The 2026 Colorado Rockies have combined flashes of brilliance with a struggle to complete a full game on all sides of the ball. Tonight’s game fell in that camp.
There have been a few games this year where if you removed just one stretch of mistakes from one aspect of the game, the Rockies would have been in the mix, if not fully in a position to win. Tonight, the Rockies found themselves in a hole early on, one that they were unable to climb out of. Their defense allowed for a flurry of unearned
runs and their bats didn’t consistenly step up to support the starting pitching.
That said, the Rockies found themselves right in the mix with a playoff contending team right until the end, with a few key performances to point to.
The Rockies first inning woes continue
Over the last 10 games, the Rockies had allowed 16 runs in the first inning. Last night, the Diamondbacks got after Kyle Freeland early and nearly hit around the order on their way to an early 3-0 lead. That trend continued tonight, unfortunately.
Mason Adams got the first laugh, but not the last. He started strong, striking out Lars Nootbar quickly on four pitches. He finished Nootbar off with his curveball, a pitch that Adams has dominated hitters with this year.
Ketel Marte, who tends to hit well at Coors more often than not, hit a double to left on a ball that Zac Veen lost in the lights for an error. That would prove costly as Gabriel Moreno brought him home just two pitches later.
Hunter Goodman flashed his always strong ABS challenge skills for the second strikeout of the inning, coming on a four-seam fastball that kissed the corner of the zone. But with two outs and two on, Nolan Arenado — who was just a triple short of the cycle last night — singled to left to score another. Veen’s rough start continued, as he scooped the ball but bobbled it.
With a sharp triple down the first base line, Corbin Carroll scored two more to make it an early 4-0 deficit for the Rockies. The Rockies went down in order in the bottom of the inning to leave things there.
No trouble with the curve for Adams
Sadly, Adams’ first career win proves to be elusive. Even still, all of his starts have shown stretches of extreme promise. Tonight was no different.
After surrendering four runs in the first, Adams locked in and bounced back, sitting down 13 straight batters from that point on until his next allowed hit in the top of the sixth. He got ahead in counts often (with 65% first pitch strikes) and worked his pitches well. In particular, Adams continues to be a master of the curveball. Entering tonight, he maintained a .083 batting average against for the pitch, allowing only one hit on curveballs all season.
He relied on the strength of that pitch today, alongside a mix of other effective pitches. He used his four-seamer most today (28%), but mixed in the sinker (24%) and curveball (21%). He kept hitters guessing with the curve (70% whiff rate) and sweeper (13% usage, 43% whiff).
During his stretch of four 1-2-3 innings, he continued to add to his strikeout total. Among those strikeouts, several rattlers were the victim of the curve tonight. Of his eight strikeouts, four of those came on a swinging curveball, as he rang up Nootbar (twice), Tim Tawa, and Pavin Smith with the pitch.
In another 100-loss season, you want to be able to point to bright spots, and Adams has been just that. He tallied an astounding 41% whiff rate on called strikes and set a new career high with those eight strikeouts. He ended his day after 6.0 innings pitched with zero earned runs and four runs allowed on five hits and no walks.
It’s impossible to know how the first inning and the game would have shaken out if the fly ball was reeled in for the second out. Without the outlier inning, Adams could have been in position for a competitive game throughout. Nevertheless, he put up one of, if not the best performance of his career, showed a lot of resilience, and put together a strong starting spot to build momentum heading into next year.
Diamondbacks holding steady
For their part, the D-backs held steady tonight, both in the game and in the Wild Card race.
While Adams held off the Arizona offense after the first, the Diamondbacks were able to add a small cushion in the bullpen innings. With Mark Manfredi in the game in relief, Tawa launched a home run to left field to give Arizona a 5-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning. That would be Arizona’s lone run outside of the first inning. Arizona managed eight hits on the night, but were shut down for a long stretch.
The Rockies offense did better than they did last night but couldn’t quite get enough going. Their seven hits came in spurts and they ended the night with four batters left on base as a team.
Arizona gave up some ground on the other end of a solo shot in the bottom of the inning, as Ezequiel Tovar homered to right field to bring the Rockies back within two runs at 5-3.
Keeping an eye on the Wild Card race around the league, the Diamondbacks got some much-needed help. The Chicago Cubs fell to the Miami Marlins and the Philadelphia Phillies dropped a game to the Milwaukee Brewers, opening things up for the D-backs to threaten for one of the three open playoff spots.
Final Thoughts
On offense, Tovar had a night, logging two hits and two runs, including a solo homer. For a player that struggled to find contact through much of the season, settling in for most of the team’s runs was a win.
But the star of the show was Mason Adams, acquired in the Brenton Doyle trade, who delivered in his last start of the season. In that last start, he made it into the sixth inning for the first time all year. That feat was especially impressive given that it took over 30 pitches for him to escape the first.
In a game at Coors Field, Adams deserves all the kudos for holding strong and making it deep into the game. Manager Warren Schaeffer noted that Adams “kept his head about him in the first inning and was basically unhittable after that.” He added that “he’s extremely even-keeled. The game can speed up, but I don’t ever see that with Mason.”
It’s hard to be happy about 101 losses, but at this point in the season, it’s promising to see some good in the lineup. For a team with glaring holes in its rotation, having a pitcher like Adams stepping up throughout the year and late into the season provides a glimmer of hope for the 2027 campaign.
Up Next
It’s time for one last hurrah at Coors Field.
With tonight’s loss, the Rockies sit at 32-48 at home on the season but will try to end things on a good note. They’ll finish off the three-game series against Arizona before heading out to Chicago for a weekend series against the White Sox.
Tanner Gordon gets the start for Colorado. This year, he’s 1-5 in 11 starts and 23 total games, with a 6.01 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, and 84/18 K/BB.
Eduardo Rodriquez takes the mound for Arizona, entering with a 15-7 record over 31 starts, with a 2.89 ERA, a 1.23 WHIP, and a 140/62 K/BB.
The first pitch for the Thursday afternoon game is set for 1:10 p.m. MT.
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