Diamondbacks tee off on Freeland as Rockies drop 11th in last 14 games

Rockies Report, Game 45:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: Arizona lit up Kyle Freeland for six first-inning runs, removing most of the doubt early as the Diamondbacks went on to pummel the Rockies 9-1 in the series and homestand opener at Coors Field on Friday night.

The game started innocently enough for Freeland; he retired two of the first three Arizona batters, and for a moment appeared to have gotten out of the inning when Corbin Carroll was thrown out trying to steal third base. But Arizona successfully challenged the call, and that was when the floodgates opened, as the next six Arizona batters reached base before Freeland could finally escape the inning by striking out Ketel Marte — by which point Arizona had batted around.

Everybody bats 😎 pic.twitter.com/okEKJBxMpx

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 16, 2026

The only bright spot of a dim evening came from Hunter Goodman, who clubbed his 11th home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning. But that was hardly enough to counter Arizona’s opening barrage, as Colorado generated just four baserunners against Merrill Kelly — via their only four hits of the night.

Kelly went the distance for Arizona.

Zach Agnos was able to cover 4 1/3 innings and save much of the bullpen, allowing two runs on four hits with no walks. Seth Halvorsen mopped up in the ninth.

Outfielder Sterlin Thompson made his major-league debut as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning after being called up earlier Friday. He hit a groundout to first on the initial pitch he saw in his only plate appearance.

The Rockies fell to 17-28 and sit at the bottom of the National League with the second-worst record in MLB.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

Freeland’s struggles since returning from the injured list continued, as a two-out walk to Nolan Arenado was the thread that caused matters to unravel in what would ultimately become an arduous 42-pitch inning. But manager Warren Schaeffer doesn’t attribute Freeland’s recent poor form to any lingering problems from the shoulder issue that sent him to the injured list.

“I think he’s OK physically, I just think he’s going through a rough stretch,” Schaeffer said after the game.

Freeland was able to settle down and make it into the fourth inning before allowing any further damage. Schaeffer relieved him after 81 pitches.

The Rockies have now lost four-consecutive games started by Freeland and are 2-5 in his starts.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Arizona added a pair of seventh-inning runs to push its lead to eight runs and make the balance of the game academic.

NUMBER TO NOTE: 11.50 — Freeland’s ERA in four starts since coming back from a shoulder problem. He had a 2.30 ERA before his IL stint.

WHAT’S NEXT: Tomoyuki Sugano has been able to pull the Rockies back on track, and he’ll be asked to do so again Saturday, but the Diamondbacks will counter with Eduardo Rodríguez, with whom they have won six-consecutive starts. First pitch for the matinee will be at 1:10 p.m. MDT.

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