Rockies Begin Effort To Climb Out of Basement With Worst Home Opener Loss

DENVER, Colo. – After an offseason of change unlike any other for the Colorado Rockies, the start to the 2026 campaign at Coors Field looked awfully familiar during a 10-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. It was the largest home opening loss in team history.

A new president of baseball operations and general manager, along with multiple additions in the front office, has the organization and its fanbase thinking more optimistically about the future. Banners outside their home at Coors Field reveal a slogan for this newfound hope: Here For The Climb.

Colorado couldn’t make it out of the parking lot at the trailhead on Friday, unfortunately.

Shortly after the pomp and circumstance of ceremonial first pitches, player introductions, a flyover from the F-16 Fighting Falcons, and the presentation ceremony of the Louisville Silver Slugger Award for Hunter Goodman, the Rockies were down 7-0 on 44 pitches from Michael Lorenzen.

A cool breeze that made it feel much chillier than 53 carried away any aspirations that the home opener would be a perfect day at the park.

“The fastball command wasn’t there to start. Getting behind in counts against a lineup like that wasn’t gonna set you up for success in the first inning there,” Michael Lorenzen said. “And then you include, you know, some hits, some singles through the infield and balls that fall in different things like that. I just gotta do better early on.”

The Rockies were down 9-0 at one point before no. 9 hitter Kyle Karros had even experienced his first trip to the plate. With last season’s 17-16 walk-off win against the Pittsburgh Pirates on the minds of 48,366 in attendance, Colorado could not mount another improbable comeback against this Pennsylvanian club.

The offense mustered five hits and one run against Aaron Nola, the fewest in a home opener since getting shutout in 2012. The 15 strikeouts, seven looking, were not what the Rockies were drawing up. 

Coupled with 17 strikeouts in their previous game, the 2026 club already did something the 2025 version managed to do twice: strikeout 15+ times in consecutive games.

Colorado struck out 1,531 times last season, second-most in MLB with the highest strikeout percentage (25.9%) in the sport. Despite a focus on making more contact to put pressure on the defense – both during the winter with roster acquisitions and in spring training with new hitting coach Brett Pill – that’s not what came to fruition.

“(Nola) was really good. He was painting the way, getting us to chase the curveball, mixing well, just keeping us off balance,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “In general, we got to be better. In terms of the 15 strikeouts, we’ve got to be consistently better.”

There were silver linings. Valento Bellozo, promoted from Triple-A Albuquerque the day prior to the home opener, twirled six innings of one-run ball in relief.

“It’s beyond words how important that was for us,” Schaeffer said of the length from Bellozo. “He also saved our bullpen today in a big, big way, attacking the strike zone being efficient with all his pitches. No fear. Bellozo, for sure, the hero of the game for us.”

Not only did Belloza become the fourth Rockie to ever throw six innings in relief, but he became just the second Mexican-born pitcher to last that long in relief since 1987.

“I think everybody has a job here. If this is my job – save the bullpen – maybe it’s winning or losing, it’s always helping the team. It is the most important thing, helping the team, to win ballgames, to be in the best position to be in the series. Today, I think maybe we lose, but we have a lot of options to win the series.”

The promise of better days ahead still persists following the disappointing loss. A series victory over the Toronto Blue Jays this week came two months earlier on the calendar than last year. Now, only the San Diego Padres are left as the lone NL West club awaiting a series win. 

Colorado managed a positive run differential with Monday’s 14-5 victory and entered Friday with a +3 run differential. The last time this franchise had a positive run differential was April 2, 2023. That span of over 1,063 games was the longest in franchise history by nearly two years.

Was the big day disappointing, following all the hope and hype of the new administration? Sure. But Schaeffer put it all in perspective for those who feel it’s still the same ol’ Rockies. 

“He has one bad inning. One game of 162. Don’t worry about it. It’s gonna be better.”

Before the game, Schaeffer expressed his gratitude to the fans of Denver. 

“It’s good to get us started here in front of our good, home fans. Excited for the players that we have that haven’t seen this place yet, to see how great the fans are, how beautiful the stadium is, how much Denver loves the Rockies,” the 41-year-old skipper said. “We can have the greatest home field advantage of any team in the game. There’s no doubt, and we look to exploit that.”

Diamond Details

With Jose Quintana unavailable Saturday after being placed on the 15-day injured list with a right hamstring strain, Colorado will have to tap into its relief corps for nine innings. Chase Dollander, who last pitched four innings on Monday as a long reliever, will receive a bulk of the innings in game no. 2 of the Phillies series, but it’s unclear how much he’ll be relied upon.

The first ABS challenge in Coors Field history was made by Hunter Goodman on a first-pitch ball to J.T. Realmuto in the first inning. The result was favorable for Colorado, as the pitch was overturned in the Rockies’ favor.

Goodman’s keen eye for the strike zone took a hit during his next two challenges, both of which were confirmed strikes when he was at the plate in the fifth and eighth innings.