The Colorado Rockies hadn’t won consecutive games this season entering their three-game weekend series with the Texas Rangers in Denver.
Now, the last-place Rockies are one win away from becoming the first team this year to sweep the defending champions.
Colorado will go for its fourth straight victory when it likely will deploy right-hander Dakota Hudson (0-6, 6.35 ERA) against Rangers righty Jose Urena (1-2, 3.86) in Sunday’s series finale.
“Our whole team is just focusing on playing more team baseball,” said Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon, who tied his career high with four hits in Colorado’s 8-3 win on Saturday.
“Just find a way to win. You’ve seen the fruits of (our) labor over the last couple days, so hopefully we keep it going.”
Late-inning rallies fueled both of the Rockies’ first two victories over Texas.
On Friday, Charlie Blackmon raced home from first base on an error to tie the game at 2-2 in the seventh inning. He delivered the eventual game-winning, two-run double in the following frame as Colorado won 4-2.
The Rockies trailed 3-2 entering the bottom of the seventh inning on Saturday before rocking the Rangers’ bullpen for six runs, all with two outs. Blackmon capped Colorado’s explosive inning on Saturday with his second two-run double in as many games.
“He’s the heart and soul of this team,” McMahon said of Blackmon, the longest-tenured active member of the Rockies. “For him to come through like that, it just fires everybody up a little more.”
Blackmon has tallied two RBIs in four straight games, going 7-for-14 over that span. The 37-year-old has doubled in three straight contests, putting him at 599 extra-base hits over his 14-year career.
McMahon supplied one of Colorado’s most important hits on Saturday. The left-handed hitter tied the game at 3-3 with an RBI single in the seventh inning off Texas right-hander David Robertson, who had not allowed a hit to a left-handed batter in 32 at-bats this season.
Robertson shouldered the loss on Saturday after surrendering four runs on two hits. He did not retire any of the four batters he faced.
“Just a poor effort on my part,” Robertson told reporters postgame. “I’ve gotta be better than that if we’re gonna win a ballgame.”
Robertson’s rough relief outing prolonged the Rangers’ recent bullpen struggles.
Texas relievers have allowed 23 runs (22 earned) in 16 innings since Monday. The team’s 4.95 bullpen ERA is MLB’s third-highest entering Sunday’s games.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy seems more concerned about Texas’ bats, though. The Rangers have managed only five runs over the series’ first two games.
“We need to get this offense going a little bit,” Bochy said after Saturday’s game. “In this ballpark, they kept us down to three runs, and that’s usually not a good thing here.”
Texas first baseman Ezequiel Duran is 4-for-7 in this series and 8-for-14 over his last four games. The 24-year-old has never faced Hudson, who is still searching for his first win as a member of the Rockies.
Hudson was tagged for four runs on five hits and took the loss in his most recent start Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants in Colorado. He struck out two and walked a season-high-tying five batters over 3 2/3 innings.
Hudson won his lone career start against the Rangers with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2019. His last win came 12 starts ago with St. Louis on Sept. 6, 2023.
All six of Urena’s career starts against Colorado came when he pitched for the Miami Marlins. The 32-year-old is 1-3 with a 4.41 ERA vs. the Rockies.
Urena secured his first win this season on Tuesday against the Athletics in Oakland. He allowed two runs (one earned) in five innings in his first start this year over 11 appearances.
–Field Level Media
