The Rockies did a lot of things right against the Phillies on Monday night. But, per usual, their wrongs wiped out their rights.
Philadelphia scored seven runs in its last two at-bats to rally for a 9-3 win at Coors Field before a red-clad crowd that frequently broke into chants of “Let’s go Phillies!”
And so the Rockies’ road to baseball infamy continued unabated. The Rockies’ 8-39 record is the worst in the modern era (since 1901) through 47 games. To avoid its third consecutive 100-loss season, Colorado would have to go 55-60 for the rest of the season.
Philly, being Philly, rubbed it in — big time — in the ninth.
Designated hitter Kyle Schwarber launched a 466-foot solo homer off the third-deck facade in right field off Scott Alexander for the 300th home run of his career. And the Phillies weren’t done beating up Alexander. Edmundo Sosa ripped a two-run homer to left to make it 9-3. It was Sosa’s first homer.
The game was actually settled in the eighth when the Phillies blasted right-hander Seth Halvorsen. Alec Bohm’s 428-foot, two-run homer to dead center put Philly ahead 4-3. Singles by Sosa and Brandon Marsh set the table for Trea Turner’s two-run double past a diving Brenton Doyle in center field.
“When I get to two strikes, I need to execute my pitch better, instead of leaving something up or over the plate,” said Halvorsen, who was charged with a blown save and took the loss as his ERA climbed to 5.30. “Philly’s got a lot of good hitters, but I have to make it a lot more competitive than I did tonight.”
Manager Warren Schaeffer, now 1-6 since taking over for Bud Black, gave Halvorsen his full support.
“Tonight, Seth left some of his off-speed pitches up in the zone,” Schaeffer said. “He can blow that heater up, but if you leave that offspeed stuff up, a good team is probably going to take advantage of that. Seth is a really good pitcher, and he’s a part of our future. Tonight wasn’t his night.”
One of the Rockies’ continuing problems has been their inability to build on a lead. They have scored three or fewer runs in six of their last seven games and in 33 of 47 games this season.
Still, Schaeffer continues to preach positivity.
“It’s a day-to-day activity,” he said. “There is a lot of stuff from that game to take positives (from), and that’s what we are going to focus on tomorrow.”
The night certainly began with promise for Colorado when veteran left-hander Kyle Freeland gave the club the start it needed.
Pitching with precision rather than firepower, he held the Phillies to one run over 5 1/3 innings. He left with a 2-1 lead, scattering seven hits, striking out six and walking two. His off-speed pitchers were particularly effective. He fanned the dangerous Schwarber on a knuckle curve in the third and caught Schwarber looking at a fastball in the fifth.
“I have a very good feel for both my sweeper and my curve right now,” Freeland said. “I’ve been pitching to the bottom of the zone, backdoors, back-foot, all of that.”
Philly did crack Freeland for a run earlier in the fifth. Turner laced a triple into the right field corner and scored on Bryce Harper’s single to left. It was a terrific piece of hitting by Harper. Freeland’s 0-2 sweeper was well outside the strike zone, but Harper reached out and flicked the ball the opposite way.
“We threw two really good breaking balls and then threw a third one that was really great as well, but he put a decent swing on it to flip it over the shortstop,” Freeland said.
Shorstop Ezequiel Tovar’s 418-foot solo homer in the first inning gave Colorado a 1-0 lead. Tovar ripped lefty Cristopher Sanchez’s 1-0 slider deep into the left-field bleachers. It was Tovar’s second homer of the season, the other Saturday night at Arizona. He didn’t play on Sunday.
Colorado extended its lead to 2-0 in the third. Jordan Beck sliced a ball into right-center for a two-out, hustle double. He was rewarded with Tovar’s RBI single to right field. Through his last two games, Tovar is 7 for 10 with a triple, two home runs, and four RBIs.
Colorado extended its lead to 3-1 in the sixth on back-to-back, two-out doubles by Michael Toglia and Doyle off Sanchez. Philly’s lefty was charged with three runs on five hits. He struck out seven and walked none.
But Philly countered in the seventh off reliever Jake Bird, cutting Colorado’s lead to 3-2. Marsh, pinch-hitting, led off with a single, and Turner reached when Bird threw the ball into center field for an error, trying to force Marsh at second. Marsh advanced to third on the error and scored on Harper’s sacrifice fly to deep center.
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Originally Published: May 19, 2025 at 9:36 PM MDT
