The first day of September almost provided a career first for Gabriel Hughes of the Colorado Rockies.
Despite allowing just one run, Hughes departed with a lead but failed to claim his first Major League victory in Colorado’s 4-2 win against the Orioles September 1 at Coors Field.
Although the rookie’s big achievement did not come against the Orioles, the right-hander did turn in a solid performance. His impressive outing could not have come at a better time for the Rockies.
The victory snapped a franchise-record
10-game home losing skid for Colorado over the last month.
Prior to the win against Baltimore, the Rockies’ last victory at Coors Field came August 2 in an 8-1 conquest of Kansas City to cap a three-game sweep of the Royals.
Hughes permitted just four hits and a single run—both matching career bests as a starter—while striking out four and issuing three walks.
“I think I’ve learned a lot of what allows me to be successful and what allows me to not be as successful,” Hughes said post-game after making his 10th career start since joining the Rockies from Triple-A Albuquerque.
“(I) didn’t throw enough first-pitch strikes. But the team came up huge behind me and I think the off-speed pitches were really good today. It allowed me to get through 4.2 (innings).”
With the Rockies ahead 2-1, Hughes looked to be headed to completing the necessary five innings required for a starting pitcher to qualify for a victory.
But after retiring five straight Orioles, including the first two to open the top half of the fifth inning, he issued a four-pitch walk to Baltimore’s No. 9 hitter, Carlos Narváez.
The walk was followed by a base hit by Jackson Holliday, after Hughes had an 0-2 count on the Baltimore leadoff hitter, and another walk to the ever-dangerous Pete Alonso to load the bases.
“The biggest takeaway I have is to get two quick outs and then walk the nine hole,” Hughes said. “A lot of good things don’t happen most of the time when that happens.”
Following the walk to Alonso, Colorado manager Warren Schaeffer then brought Hughes’ evening to an end by summoning reliever Brennan Bernardino from the bullpen to face Gunnar Henderson.
Bernardino induced Henderson to pop out to second baseman Adael Amador to end the Orioles’ threat and leave Colorado in front by a lone run.
The Orioles would later knot the game 2-2 on Holliday’s two-out homer in the seventh inning before T.J. Rumfield’s two-run homer in the bottom of the inning provided the Rockies’ winning margin.
Schaeffer told media in his pre-game press conference before the start by Hughes—Colorado’s 2022 first-round draft pick—that he was close to getting what has proved to be an elusive first “W.”
“I think it’s been similar the whole way; it’s just really one inning a game that has been trouble for him,” Schaeffer said. “So it’s putting a complete game together, which I know he can do. He’s got the mentality for it.
“When the command starts going a little bit just to lock it in and get back in the strike zone and continue to do what you’ve been doing all game,” he added. “Most of his innings have been really, really good. It’s just one here and there.”
Against the Orioles, Hughes did just what his manager spelled out after having dropped his first six Major League decisions.
The Gonzaga product needed 78 pitches (45 strikes) to navigate his outing against the Orioles.
For his part, Hughes—in an interview a day before his start against Baltimore—recognized the need to get back on track after he experienced early success on the mound to start this MLB career.
“I think looking at what was working earlier when I was in Triple-A and what got me called up (to the Majors), a lot of it was just focused on execution and not really worrying about what’s happening,” he recalled of his first several starts.
Hughes pitched at least five innings in each of his first five career starts —earning a three-inning save in his Major League debut July 3 against San Francisco—and did not allow a home run in any of his first five career appearances (four starts with a 3.80 ERA in 21.1 innings).
In his inaugural Major League start July 8 on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he tossed six innings and permitted three runs on four hits with seven strikeouts.
That outing included a stretch of retiring 15 consecutive Dodgers.
But when the pages of the calendar turned to August, things changed for the former 10th-overall pick.
During his five starts in August, he fashioned a 10.03 ERA allowing 28 earned runs in 23.1 innings with 15 of his 28 earned runs coming via home runs, including a pair of grand slams by opposing hitters.
A day before his September 1 outing against Baltimore, Hughes said he needed to focus on what he can control.
“A lot of what I can control is executing pitches, getting ahead and I haven’t done a great job of that in the last couple of outings,” he said. “So, it’s very much under my control, knowing that i can go back out. I know the process that’s going to give me that. I know what it looks like. It’s just a matter of doing it.”
Hughes noted that his downslide in August provided a learning opportunity for him.
“It’s when you start struggling that you realize, ‘Hey, this is something I can work on. This gives me an opportunity to learn,’” he said.
“So, as long as you take those opportunities to learn, it’s not wasted.”
But Hughes said that he expected his first year as an MLB pitcher to be a learning experience.
“My first year, I knew it was going to be difficult. I knew there were going to be challenges. I look forward to using them as opportunities to grow and opportunities to learn so that I make these mistakes now and learn from them and then don’t make them in the future.”
With a month to go in the 2026 season, Hughes will have more chances to showcase his talent with the Rockies. Do you see him as being a mainstay in the team’s starting rotation for 2027?
Let us know in the comments.
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