Rockies hit 100 games on pace to avoid 100 losses after overpowering Reds

Rockies Report, Game 100:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: Just as they were when they reached the midway point of the season late last month, the Rockies remain on pace to avoid what would be their fourth-consecutive 100-loss season, reaching the 100-game milepost on a 65-win pace after a 10-3 rout over the Cincinnati Reds at Coors Field on Saturday afternoon.

Sitting at 40-60, the Rockies are on pace for a 22-win improvement from last year’s 43-119 finish. That would mark the greatest one-year win-total improvement in two full-length seasons in club history. The Rox won 24 more games in 1995 than they did in the strike-shortened season of 1994, but that campaign was truncated to 117 games; the 1995 campaign was trimmed to 144 games because of the work stoppage of that era which canceled the 1994 World Series and carried over into April 1995. They also improved from 26 wins to 74 from 2020 to 2021, but the ’20 campaign was just 60 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saturday’s win saw the Rox turn on the power early at the expense of Reds starter Rhett Lowder. Colorado burst in front 2-0 in the first inning thanks to doubles from Jake McCarthy and Cole Carrigg — the latter of which scored McCarthy — and an RBI single from TJ Rumfield, launching him toward a four-hit day. Four more runs scored in the second inning, as the Rox accumulated five-consecutive two-out singles after Brett Sullivan’s one-out triple.

The Reds got a run back in the third, but the Rox responded via an RBI groundout from McCarthy and an RBI single from Mickey Moniak. Three innings later, Rumfield’s fourth and final hit of the day sailed 456 feet into the second level of the right-field stands, providing the final runs of the day.

4⃣5⃣6⃣ FT 🚀 pic.twitter.com/IZYOrNaLi6

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) July 18, 2026

Tomoyuki Sugano made the early barrage stand up, holding the Reds to three runs in 6 1/3 innings.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

Sugano’s fifth quality start in a Rockies uniform saw him make a smooth return from a stint on the injured list, retiring the first seven Cincinnati batters he faced before Jose Trevino’s third-inning solo homer. By that time, the Rockies already had six runs on the scoreboard. Trevino added another solo homer in the fifth inning and in the seventh, Sugano was relieved after a one-out Noelvi Marte double; he scored when Nathaniel Lowe singled off Juan Mejia three batters later.

This was the second-consecutive start for Sugano allowing two homers; he’s now given up seven in his past five appearances. But with Colorado’s offense percolating and the damage limited to solo homers, it wasn’t an issue as Sugano improved his record to 9-4.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Rumfield swatted his sixth-inning homer, putting the Rockies into double digits.

NUMBER TO NOTE: .341 — Moniak’s July batting average; he went 2-for-5 on Saturday.

WHAT’S NEXT: The Rox go for the series in the Sunday afternoon finale. Ryan Feltner starts for Colorado; Hunter Greene gets the call for Cincinnati. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. MDT.

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