For the first time since June 22, the Colorado Rockies delivered a walk-off win as they defeated the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 in extra innings.
After quality pitching from both starters, the Rockies ended up rallying multiple times down to their last strike to secure the victory and win the series.
Top-notch Tomo
After struggling through his last three starts, Tomoyuki Sugano got back on track with what he’s done for the majority of the 2026 season. He delivered his eighth quality start of the season, allowing just
three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk over six innings.
After navigating the first two innings, the Orioles got after Sugano in the third inning. Blaze Alexander led off the inning with a single, and Colton Cowser then struck out. Jackson Holliday then delivered a single followed by an RBI single from Pete Alonso to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. Later, with two outs, newly acquired Luis Robert Jr. hit a sharp line drive to right field to score two runs and make it 3-0 Orioles. Unlike his recent starts, Sugano didn’t let things get out of hand.
He responded with three more scoreless innings, allowing just three base runners.
What helped Sugano was that his secondary pitches were working well.
The curveball had a 27% whiff rate while his splitter had a 22% whiff rate. The fastball was also spotted well and had a 25% whiff rate and a 62% strike rate. He threw 90 pitches, with 61 going for strikes. An important factor was that he threw a first-pitch strike 73% of the time, allowing him to work ahead of hitters. He also induced eight groundouts against five flyouts.
“I thought Tomo was awesome,” said manager Warren Schaeffer. “I thought his stuff played up today, velo was really good, the stuff was sharp. When they adjusted to him, he adjusted right back.”
Mr. Rogers Neighborhood
While Sugano was working his way through the Orioles lineup, Trevor Rogers was carving up the Rockies for Baltimore.
Through 6.2 innings, Rogers allowed just two runs on six hits while recording a career-high 11 strikeouts in the game. He also didn’t walk a single batter.
What made Rogers so effective was that he pounded the zone. Of the 94 pitches he threw, 71 were strikes. He only induced three groundouts and had two flyouts. He relied heavily on his fastball, throwing it 54% of the time and generating a 29% whiff rate. In total, he had 15 swing-and-misses as the Rockies just couldn’t figure him out.
The Rockies’ first run came in the third inning when Adael Amador singled to lead off the inning and came in to score on a two-out triple by Jake McCarthy. The Rockies had a chance at a second run on the play as the throw into third base got away and McCarthy headed for home. He was initially called safe on the slide, but after a review challenge, the call was overturned to end the inning.
The following inning, Hunter Goodman hit a one-out double and came in to score on a two-out infield single for Cole Carrigg, which snapped an 0-for-17 stretch for him. Unfortunately, Rogers retired nine of the next 10 batters and left with a 3-2 lead.
Ninth-inning equalizer
Once the starters left the game, hits became a premium neither team could afford.
For the Rockies, Juan Mejia, Jimmy Herget, and Jaden Hill combined to allow just one hit over three innings with one strikeout and two walks.
On the opposite side, the Orioles duo of Rico Garcia and Yennier Cano limited the Rockies to just one hit over 1.1 IP with no walks and one strikeout.
However, the Rockies finally broke through in the ninth.
Facing Andrew Kittredge, there was a brief moment where it looked like Goodman tied up the game with a lead-off home run, but the ball hooked foul. Goodman ended up striking out, followed by a lineout from TJ Rumfield.
Down to their final out, Carrigg then narrowly missed a home run himself as the ball hit off the yellow foam at the top of the fence, settling for a double. The Rockies turned to Zac Veen off the bench, and he sent a ball into the gap for an RBI double to tie the game 3-3.
The Orioles turned to reliever Josh Walker and they immediately put Amador on with an intentional walk before striking out pinch-hitter Troy Johnston and sending the game into extras.
Extra-inning affair
Heading into extra-innings, the Rockies caught an immediate break in the top of the 10th inning with new reliever Nick Frasson on the mound.
Alonso bounced a ball on the infield to the shortstop Carrigg. Holliday was the runner on second and had taken off on contact. Carrigg fired the ball to third base, and the Rockies were able to retire him while Alonso reached. Gunnar Henderson then struck out, and Robert grounded out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 10th, Walker then retired Mickey Moniak by getting him to pop up a ball that was caught near the Orioles dugout by Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Alex Hoppe then entered the game and intentionally walked McCarthy to then strike out Connor Norby. Unfortunately, Goodman grounded out to send the game to the 11th.
Colorado turned to Blas Castaño in the top of the 11th, and he immediately surrendered the go-ahead run courtesy of a single by Samuel Basallo. Two batters later, Dylan Beavers singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Alexander then drove in another run to make it 5-3 with a single to center field. Castaño retired the next two batters, including a strikeout of Holliday.
The Rockies got a run back in the bottom half of the inning when Rumfield lined a ball to left field to score Norby and make it 5-4 against new reliever Grant Wolfram.
Carrigg struck out swinging for the first out of the inning, which brought Veen to the plate in a crucial situation again. Unfortunately, Veen also struck out, this time looking, bringing the Rockies to their final hope, Amador, with two outs. Amador blasted a ball into the gap that one-hopped the fence for an automatic double, preventing Rumfield from scoring the tying run.
Brett Sullivan, who had entered the game in the top of the 11th behind the plate, found himself in a situation with the winning run at second base. On a 3-2 pitch, he singled into shallow left field where Robert had no chance to throw out the speedy Amador, winning the game 6-5.
Baltimore ended the game with 10 hits and struck out just seven times with three walks while going 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The Rockies tallied 12 hits while striking out 17 times against just two walks. They went 4-for-11 with RISP as well, but did so in the clutch. Carrigg ended up with three hits while Amador, Rumfield, and McCarthy each had two.
Up next
The Rockies are off Thursday before welcoming the St. Louis Cardinals for a weekend series. Ryan Feltner (5-9, 5.84 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Rockies while the Cardinals have not yet announced a starter.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 pm MDT.
See you then!
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