Rockies absorb three-game sweep at hands of MLB-leading Braves

DENVER — Rockies Report, Game 35:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: The Atlanta Braves are off to their best 35-game start in the modern era. The Rockies found out why over the course of their three-game weekend series.

Two Mickey Moniak home runs were not enough to prevent the Rockies from their fourth-consecutive defeat and being on the business end of their first home sweep of the season as Atlanta pounded out 14 hits and wore down the Rox by an 11-6 count in front of 32,994 on Sunday afternoon.

The Rockies scored in five innings Sunday, plating runs in the first, third, fourth, fifth and eighth innings, But only in the fourth did they score more than a single run; in that frame, they brought home two on Moniak’s 10th homer of the season; he added a solo shot in the eighth inning.

10TH HOME RUN. 16 GAME HITTING STREAK (just the longest active streak in the league) pic.twitter.com/OSxxYfc679

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) May 3, 2026

Meanwhile, the Braves amassed the dreaded crooked numbers: three runs each in the third, fifth and ninth innings and two in the sixth. They battered starter Kyle Freeland and the bullpen alike; only Victor Vodnik escaped unscathed with a scoreless eighth inning of work.

Even Antonio Senzatela, who entered Sunday with just one earned run surrendered in 19 2/3 innings over nine relief appearances this season, wasn’t immune. Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson got to him for an RBI single and double, respectively, in the sixth inning, pushing Atlanta’s lead to 8-5.

Colorado had a chance to narrow the gap in the seventh when Ezequiel Tovar lined a 2-out Reynaldo López offering to the right-field corner. But Atlanta’s Mikę Yastrzemski ran it down, preventing what would have been a 2-RBI extra-base hit that would have pulled the Rox within 8-7.

Moniak’s second home run of the day — part of his fourth multi-homer game of the season — pulled Colorado within 8-6 in the eighth inning. But the Braves erased all doubt at the expense of Jimmy Herget in the ninth, adding three runs to seal the deal.

The first two came home when catcher Jonah Heim capped his 5-RBI day with a 2-out double off the right-field wall with runners on first and second. A final run came across the plate when Jorge Mateo dropped a Texas Leaguer in front of Troy Johnston in right field, scoring Heim.

Colorado fell to 14-21. The Rockies have now lost six of their last seven games at Coors Field after opening their home slate 6-3 — but those seven games have come against three of the National League’s four best teams through May 3: Atlanta, San Diego and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

It started well enough for Freeland; he breezed through the first inning in eight pitches. But in the second inning, Heim and Jorge Mateo rocked him for home runs on back-to-back pitches, putting the Rockies in a 3-0 hole.

He rallied in the following two innings, escaping trouble without damage each time — a two-out, one-on situation in the third inning and an Eli White leadoff triple in the fourth. But in the fifth inning, Atlanta’s patience came to bear, and after Drake Baldwin delivered a one-out single, Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson worked 3-2 walks to load the bases.

Freeland then appeared to dodge a bullet when Austin Riley’s shot down the third-base line caught the bag and sailed into the air, allowing Willi Castro to field it. All hands were safe and one run scored, tying the game. But if the ball hadn’t caught the base, Riley might have cleared the bases.

One batter later, Freeland momentarily appeared to have won a seven-pitch battle against White, catching him looking for a called third strike. But White successfully challenged the call; the pitch was high, bringing in another run. That concluded Freeland’s afternoon at 98 pitches.

Antonio Senzatela entered and surrendered a sacrifice fly to Jonah Heim, adding a sixth earned run to Freeland’s tally.

The six earned runs at Freeland’s expense were a season high.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Heim lined a Jimmy Herget sweeper off the “Bridich Barrier” to push the Braves’ lead to 10-6 in the ninth inning.

NUMBER TO NOTE: 1.098 — Moniak’s OPS this season. If he had enough plate appearances to be eligible, he would rank second in MLB behind Yankees first baseman Ben Rice.

WHAT’S NEXT: Tomoyuki Sugano goes for his fourth win of the season in Monday night’s series opener against the New York Mets, the team the Rockies swept last weekend. First pitch has been moved up to 3:40 p.m. MDT.

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