On Monday, it looked like the baseball gods owed the Rockies one.
Colorado entered the fifth inning of the series opener against the Astros down 3-0, and got two runs the honest way when Edouard Julien singled home a couple to cut the score to 3-2.
Then came the help from the LoDo heavens in a 9-7 win, marking the Rockies’ first consecutive victories this season.
“We put the pressure on the Astros today,” said right fielder Troy Johnston, who led the way with three hits, two RBIs, two runs scored and a mega homer. “They had a spot starter, and some trouble in the bullpen, and we took advantage.”
The Rockies plated six runs with two outs in the fifth, and Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena was at the center of three plays that extended the inning when it should’ve been over.
Pena took a bad first step off the bat on a Hunter Goodman grounder to the shortstop’s left, turning a likely out into a single. The next batter, Johnston, hit a chopper up the middle. Pena was shifted perfectly up the middle to field it and step on second for the third out, but the grounder careened off the bag into the outfield for an RBI double.
When Johnston got to second, he let out an animated shrug.
“I thought Pena made an error on the play,” Johnston said. “(Houston second baseman Jose) Altuve told me it was a double, and I didn’t believe him until I looked up at the board and saw the replay. (Sometimes) it’s better to be lucky than good.”
After T.J. Rumfield cashed in on that fortuitous home-field bounce with a two-RBI triple the next at-bat, Willi Castro roped an RBI single to make it a taco’s inning. Pena then committed an error, booting an easy grounder by Brenton Doyle, that enabled Kyle Karros to hit an RBI single a couple batters later.
All that gave Colorado an 8-3 lead, the most runs the club’s scored in an inning this season, and left the Astros visibly relieved when they jogged off the field following Julien’s lineout to left that ended the frame after 14 batters.
“It was nice to see the boys passing the baton, getting the next guy to the plate any way they could,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “We took balls and we looked a lot more comfortable tonight.”
The 14-batter inning was the most for the Rockies since 2018, when they did so in a game against the Cardinals in Denver.
It was Houston that had all the momentum prior to that at-bat parade. The Astros scored twice in the opening inning off right-hander Ryan Feltner via a double by Carlos Correa and a single by Christian Walker. Then, the visitors made it 3-0 in the fourth when Cam Smith blasted a 462-foot tank to dead center off a piped Feltner fastball, the longest homer in the majors this season.
Feltner still ended up getting the win, his first such decision since September 17, 2024, in what Schaeffer called “an outing to build on.”
But after the Rockies put together their big inning off the combination of Houston pitchers Cody Bolton (making his first career start) and Ryan Weiss — a frame that also featured three walks and a sacrifice bunt — the Colorado bullpen ensured the Astros weren’t able to fully rally. Through 10 games, relievers have been a strength for the Rockies (4-6).
Houston scored one in the sixth after Feltner loaded the bases, resulting in the end of his night, but Jimmy Herget escaped the jam with only a sacrifice fly. Colorado got that run back in the bottom of the frame thanks to Johnston’s no-doubt homer to right, and the right fielder was greeted with a new celebratory purple fur coat in the dugout following the 407-foot mash.
Johnston was sitting slider on his first-pitch homer off Weiss, and the pitcher put one right in his wheelhouse. That capped a strong night for Johnston, who started out the evening with a surprise bunt single to lead off the second inning, when the ball stopped right on the line just short of third base.
Even with the Rockies in command following the fifth, in typical Coors Field fashion, the game wasn’t over until it was over.
The Astros ripped Zach Agnos in the eighth to make it 9-7, and Agnos was pulled with one out and two men in scoring position, including the tying run at second base. But Juan Mejia induced a flyout and a groundout to end the threat, then set Houston down in order in the ninth for his first save of the season and second of his career.
“That was two huge outs in the eighth inning, and then (Mejia) came back out and did the same thing in the ninth,” Schaeffer said. “His stuff is nasty and he’s got a low heartbeat, so it’s a good combo.”
Of note, the Rockies had starter Michael Lorenzen warming up in the ninth should Mejia have gotten into trouble. Schaeffer said that will be a staple for the Rockies moving forward on the right-hander’s bullpen days.
“Instead of him throwing a bullpen, he’s going to be available for an inning out of the ‘pen,” Schaeffer said. “He’s come out of the ‘pen many times in his career. He wants to help the team, and we’re going to let him.”
The three-game series resumes on Tuesday night when southpaw Kyle Freeland takes on Houston right-hander Mike Burrows.
Colorado Rockies Kyle Karros draws a line with his fingers after hitting an RBI-single in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Geneva Heffernan)
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