Rockies bullpen comes apart as Brewers complete sweep in 12-4 romp

DENVER — Rockies Report, Game 66:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: When Kyle Freeland left after two batters in the sixth inning on his record-breaking day, Colorado led 3-2, having been in front since a two-run first inning that began with a pair of leadoff hits.

But all it took was one pitch from Jaden Hill after relieving Freeland to send the Rockies reeling. Milwaukee catcher Gary Sanchez took Hill deep with a runner on second base, putting Colorado behind to stay en route to dealing the Rockies a 12-4 thumping in front of 32,270 at Coors Field on Sunday.

After giving up the homer, Hill allowed a double, a single and two walks — the latter of which brought home a run — before finally logging his first out of the inning. But two pitches later, Brice Turang hit a 2-RBI single, ending Hill’s day after one-third of an inning and 22 frustrating pitches.

“Jaden just had a tough time landing his off-speed for strikes today. The command wasn’t there,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said.

The Brewers, who sit in first place in the National League Central, looked every bit the part of a team that is the hottest in MLB, having gone 24-9 since the start of May. They pounded out 17 hits at the Rockies’ expense — 10 of which came against Hill and fellow receiver Keegan Thompson, who stopped the bleeding for a pair of innings before getting knocked around in the ninth, opening that frame by allowing two singles, a double and a triple before recording an out. All of those baserunners scored.

The Rockies burst in front early when Ezequiel Tovar drove home Willi Castro and Hunter Goodman scored Tovar on a sacrifice fly. Troy Johnston provided the third run of the day with a sacrifice fly that pushed the Rockies in front 3-1 in the fifth.

Tovi drives Willi in 🚗 pic.twitter.com/s83TMjY0w7

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) June 7, 2026

Goodman later lubbed his 17th home run of the season in the ninth inning, launching a Craig Yoho offering 424 feet over the center-field fence. Goodman now has four home runs in his last six games and has already matched his total for the entire month of March.

But that blast was mere window dressing as the Rockies absorbed their fifth sweep of the season in falling to 24-42.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

Kyle Freeland’s first five innings were terrific, as he held the Brewers to five hits and a run in helping stake the Rox to a 3-1 lead. But he allowed a single and a double within eight pitches of opening the sixth, leading Schaeffer to lift him in favor of Hill.

“Two right-handers put two good swings on him, and then it’s time to go to our stopper there against a right-handed hitter, Sanchez,” Schaeffer said.

But Hill was quickly rocked, evaporating Freeland’s hopes of his second win of the season. Freeland knocked his ERA below 8.00 after allowing three earned runs over five-innings-plus.

“Today, I thought he put the heater where he wanted to. I thought his fastball command was good. The velocity was up today — the same as last time, ticked up a little bit,” Schaeffer said. “The off-speed stuff was good.”

As Freeland noted, Sunday’s performance was “steps forward.”

“Obviously there’s multiple things in this outing that need to be cleaned up from my standpoint, that aren’t up to standard for me,” he said. “But moving forward, trying to get better, trying to do anything I can to leave the team in a place to win the ballgame.”

It was a step forward for Freeland, who should make his next start against the A’s in Las Vegas next weekend.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Brice Turang delivered a 2-RBI single in the sixth inning to ensure that the Brewers would bat around in what would ultimately be a seven-run inning.

NUMBER TO NOTE: .154 — The Rockies’ winning percentage against first-place clubs this year. Colorado is 2-11 against the Brewers, Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers combined. Each of those clubs has swept the Rox. This series felt much like the one against Atlanta last month, when the Rox blew a 7-0 lead late, then dropped the final two games.

WHAT’S NEXT: A day off before the Chicago Cubs arrive for a three-game series. Tomoyuki Sugano will start the Tuesday-night opener; Chicago’s starter has not been announced. First pitch will be at 6:40 p.m. MDT.

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