16 ERA through his first three starts with a command and composure that had drawn praise from everyone in the organization. Friday was a different story. The cold got into everything, and the Dodgers’ lineup exploited it without mercy. Sugano allowed nine hits and five earned runs across four innings, giving up a career-high five extra-base hits and lasting the shortest of his four starts this season. Max Muncy did the most damage, hitting a 452-foot home run to center in the second – his fifth of the season – and adding a double in the third that scored another. By the time Sugano departed after four innings, the Rockies trailed 5-1 and the game was functionally over. Sugano, to his credit, didn’t reach for excuses despite pitching in what was, by his own admission, one of the coldest outings of his career. “I don’t want to make it sound like an excuse,” he said. “Because the opposing hitters are in the same conditions.” Schaeffer assessed it plainly. “I just feel like today he was behind in counts,” he said. “He had to work hard to get back into them – probably not as sharp as he has been. They spit on a lot of good close pitches. It’s a disciplined team over there.” 

Zach Agnos inherited the mess in the fifth inning and ran into Muncy again almost immediately – a 419 foot solo shot to right that pushed the lead to 6-1 and gave the third baseman his sixth home run of the season, his second of the night. Agnos settled after that, retiring eleven of the next fourteen batters to get through four innings and preserve what was left of a taxed bullpen.”That four innings today from him is bullpen saving,” Schaeffer said. “Our bullpen was not in good shape going into this game, and he saved the heck out of it. He got progressively better as he went.” 

On the other side was Glasnow, who was simply dominant. The right-hander worked seven innings, allowing just two hits – a Mickey Moniak double in the fourth and a Ezequiel Tovar double in the seventh – while striking out seven. Across his three career appearances against Colorado, Glasnow is now 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA. The Rockies managed one run in the fourth when Moniak’s double ended up putting him on third and Troy Johnston grounded out to score him – Colorado’s only offense on a night where the team finished with two hits and went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. “He’s good,” Schaeffer said of Glasnow. “He’s really good. He was throwing a curveball that’s a ball or two beneath the strikezone consistently. It’s tough to hit.”

The two hits Colorado managed Friday were tied for the fewest in a game all season. The Dodgers, meanwhile, improved to 15-4 – one of the best starts in franchise history – and extended their winning streak to four. For the Rockies, the homestand with Los Angeles is just beginning. Three more games remain in the series before San Diego comes to town. Friday night offered a clear-eyed look at what the next few days could hold. Schaeffer, for his part, isn’t shying away from the challenge. “This is a team that for a long time has had our number,” he said before the game. “And for that reason alone, we look forward to tonight, and no matter what happens tonight, we’re going to look forward to tomorrow.” The results will need to follow.