Rox catcher Sullivan joins Ohtani as only pitchers(!) to homer in 2026

LOS ANGELES -- By the time a team has a 14-run lead in a baseball game, the narrative is usually written. Yet, this sport has a funny way of delivering a little drama when the scoreboard suggests there is none left to be found.

What unfolded in the final frames on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium didn't change the outcome of the Rockies' tough 15-6 blowout loss to the Dodgers, but it did produce an entirely unexpected sequence -- one that arrived in the form of the arm, and then the bat, of backup catcher Brett Sullivan.

With a thinned bullpen and Colorado looking up at a 15-1 deficit in the bottom of the eighth, manager Warren Schaeffer called on Sullivan to handle the eighth inning to preserve the staff. Armed with a slider topping out in the mid-50s, Sullivan navigated a scoreless frame, even inducing a routine groundout from Dodgers veteran Miguel Rojas to end the inning.

Thus far in 2026, Sullivan has pitched in three games, tossing three scoreless innings with just one hit allowed.

In the top of the ninth, the roles reversed. The Dodgers sent Rojas to the mound to close things out, and Sullivan stepped into the batter’s box against the very player he had retired just minutes earlier. Sullivan connected on a 65.6 mph fastball from Rojas, launching a solo home run to center field off the position-player-turned-pitcher.

With that swing, Sullivan joined Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani as the only players in MLB to hit a home run as a pitcher this season, which Ohtani did on May 20.

After singles from Braxton Fulford and Jake McCarthy, third baseman Kyle Karros stepped up to take his hacks against Sullivan.

For the Karros family, Dodger Stadium is practically a second home. Kyle’s father Eric spent 12 seasons anchoring first base for Los Angeles and won the 1992 NL Rookie of the Year Award -- but on Tuesday night, he was watching from the SportsNet LA television booth alongside Stephen Nelson.

With his father calling the action from above, the younger Karros unloaded on a three-run home run to left field. Up in the booth, the elder Karros couldn't hide his amusement.

"Miguel Rojas is my favorite player now,” the elder Karros joked on the air after watching his son round the bases.

However, balancing those individual highlights against the overall frustrating evening for Colorado required a candid look from Schaeffer, who didn't sugarcoat the mixed emotions of a late, position-player-induced rally.

“Listen, we never want to be in that situation where they are throwing a position player against us, especially when they're winning,” Schaeffer said. “We don't ever want to be down that much where that's the option. But every at-bat in the big leagues counts. So, good for Sully and Kyle for the homers.”

The late-game production couldn't completely obscure a difficult outing for starter Kyle Freeland, who struggled from the jump. The Dodgers' right-handed-heavy lineup sat on missed locations, punishing cutters and changeups over the heart of the plate for three home runs, including an early two-run blast by Mookie Betts. By the time Freeland was lifted in the fifth, his final line -- nine hits and eight earned runs over four innings -- underscored the uphill battle the Rockies faced all evening.

"Yeah, it's tough to find locations for me right now,” Freeland reflected quietly afterward. “They capitalized on every single mistake that I made, and I made a lot of mistakes tonight. A lineup like that, they're gonna make sure that they're taking those mistakes and taking advantage of them.”

Schaeffer echoed that assessment, noting that the Dodgers' hitters arrived with an aggressive, well-executed game plan.

"I just thought that their right-handed hitters came ready to hit tonight,” Schaeffer said. “Kyle probably wasn't as sharp as he'd like. Probably missed some spots there that he'd like to have back, but overall, it's a really good team over there, and they took advantage.”

But if there is a sustainable piece of optimism to extract from the pitching side, it belongs to rookie reliever Welinton Herrera. Making just his second career appearance, the Rockies' No. 14 prospect per MLB Pipeline looked utterly unfazed by the potent Los Angeles order. Coming on in the bottom of the seventh, Herrera pumped 95-96 mph fastballs, striking out two and allowing just a single hit in a scoreless frame.

“I thought he looked really sharp,” Schaeffer said, his eyes lighting up when discussing the rookie. “That's a kid that's going to be really good in the future. And we're very happy to have him. Left-on-left changeup to punch [Freddie] Freeman -- that was beautiful. The arm's alive, [the ball's] coming out of his hand really, really nice. So, good for Welinton.”