MILWAUKEE -- Kyle Freeland will vividly remember his last outing 11 days ago at Coors Field against the Padres. He gave up five runs across four innings and let that frustration out in the home dugout when he busted the light decor.

But there was no frustration and all smiles Monday night from Freeland after he delivered seven shutout innings in the Rockies' 2-0 win against the Brewers at American Family Field to avoid the four-game sweep.

“I take a lot of pride in being a stopper,” Freeland said. “The past three games have been grinders for us. We’ve had the lead, lost it and kinda struggled later in the game. So, that was a good night where we were able to put a stop to it.”

Freeland waited 11 long days to return to the mound since his last start July 14, a wait that seemed like forever. But, the left-hander took the time to work on things in the bullpen with pitching coach Darryl Scott.

“I made some adjustments in my last bullpen after my last start,” Freeland said. “Some mechanical stuff. Just making sure that I’m staying tall down the mound, getting my hand and my arm on top of the ball and staying through it.

“Those adjustments paid off tonight. It was nice to see that we found something that we needed to change a little bit. We changed it, and it worked.”

Freeland’s new higher arm slot on his delivery isn’t noticeable at first glance and might be hard to tell at all. But that sure made a difference for him Monday in his best start of the season.

He pitched seven shutout innings and yielded just four hits and one walk with seven strikeouts. This was a type of pitching line that the team saw a lot of in 2018 when Freeland finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting.

That’s also the type of pitcher that the Rockies hope to see more of, especially after he was signed to a five-year, $64.5 million extension this year.

“This was a good one,” manager Bud Black said. “Tonight was a game where the starting pitcher can really make a difference, and he did.”

Freeland’s outing Monday was the first time since Sept. 23, 2018, that he’s delivered seven shutout innings and just his third career start of seven or more shutout innings while striking out 7 or more batters.

“I think he was fresh,” Black said. “I thought all his pitches had life to it. Anytime you get that layoff, especially in the middle of the season, it freshens you up, so I do think that was beneficial for Kyle.”

The additional time off paid dividends for Freeland, who was in a rut on the mound. In his past six starts, the southpaw had a 6.00 ERA across 36 innings while allowing 40 hits and six home runs.

But Freeland redeemed himself after his recent rough outings by staying in control and utilizing his five-pitch mix against the Brewers.

“It’s nice,” Freeland said. “After a long break like that, especially coming off with a bad taste in your mouth after a bad start. You got to sit that whole time basically just sitting in your mind brewing and it sucks. Tonight was a breath of fresh air for me to be able to get back on track coming off that bad start.”

The success of not only Freeland, but the entire pitching staff will be key to get the team back to .500. It’s a unit that has struggled this season, with the third-highest ERA at 4.88. But when they put it together on the mound -- like Monday -- good things can happen.

If the Rockies want to crawl back into the mix of the playoff picture, the starters and relievers have to pitch well. Colorado sits seven games behind the Cardinals for the final Wild Card spot.

Overcoming that can look like a tall task with three other teams also fighting for that spot. But Freeland showed Monday what can happen when the starter sets the tone and the bullpen finishes the job.

“The goal is to improve in all areas, not just one,” Black said pregame. “But, if we pitch at a high rate, that gives us a better chance of chipping away at 10 games under .500. To win games, you need a good start and you need the bullpen guys to finish it off.”