Freeland becomes Rockies' all-time innings leader in 'pretty incredible' Coors moment

DENVER -- Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland lifted his cap and received the love of the Coors Field crowd and his hometown on Sunday afternoon.

By coaxing a fly ball to center from the Brewers’ Luis Rengifo to open the fifth inning, Freeland became the Rockies’ franchise leader in innings pitched. His 1,313 1/3 innings put him a full inning past Aaron Cook (2002-11).

“I grew up watching the team, grew up watching Aaron Cook,” said Freeland, who pitched at Denver’s Thomas Jefferson High School before pitching at the University of Evansville and being selected by the Rockies in the first round of the 2014 Draft. “To be able to surpass him for this record for all-time innings pitched is pretty incredible, honestly.”

Sweet moments like that have been rare this season. The happy moment during the Rockies’ 12-4 loss made him think of days when the Rockies were winning more often and such moments were more frequent.

“I actually thought of Buddy Black at that moment when they put it up on the scoreboard,” Freeland said, referring to the Rockies’ manager from his debut in 2017 until last May. “He’s the one who would tell you to make sure you tip your cap to the crowd. I made sure I tipped my cap to the crowd, found my family and tipped my cap to them as well.”

Manager Warren Schaeffer said, “That’s very, very special. What a long career he has had, to set a franchise record like that. It takes a lot of durability, a lot of resilience, a lot of success. Hats off to Kyle Freeland.”

Freeland entered the game with an 8.06 ERA, with the majority of the damage done since he missed 16 days with left shoulder inflammation. Sunday marked the first time since April 7 that he pitched at least five innings while giving up no more than three earned runs.

Sunday, most of the damage occurred after Freeland left, as the National League Central-leading Brewers completed a three-game road sweep.

Freeland entered the sixth with a two-run lead, but William Contreras’ leadoff single and Andrew Vaughn’s RBI triple past a diving Jake McCarthy in center field ended his day. The chance for a win disappeared when Gary Sánchez swatted reliever Jaden Hill’s first pitch for a two-run homer as part of a seven-run inning.

The loss didn’t erase Freeland’s place in club history. More importantly, he’s finally finding momentum after an extended rough patch.

In his last start, June 1 against the Angels, Freeland saw more of the struggles that have occurred too often this season – a five-run third inning. But the rest of his 5 2/3-inning performance revealed slightly increased fastball velocity. It’s not the be-all for Freeland, but Sunday’s 91.5 mph average on his fastball was a tick above his season average and above where it sat during some of the rough outings.

Freeland jumped into the Rockies’ data-informed philosophy of expanding pitch mixes under the team’s new pitching coaches. However, Freeland has largely dropped his sweeper, staying with his curve and slider as breaking pitches. There simply wasn’t enough to distinguish the sweeper from the curve.

“I’m in a better spot with everything when it comes to pitching mechanics,” Freeland said. “I definitely feel like I’m moving forward, getting better through bullpens and outings.

“There are multiple things in this outing that need to be cleaned up from my standpoint, that aren’t up to standard for me. But I’m moving forward, trying to get better [at leaving] the team in a better place to win a ballgame.”