Rockies rookie Freeland flirts with no-hitter in first-half finale

During the club’s worst stretch of the season, heading into the four-day-long All-Star break, Colorado Rockies rookie starter Kyle Freeland dazzled at Coors Field on Sunday.

Freeland — a Denver-born, Thomas Jefferson High School graduate — tossed out a gem Sunday in front his hometown fans at Coors Field, one-hitting the Chicago White Sox in the club’s first-half finale.

Chasing a franchise first, Freeland retired 25 batters without giving up a hit until White Sox outfielder Melky Cabrera looped a single just out of the reach of third baseman Nolan Arenado’s leap with one out in the top of the ninth.

Ubaldo Jimenez recorded the first no-hitter in club history in 2010, but no Rockies pitcher had done so at the often-unfriendly confines of Coors Field.

Following Cabrera’s hit, Freeland tipped his cap to the veteran hitter before being relieved by Jordan Lyles, who retired the final two batters to preserve the one-hitter.

Freeland said after the game he executed the pitch to Cabrera how he intended, but he was able to “muscle” it out anyway.

“Tip of the hat to him. He muscled that ball out there. I made my pitch, but he was able to get it out there,” Freeland said.

From the get-go, Freeland said his sinker, fastball, and slider were “on-point.”

“Once we got out there and started competing, everything kind of fell into order,” Freeland said.

After the game, Rockies manager Bud Black echoed a similar sentiment.

“I thought his slider/cutter was much better than it’s been the last four starts. I thought the fastball away had great action, and Kyle’s got good movement on his pitch, and we talked about the action on his pitches,” Black said.

“Today, he was on, I think there was a lot of conviction with every pitch that he threw.”

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.