Who would have thought a meeting between two of baseball’s worst teams this season would result in a pretty fun series? On Friday we saw Tomoyuki Sugano deal in his best start of the season–and what might have been his last start in a Rockies uniform with the deadline fast approaching–while last night we watched the Rockies and Hunter Goodman ride a high-powered offensive attack to victory.
Thanks to those two wins, the Colorado Rockies have now exceeded their win total from their dreadful 2025 season.
Today they’ll look to add on to that number as they go for the sweep against the Kansas City Royals. It’s also the final game for the Rockies before the 2026 trade deadline and may very well be the last time we see multiple players. We even saw a Royals player get traded mid-game last night. Could we see the same thing happen to a Rockies player this afternoon?
The left-handed Kyle Freeland will be making his 21st start of the season on the mound for the Rockies. Freeland’s struggles in 2026 continued in the month of July. In four of his five starts last month he gave up at least four earned runs, including five his last time out against the Milwaukee Brewers. However, his 4.16 FIP for the month of July suggests some bad luck. He also pitched at least five innings in each of his five July starts.
The 33-year-old Freeland is currently experiencing his worst career season. His ERA sits at a painful 7.34 throgh 99 innings with a career-worst 12.9 H/9 and a 1.550 WHIP despite a career-strong mark of 1.9 BB/9 and a 4.92 FIP.
Right-handed starter Seth Lugo will toe the rubber for the Royals this afternoon. Lugo is also experiencing somewhat of a down year with a 4.22 ERA and 4.24 FIP through 22 starts. If the season ended today, his 7.7 SO/9 would be the lowest mark of his career since the 6.3 he had in his 2016 rookie season. His last time out, Lugo pitched six innings of one-run baseball against the Minnesota Twins, giving up six hits and two walks while striking out just two batters.
Lugo has historically pitched well against the Rockies. In 13 appearances—six of which were starts—he has a 2.72 ERA with 59 strikeouts in 49.2 innings. This includes a 3.15 ERA over five Coors Field appearances.
This season Lugo has thrown an astounding nine different pitches, seven of which he has used at least 170 times. His primary pitch remains a low-90s sinker, but he has also thrown a cutter, a four-seam fastball, a curveball, a sweeper, a traditional slider, and a changeup with regularity. Lugo has also used a “slow curveball” at least 50 times this season in addition to an occasional slurve.
First Pitch: 1:10 p.m. MDT
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM and KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
Royals SB Nation Site: Royals Review
Lineups:
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