There was a moment in the fifth inning on Sunday afternoon at Coors Field when the scoreboard lit up with a message for Kyle Freeland. He had just become the all-time innings pitched leader in Colorado Rockies franchise history, surpassing Aaron Cook’s 1,312.1 innings with his 1,313th. The crowd of 32,270 rose. Freeland tipped his cap – first to the stands, then to his family. He thought of Bud Black, the manager who had taught him the gesture and the importance of these moments years ago. It was a genuinely moving moment in a game that had very little else to offer the home team.
The Brewers beat the Rockies 12-4, completing a three-game sweep at Coors Field – only the third time in franchise history Milwaukee has done so – and sending Colorado to 24-42, 18 games below .500 for the first time this season. The Rockies have lost four straight and 15 of their last 21 at home.
Freeland was the best part of Colorado’s afternoon. He went five innings, allowed three runs, and gave the team a fighting chance in the sixth. His velocity has ticked back up in his past two starts – sitting in the low 90s where he likes it – and his changeup and slider were both present.
“Today I thought he put the heater where he wanted to,” Warren Schaeffer said. “The off-speed was good, the slider was good. He battled into the sixth inning and gave us a real shot to win.”
Freeland himself acknowledged the milestone postgame.
“I grew up watching this team, grew up watching Aaron Cook,” he said. “To be able to surpass him for the all-time innings pitched record is pretty incredible.”
Then the sixth inning happened. Freeland got William Contreras to two strikes and couldn’t finish him – a triple to right scored the first run. Schaeffer brought in Jaden Hill. Gary Sánchez hit a 447-foot homer on the first pitch he saw. Garrett Mitchell doubled. Luis Rengifo walked. Blake Perkins bunted for a hit. Joey Ortiz walked to score a run. Brice Turang singled home two more. Contreras grounded out to score another. Seven runs. Six hits. Three extra-base hits. A lead that had been 3-1 Colorado became 8-3 Milwaukee before Keegan Thompson finished out the inning.
“Jaden just had a tough time landing his off-speed for strikes,” Schaeffer said. “The command wasn’t there; they took advantage of it, they hit his heater. That’s all there is to it.”
The Brewers added four more in the ninth – Sánchez doubled, Mitchell tripled home two, Rengifo hit a sacrifice fly – before Hunter Goodman hit a solo home run in the bottom half of the ninth that was meaningful only in the sense that it was his 17th of the season, tying the franchise record for home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break that he himself set in 2025. Goodman has homered in four of his last six games.
“Goody’s strong as an ox,” Schaeffer said. “It always wows me.”
The series offered a clear look at the gap between where this team is and where the better teams in the National League currently reside. The Brewers adjusted their approach each game, attacked pitches they identified as vulnerable, and ran away with the series.
“That’s what you’re supposed to do in this league,” Schaeffer said. “The teams that make the quickest adjustments tend to win.”
Tyler Freeman remained unavailable after taking a fastball off the helmet Saturday, with his status still unclear pending further assessment.
The series is over. The record is 24-42. The franchise innings record belongs to a Denver kid who grew up watching this team and never left. On a difficult afternoon, that much was worth something.
Leave a Reply