Eli Whitney | May 17, 2026
Sunday afternoon at Coors Field had the makings of a comeback story. It just didn’t have the ending.
Michael Lorenzen gave up nine hits and six earned runs in 4.2 innings. Corbin Carroll hit two home runs. Arizona built an 8-2 lead through six innings, and the Rockies scored four times in the eighth to make it 8-6 before Paul Sewald closed it out without incident. The Diamondbacks took the rubber match and the series, handing Colorado its sixth consecutive series loss. They fall to 18-29.
Lorenzen was the story in the worst way. The right-hander allowed nine hits, six earned runs, and three walks across 4.2 innings – one out shy of what would have been his sixth straight start of at least five innings. He threw a season-high 101 pitches and tied season highs in walks, strikeouts, and home runs allowed. The velocity was there – he touched 96 on Sunday – but the results have been, in his own words, horrendous. “The results are just horrendous, and I need to figure it out,” he said, “because it’s unacceptable. To be this deep into the season and have these types of results on a consistent basis is unacceptable.” When asked if the Coors Field puzzle was more difficult to solve than he expected, he responded quickly. “I don’t care if it’s Mars. I need to figure it out.” Warren Schaeffer kept it simple, “Throw strikes is the key,” he said. “And today it just didn’t happen often enough for success.”
The damage accumulated in waves. Nolan Arenado and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled home runs in the third to make it 2-0. Ildemaro Vargas singled home a run in the fourth, and Carroll then drove a two-run homer 431 feet to right-center to push it to 5-0. Gurriel Jr. added a solo shot in the fifth – the 500th RBI of his career – and José Fernández scored on an infield single to make it 7-2. Carroll put the finishing touch on the Diamondbacks’ scoring with a 448-foot solo shot in the sixth off Blas Castaño, who was making his Rockies debut. Carroll finished with two home runs, three RBI, and three runs scored. He has now homered ten times against Colorado in his career.
Castaño’s debut was the one unexpected bright spot from a pitching standpoint. The right-hander followed Lorenzen and worked 2.1 innings, allowing just one earned run while striking out three and picking off a runner. “He filled up the strike zone and gave us two and a third in a situation where our bullpen is – not a lot down there at the moment. Schaeffer said. “Nice job.”
The Rockies had their moments. TJ Rumfield doubled in the fourth to end a stretch of 3.2 no-hit innings from Michael Soroka, and Troy Johnston and Willi Castro then doubled in quick succession to make it 5-2. But Soroka recovered, finishing with 5.2 innings, eight strikeouts, and two earned runs – his sixth win of the season. The comeback attempt didn’t begin in earnest until the eighth, when Arizona handed the ball to Brandon Pfaadt with a six-run lead and the Rockies loaded the bases. Castro hit a sacrifice fly. Jake McCarthy singled home a run. Kyle Karros singled home another. Brett Sullivan added a sacrifice fly. Four runs, sudden life, the deficit cut to two. Then Sewald came on in the ninth and closed it out.
The Rockies have now lost six straight series and eight of their last ten games at home. Schaeffer, asked about the eighth inning rally in the context of a team that never quits, acknowledged both sides of it. “You can never count this team out,” he said. “They will put up a fight. But we need to get better at starting things early.” Sunday was another example of the gap between what this team can be when it’s chasing and what it needs to be when the game is still there to win.
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