Rockies routed as offense struggles and Braves bats pound Dollander

DENVER — Rockies Report, Game 34:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: Unlike Friday night, this one went awry from the start.

Chase Dollander’s amazing April did not transition to a mesmerizing May — at least not in his first appearance of the month.

Entering after two-thirds of an inning following Brennan Bernardino’s five-batter work as an opener, Dollander struggled against the patient Atlanta batters, who worked a season-high three walks at his expense and tagged him for eight hits and six runs — all earned — en route to a 9-1 romp over the Rockies in front of 38,569 at Coors Field on Saturday night.

Dollander entered in the first inning with a 2-0 deficit and Ozzie Albies on third base, but rallied to strike out Austin Riley on three pitches after walking Mauricio Dubón, ending the threat.

But he surrendered an RBI single to Drake Baldwin in the second inning, then two runs in the fourth off three hits — one of which was a run-scoring bunt single — and an RBI double to Baldwin, who ended up with 4 RBI over the course of the evening.

In the fifth inning, it went from bad to worse. After Michael Harris led off with a single off the right-field wall, Austin Riley crushed a Dollander four-seam fastball that settled in the middle of the strike zone, launching it 438 into the left-field stands to pad Atlanta’s lead to 8-1.

“I thought [Dollander] was just a little behind today,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “Some walks, the breaking ball and the off-speed stuff, not enough strikes off those, so, he had to rely on his fastball a little more.

Meanwhile, Atlanta ace Chris Sale baffled Colorado batters, striking out 11 over seven innings — including seven of the final nine Rockies he faced. Sale closed his night by striking out the side after Brett Sullivan singled to right field to lead off the seventh.

“That’s vintage Chris Sale there, funky, left-handed with extension coming at you. Good fastball still — really good fastball, good slider, then the third time through, mixing the changeup,” Schaeffer said.

Jordan Beck’s third-inning RBI double represented the extent of Colorado’s offense against Sale; he drove home Kyle Karros, who reached base with a leadoff single. Karros also drew a walk.

Jordan gets the RBI double and Kyle hustles home 😤 pic.twitter.com/hsVKtfkZF2

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) May 3, 2026

Reliever Tanner Gordon mitigated the damage with three innings of relief work to close the game; he allowed just one hit, but it was a doozy: Matt Olson’s 11th home run of the season, a 414-foot ninth-inning blast off the second-level facade for the final margin.

Colorado fell to 14-20. Atlanta has now won 10 of 11 series so far this year; the only exception was a 2-2 four-game series draw in Arizona last month.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

Giving Bernardino the opener’s role seemed to be a wise move. Braves manager Walt Weiss stacked Atlanta’s lineup with left-handed batters — with Drake Baldwin, Matt Olson and Michael Harris II in the 2, 4 and 5 spots, respectively — and opposing left-handers came into the game with a .579 OPS against Bernardino this season and .609 for his career.

But Baldwin shattered that notion. He punished Bernardino’s hanging sinker, driving it 384 feet over the left-field fence put the Braves in front 2-0 after Ronald Acuña Jr. led off with a single.

Baldwin’s homer was the first home run allowed by Bernardino in his last 62 appearances, dating back over a calendar year.

Schaeffer said the struggles for Bernardino do “nothing” to change his strategy with using an opener for Dollander.

“I love ‘Bernie.’ Bernie’s a big part of our team. You trust him against that part of the order, take him through Harris there and then [Dollander] comes in,” Schaeffer said. “I like the left-on-left matchup with Baldwin. He just got him today. That’s all.”

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Riley hit his fifth-inning home run to pad Atlanta’s lead to 8-1.

NUMBER TO NOTE: 0.96 — Dollander’s HR/9 rate this season after Riley’s fifth-inning home run Saturday night. That still represents a massive improvement over his 1.65 HR/9 rate in his rookie season.

WHAT’S NEXT: The Sunday afternoon series finale. Kyle Freeland will start for the Rockies; Spencer Strider is expected to make his 2026 debut for Atlanta after starting the season on the injured list due to a left oblique strain. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. MDT.

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