DENVER — Rockies Report, Game 138:
ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: After his third strikeout of the day, Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman slammed his bat to the dirt in frustration, breaking it in two pieces, encapsulating the frustration of the Rockies’ recent run since their mid-August hot streak.
Aside from Sunday’s thrilling walk-off win, little has gone the Rockies’ way since their 7-2 sprint through the middle of the eighth month, and now they sit one loss from a fate that has been inevitable since April, yet remained delayed as this young core showed more comeback moxie than most expected — the 100-loss threshold.
Monday’s 8-2 defeat to the San Francisco Giants was a particularly vexing loss, as the Rockies pounded out 13 hits — yet had just two runs to show for their work.
No team had done so little with so many hits in nearly two years.
Trailing 6-0, Colorado finally got on the board in the sixth inning after Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar strung together a pair of one-out hits, which chased Teng after 84 pitches. Kyle Karros and Yanquiel Fernández drove in Doyle and Tovar with a groundout and a double to center field, respectively, slicing the Giants’ lead to 6-2.
San Francisco pushed its edge back to six runs on a Willy Adames 2-run homer off reliever Anthony Molina in the seventh inning. Any hopes of a Rockies comeback evaporated with a pair of double plays in the seventh and eighth innings.
The Rockies are 39-99.
ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT
It’s obvious, but Chase Dollander will have to figure out Coors Field, as the dichotomy of his home-road splits got worse Monday in a five-inning appearance that resulted in his 12th loss.
Away from Coors Field, opposing batters have a .651 OPS and a .212 average against him. His ERA is 3.64; his WHIP is 1.234; he’s allowed 1.15 HR/9.
But at home, opposing batters have a .993 OPS at his expense. (By comparison, Shohei Ohtani’s career OPS is .951.) They’re hitting .337. His ERA is 9.98; his WHIP is 1.978.
Coors can do this, but for a pitcher in whom so much hope for the future of the rotation is invested, it’s been a humbling welcome to the house of horrors.
The fifth inning was Dollander’s most eventful, showcasing the gamut of the rookie on a day when control was an issue. He opened by plunking Giants second baseman Casey Schmitt in the right elbow. But then he locked in and won a 10-pitch battle with Giants catcher Patrick Bailey, freezing him with a fastball.
After yielding a single to Drew Gilbert, Dollander got Heliot Ramos to flail at a low outside curveball for out No. 2, giving the rookie a chance to escape. But Dollander walked Rafael Devers on four pitches to load the bases, then missed with a 3-2 fastball to Adames to bring in the Giants’ fourth run.
Then came a moment that by any objective definition was bad luck.
Dollander went with a 99-MPH fastball to open his duel with Dominic Smith, and the left-hander checked his swing, caught the ball and poked it down the the line, bringing in two more runs. Smith tried to reach second and was gunned down by Jordan Beck, but the damage was complete — three runs for the inning, six runs through five innings.
Dom Smith knocks in two on a check-swing single but is thrown out at second pic.twitter.com/QLHpFgBipT
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 1, 2025
“The check-swing single, his last hitter — that’s not terrible, it’s not huge damage, but it’s the walks before that,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer said.
Dollander fell to 2-12.
BITS AND PIECES
IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Mickey Moniak hit into a 3-6-3 double play after Tyler Freeman led off the seventh inning with a single.
NUMBER TO NOTE: 962 — Games that had passed in which at team had posted at least 13 hits without failing to score at least three runs. Colorado’s two runs with 13 hits were the fewest with such an output since Boston scored just twice off 13 hits on Sept. 30, 2023.
WHAT’S NEXT: Kyle Freeland gets the call for the Rockies; Logan Webb starts the second game of the series for the Giants. First pitch Tuesday night at Coors Field is at 6:40 p.m. MDT.
