The Colorado Rockies head to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to open a three-game interleague series with Texas Rangers on Monday without manager Bud Black, who was fired on Sunday.
Black, who was in his ninth year at the helm in Denver, was relieved of his duties on Sunday after an 9-3 home win over San Diego that snapped an eight-game losing streak. Mike Redmond also was fired as bench coach.
Black forged a 544-690 mark with the Rockies.
Sunday’s victory was just Colorado’s fourth in its past 28 contests.
“Our play so far this season, especially coming off the last two seasons, has been unacceptable,” Rockies owner Dick Monfort said in a statement. “Our fans deserve better, and we are capable of better.
“While we all share responsibility in how this season has played out, these changes are necessary.”
Third base coach Warren Schaeffer has been named interim manager for the remainder of the season. Hitting coach Clint Hurdle has been named interim bench coach.
The Rockies will send rookie Chase Dollander (2-3, 7.71 ERA) to the mound to start the series in Arlington, while the Rangers will counter with fellow right-hander Tyler Mahle (3-1, 1.48).
The status of Texas All-Star shortstop Corey Seager is up in the air for Monday’s game after he sat out Sunday with a sore right hamstring. Seager had returned from a two-game absence on Saturday in Detroit and went 3-for-4 with an RBI double and two home runs before being taken out after the seventh inning.
“We’d love to have Corey in there because we know what he adds to the lineup, but he just couldn’t go (on Sunday) — not even to DH,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said about Seager, who may be looking at another stint on the injured list. “We will see where we’re at (with Seager) when we get home. Right now, we’re just being cautious.”
The Rangers head home after a 6-1 win in Detroit on Sunday afternoon that allowed them to take two of three in the Motor City. Texas went 3-3 on its six-game road trip to Boston and Detroit and moved within a game of .500.
Through his first eight starts of 2024 and almost two years removed from Tommy John surgery, Mahle’s earned-run average after 42 2/3 innings is tied for second best in MLB. He went five innings in his most recent outing, allowing four hits – two of them solo home runs — while walking one in a no-decision the Rangers lost 6-4 on May 7 in Boston.
Mahle is 1-1 with a 5.93 ERA in five career starts against the Rockies. He has thrown 27 1/3 innings and allowed 23 runs (18 earned) on 36 hits while striking out 22 and walking seven.
Dollander, 23, was pulled after just three innings in his most recent start, giving up six runs on five hits and three walks while not recording a strikeout in a game the Rockies dropped 8-6 in 10 innings at Detroit on May 7.
The ninth overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft out of the University of Tennessee, Dollander has allowed eight home runs in his six starts. He’s also walked 13 — so at times he has been his own worst enemy.
Sunday’s trip to the mound will be Dollander’s first against the Rangers.
–Field Level Media
