Rockies get destroyed in embarrassing fashion on Opening Day

Baseball is a long season but this year in Denver it’s going to be extra long as evidenced by the Colorado Rockies stinker on Opening Day.

The reigning National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks put up a 14 spot on the Rockies—in the third inning alone—to take a 16-1 lead after three innings. Kyle Freeland allowed 10 earned runs in two-and-a-third innings of work, which was somehow better than Anthony Molina, who followed by allowing six more runs while recording just one out. The 14 runs scored in the third by the Snakes set a new franchise record for most runs scored in an inning.

Ketel Marte and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. each had three hits by the end of the third with the latter picking up five RBI before the Rockies got nine outs. In total, it was 16 hits, four of which went for extra bases and two walks that kept the ducks on the pond in the desert.

It was the fourth-most runs scored in a single inning since 1900 in MLB and the most scored in an inning on an Opening Day over that same time frame. It was the worst single inning performance by the pitching staff in Rockies history, setting new low marks for runs allowed (14,) hits allowed (13,) and batters faced (18.)

14 runs for AZ in the 3rd are tied for the 4th-most by a team in an inning since 1900, behind only:

6/18/1953 BOS, 7th: 17
4/19/1996 TEX, 8th: 16
5/21/1952 BRO, 1st: 15

it’s the most in an Opening Day frame in that span

h/t @EliasSports https://t.co/9GGEFJN7nR

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) March 29, 2024

The 14 runs allowed, 13 hits and 18 batters faced in the third inning against the #Dbacks all represent the most in all categories by #Rockies pitching in a single inning in franchise history.

— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) March 29, 2024

The D-Backs to a lead in the game after just one out in the first, the Rockies responded in the second with back-to-back doubles to put up at least a single number on the board. Then the Snakes came up for their big inning.

Maybe the worst sign for the Rockies, whom more dentists would agree will finish last in the West than they do whether or not you should brush your teeth, is that Freeland is by far their best pitcher. With Germán Márquez and Antonio Senzatela recovering from Tommy John surgery and a farm system lowly ranked and barren of pitching—many more big numbers are coming to a scoreboard near you. The Rockies goal was to not repeat the team’s first 100-loss season, which happened last year—Colorado seems destined for triple-digit losses if Opening Day is any sign.

The Rockies worst Opening Day loss coming into the 2024 campaign was a 10-1 effort in 2014. While the game isn’t over just yet at the time of writing—nobody is sticking around to find out the final score. Colorado got crushed on Thursday and it was embarrassing, historic and likely a sign of what the summer will look like.