A sellout crowd of 47,587 came to Coors Field on Friday night for the fireworks, and, perhaps, to see future Hall of Famer Mike Trout hit his 400th career home run.

As a bonus, the fans saw the Rockies beat the Angels, 7-6, for their 42nd win of the season. That means Colorado officially dodged baseball infamy. The White Sox, who finished 41-121 last season, remain in sole possession of the most losses in baseball’s modern era.

The Rockies, who snapped a five-game losing streak and won for just the second time in their last 13 games, won via timely hitting and stellar work by the bullpen. Four Rockies relievers blanked the Angels for four innings, with Victor Vodnik closing out the game by striking out pinch-hitter Luis Rengifo with a runner on first to notch his ninth save.

“The bullpen was fantastic,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer said, then rattled off compliments for Jaden Hill, Juan Mejia, Jimmy Herget and Vodnik.

The bullpen’s four scoreless innings were its longest scoreless outing since tossing 4 1/3  scoreless innings on Aug. 24 at Pittsburgh. Vodnik has converted each of his last seven save opportunities, posting a 0.61 ERA over that span.

As for Trout, Los Angeles’ designated hitter will have to wait for 400. He went 0 for 4 with a strikeout. He hit two flyballs to the warning track, but center fielder Brenton Doyle was there to make the catch.

Asked what was going through his mind when Trout hit the two deep balls, Schaeffer quipped: “I thought Doyle was going to catch them.”

Colorado got out of the box quickly to take a rare first-inning lead. It entered the game having been outscored 135-50 in the first frame this season, but a leadoff double by Tyler Freeman, an RBI triple by Hunter Goodman, and a sacrifice fly by first baseman Blaine Crim put Colorado ahead 2-0.

The Rockies took a 7-6 lead with a four-run fifth. They sent nine men to the plate and cashed in with sacrifice flies by Crim and Ezequiel Tovar, sandwiched around an RBI single by Doyle. When center fielder Bryce Teodosio muffed Doyle’s single, Goodman scored the go-ahead run.

Crim, called up when Michael Toglia was sent back down to Triple-A Albuquerque, has made quite an impression in his first seven games with the Rockies. He’s driven in nine runs, tied with Andres Galarraga (1993) for the second-most RBIs through a player’s first seven games with the Rockies in franchise history. Trevor Story is the leader, with 12 RBIs in his first seven games in 2016.

Rockies rookie right-hander Bradley Blalock is still experiencing growing pains. He pitched well, at times, but the Angels rocked him for some big hits on big misses with his fastball. Hence, a linescore of six runs allowed on eight hits over five innings. He only walked one and struck out four, including fanning Trout in the third inning. After 12 starts (14 appearances), Blalock has a 9.16 ERA.

“There’s a lot to learn,” he said. “It definitely hasn’t gone like I wanted it to. I’ve had my ups and downs, and I’ve learned from the downs, as well as the ups. I need to keep learning how to execute every pitch. I think we have made some strides this year, but it hasn’t been seen yet. But I think it’s turning in the right direction.”

Los Angeles threw two big punches in the second. Christian Moore mashed a two-run homer, and two batters later, Denzer Guzman hit a solo blast as the Angels took a 3-2 lead.

“Early in the game, in that second inning, I left two pitches up,” said Blalock, who surrendered two home runs and has allowed 10 home runs over his last five starts. “But I didn’t get them up enough, to Moore and to Guzman. But overall, I thought I executed pretty well, for the most part.”

The Angels regained the lead, 6-3, with a three-run fifth off Blalock. Guzman drew a leadoff walk, Bryce Teodosio singled, and Nolan Schanuel drove them both in with a double to right. Trout advanced Schanuel to third with a flyout to deep center, and Yoan Moncada delivered a sacrifice fly.

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Originally Published: September 19, 2025 at 9:00 PM MDT