Rockies earn first home sweep in nearly two years, reach .500 with rout of Astros

DENVER — Rockies Report, Game 12:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: Eventually, the time for comparisons with last year’s disastrous Rockies season will cease. As manager Warren Schaeffer is quick to remind anyone who broaches the subject, this year’s edition is NOT the same team.

But any time such measuring sticks are brandished, it’s only to offer perspective on what this team is doing early in the season. And to tip the cap.

Wednesday, they earned their second series win of the season by routing the Houston Astros 9-1, riding a five-run second inning in which they sent 10 batters to the plate and cruising from there. It gave the Rockies their fourth consecutive win, matching their longest winning streak of last year’s disastrous 43-119 campaign.

The Rockies improved to 6-6. Last year, they didn’t get their sixth win until May 1. It gave them their second series win of the season; last year, that didn’t happen until June 16-19 at Washington.

Finally, the Rockies earned their first home sweep in nearly two years. You have to go all the way back to May 10-12, 2024 for their last Coors Field sweep, which came at the expense of the Texas Rangers.

The only negative? The announced attendance — just 15,189, which surpassed Monday night’s figure for the lowest-ever at Coors Field for a game without pandemic-capacity restrictions.

It’s April, so that number will surely rise as the weeks and months pass and summer nears. Continued solid form will certainly help, too.

As for Wednesday’s win, the Rox seized control in the second inning after Cristian Javier departed due to right-shoulder tightness. Within two pitches, Troy Johnston and Brenton Doyle were on second and third base thanks to a double and single. Kyle Karros worked a walk to load the bases, then Edouard Julien brought home Johnston and Doyle with a single to left field.

Two batters later, Mickey Moniak added to the lead with a fly ball deep into the right-field corner, scoring Karros to push the lead to 4–1. Two walks followed, then Ezequiel Tovar doubled to center field, pushing the Rockies’ lead to 6-1 and ensuring that they would send 10 batters to the plate before AJ Blubaugh could escape from the inning.

small ball BIG RUNS! pic.twitter.com/608ipRn8rb

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 8, 2026

From there, the Rockies cruised, adding single runs in the fourth, sixth and eighth innings, while holding their foe to two or fewer runs for the fourth time in five days.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

After a pair of up-and-down starts to open the season, Michael Lorenzen got exactly the kind of performance he wanted Wednesday, with a pair of clean innings in the first and fourth frames. He successfully escaped a spot of bother in the second inning, when he walked Isaac Paredes and allowed a single to Christian Walker to open the inning, only giving up a single run as he grinded through 30 pitches.

Lorenzen came one out short of earning his first quality start of the season and the Rockies’ third in their last four games; after issuing a two-out walk to Brice Matthews to load the bases, Schaeffer lifted Lorenzen after 100 pitches. But Zach Agnos delivered, working a 3-2 groundball from Christian Vásquez to end the threat.

“Thank you for bringing that up because that was huge,” Lorenzen said when the subject of Agnos’ relief appearance arose. “Incredible. Especially with him. His outings haven’t been bad, it’s just been his — to be a nerd in the BABIP — batting average on balls in play has gotta be through the roof with him.”

Indeed, it is — a whopping .688 that is as much of an outlier as you’ll ever see, and is overdue for a significant correction.

“He hasn’t been giving up a ton of hard contact and I feel a little bit similar to where there’s a lot of hits through the infield and base hits and then there’s the double that gets you eventually, but he’s done an incredible job,” Lorenzen said. “He’s throwing the ball really well, and for him to come in that big situation and just attack the zone the way he did, that was huge.

“And I owe him a steak, for sure.”

Agnos pitched the final 3 1/3 innings, meaning that he earned credit for the save — his first of the season.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Vásquez delivered a harmless two-out, bases-loaded ground ball to Kyle Karros in the sixth inning, squelching Houston’s best chance of a rally. Colorado tacked on another run in the bottom of the inning via TJ Rumfield’s sacrifice fly, then got another on a Troy Johnston RBI single in the eighth inning.

NUMBER TO NOTE: 6 — Number of times this season through 12 games in which the Rox have held their opponents to two or fewer runs — including four during the homestand. Last year, it took 41 games for them to have six such days with opponents scoring two or fewer runs.

WHAT’S NEXT: It’s on to San Diego for a four-game series and a chance to go above .500 for the first time since April 1, 2023. The assignment will be a tough one; the Padres will send Randy Vásquez to the mound for the series opener at Petco Park on Thursday night. First pitch is at 7:40 p.m. MDT.

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