​Photo via @Rockies/X

Eli Whitney | April 9, 2026

They came into Wednesday’s series finale riding three straight wins, a clubhouse full of energy, and a city that was starting to pay attention again. The Colorado Rockies made sure none of that momentum went to waste. Behind a bounce-back outing from Michael Lorenzen and a nine-walk performance from an offense that is beginning to look like a genuinely different animal, Colorado swept the Houston Astros with a 9-1 victory at Coors Field in front of 15,189 – their fourth consecutive win, and first sweep at home since May 2024.

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The Rockies improved to 6-6 on the season – the latest date they’ve been at .500 since 2022. It is a small milestone in the context of 162 games, but the manner in which they have gotten here carries meaning. “They should be excited,” Schaeffer said of Rockies fans when asked to reflect on where this team stands. “We’re all excited. We love the way guys are playing right. It’s just a continuation. Every day we stack these days on top of each other.”

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Lorenzen, whose home opener against Philadelphia just five days ago felt like a different lifetime, was a reborn pitcher on Wednesday. He worked 5.2 innings, allowed just one run on seven hits, generated eight ground ball outs, and gave Colorado exactly what it needed from its starter. The curveball was sharp early in counts. The cutter worked against lefties. The slider played. “Locating better with all his pitches,” Schaeffer said. “Getting ahead counts better. He was big for us today.” Lorenzen himself pointed to the process that got him there. “We have some smart people here on the coaching staff,” he said. “We all put our heads together and tried to figure it out.” He was careful not to claim full resolution. “It’s not quite there completely,” he added, “but it’s definitely a good start and something we can build off of.” When asked what it felt like to bounce back from that disastrous first start, he returned to the language that he had used in the immediate aftermath of that outing. “There’s no panic,” he said. “There’s a sense of urgency. You have to understand the information to know what you did wrong. That comes with experience.”

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The offense did its part early and emphatically. Edouard Julien singled to open the bottom of the first, stole second, and scored on a Tyler Freeman single before the Astros had settled in. Houston tied it in the second on a Brice Matthews pinch-hit single off Lorenzen, but the Rockies answered in the most complete way imaginable. Troy Johnston doubled to center to open the frame. Brenton Doyle laid down a bunt single and promptly stole second. Kyle Karros walked to load the bases. Julien lined a two-run single to left, scoring two. Freeman laid down a sacrifice bunt. Mickey Moniak hit a sacrifice fly. Hunter Goodman walked and stole second. An AJ Blubaugh wild pitch scored Julien. TJ Rumfield walked. Ezequiel Tovar doubled to center to plate another. Five runs. Nine batters. Two stolen bases, a sacrifice bunt, a sacrifice fly, two walks, and a wild pitch – every piece of the offensive philosophy Schaeffer has preached since spring training showed up in a single half-inning. “Fundamentally sound,” the manager said afterward. “Sac bunts involved, base hit bunts involved, sac flies involved, taking our walks – some really, really tough walks. That’s what we want to do. We want to pass the baton.” Lorenzen, watching from the dugout, was struck by what the inning felt like from a pitcher’s vantage point. “Every inning I felt like I was sitting down for ten minutes,” he said. “Foul balls, deep counts – that builds frustration in the opposing pitcher. That’s the style of play for us, and it’s going to be successful.”

Hunter Goodman made it 7-1 in the fourth with a solo home run to left – 378 feet on the first pitch he saw from Enyel De Los Santos, his second of the season and first at Coors Field. The Rockies drew nine walks on the day, their most since June 20, 2023, and finished a game with more walks than strikeouts for the first time since July 1, 2024. Ezequiel Tovar added two doubles, his third and fourth of the season. Rumfield plated the seventh run via a sacrifice fly in the sixth, and Johnston drove in the eighth run with a single in the eighth. The contributions were spread across the lineup as they have been throughout the series. When Lorenzen ran into traffic in the sixth, allowing a pair of singles and a walk, Schaeffer turned to Zach Agnos, who induced a groundout from Christian Vazquez to strand three runners. Agnos then came back out for the final three innings, retiring nine of the ten batters he faced and striking out two. It was a remarkable effort from a pitcher who has struggled with results early this season – the hits have found holes, the numbers haven’t been kind – but who has maintained the trust of his staff. “His outings haven’t been bad,” Lorenzen said. “Batting average on balls in play has got to be through the roof. He hasn’t been giving up a ton of hard contact. For him to come in that big situation and just attack the zone the way he did –that was huge.” Agnos himself kept it simple. “We’re a gritty ball club,” he said. ”We embrace it, and we have a good time with it.”

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The sweep of Houston gave Colorado four wins in a row for the first time since August of last year. They have gone 6-3 since being swept in Miami to open the season – a turnaround that has been built on pitching depth, relentless baserunning, and an offense that is slowly, game by game, learning to grind. “This is the kind of baseball I expected to play,” Schaeffer said. “And the kind they expect themselves to play.” The Rockies head to San Diego on Thursday with the wind at their backs. Whether this road trip can sustain what the homestand started is the next question. For now, the answer is four in a row and a city that has rediscovered its team.