Rockies powered by two Moniak homers to first win over Phillies since 2024

DENVER — Rockies Report, Game 9:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: Ignited by a pair of Mickey Moniak home runs and newcomer Tomoyuki Sugano delivering the team’s first quality start of the season, the Rockies snapped a nine-game skid to the Philadelphia Phillies, defeating them 4-1 in front of 29,757 at Coors Field on Sunday afternoon.

Moniak, who opened the campaign on the injured list because of a right-index-finger injury that worsened as the team traveled to Miami for its regular-season opener, smashed his first two home runs of the season in the first and the fifth innings.

MICKEY x 2⃣ pic.twitter.com/NcHsBd8X1v

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 5, 2026

TJ Rumfield added a two-run homer two batters after Moniak’s first-inning blast, putting the Phillies and starter Taijuan Walker into an early 3-0 hole from which they couldn’t escape thanks to Sugano’s efficient performance, as he kept Philadelphia off-balance throughout the afternoon before handing the baton to relievers Jaden Hill, Brennan Bernardino and Victor Vodnik, who combined for three shutout innings to bring home the win.

Moniak’s shots were no-doubt wallops; Rumfield’s was a 387-foot rope that just managed to clear the right-field wall, scoring Hunter Goodman from first base.

Colorado improved to 3-6.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

For a moment, Sugano’s Coors Field debut seemed for a second for a sour end. With two on and two out in the top of the fifth inning and the Rox up 3-1, Kyle Schwarber turned on a 2-1 sweeper and launched it toward center field — the type of shot that has become typical of the Phillies in their recent mastery of the Rox.

But this time, Schwarber’s shot died at the warning track. Center fielder Jake McCarthy tracked it down and the threat ended.

“That was a huge out,” Sugano said through an interpreter.

Sugano subsequently returned for a brisk, 1-2-3 sixth inning in which he dispatched Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott — the 3-4-5 heart of the Philadelphia order — in just nine pitches.

Warren Schaeffer pulled Sugano after that, inserting Jaden Hill for the seventh. Sugano’s day was efficient: just 78 pitches over six innings, four hits and a walk. His only mistake was a 3-2 sweeper that turned into a solo home run, launched 405 feet into the Rockies bullpen by Adolis García in the second inning. But the bases were empty; as was the case with the homer Sugano surrendered last Monday in Toronto, it was a solo shot.

“He was great. He mixed (pitches) extremely well. He threw strikes — all the things we were talking about what he does when we signed him,” Schaeffer said. “Did not have his [splitter] — which is one of his best pitches — today, didn’t have the best feel for it. Used his slider a lot. Used his heater late. Just a good, solid mix that kept them off-balance.”

Sugano’s HR/9 rate last year — particularly after the first two months of the season — offered cause for concern. But if he can minimize traffic and keep those home runs to solo shots, he has a chance to find his footing, even at Coors Field.

But after the game, he downplayed the impact of the stadium on his mental space.

“I wasn’t thinking too much about the environment per se. I was trying to keep the ball down, get groundouts and get punch outs when I can,” Sugano said through an interpreter.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Vodnik escaped from a two-on, one-out situation in the ninth with a pair of strikeouts to preserve the win.

NUMBER TO NOTE: 0.84 — Sugano’s WHIP in his first two starts this season.

WHAT’S NEXT: Ryan Feltner makes his second start of the season as the Houston Astros bang their way into Denver for the opener of a three-game series. First pitch Monday night is at 6:40 p.m. MDT.

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