DENVER -- The Rockies swept Houston out of town Wednesday, reaching .500 for the first time in over a year, dating back to March 29, 2025.
Michael Lorenzen's performance on the mound was emblematic of the team’s rejuvenation as he recovered from a dismal Rockies debut at Coors Field on April 3, when he allowed a career high 12 hits and nine runs, all earned, over three innings in the home opener. Lorenzen found redemption in the 9-1 win, allowing one run in 5 2/3 innings and taking advantage of his second chance at a first impression to bookend the homestand.
“Having some veteran presence here is a big deal,” said Lorenzen -- who, at 34, counts as a big part of that presence. “You have an outing like [my last one], there's no panic, but there's a sense of urgency to make changes and to get better and to adjust. You have to have the ability to understand the information, to know what you did wrong. That comes with experience.”
The sweep was Colorado's first against the Astros at Coors Field since May 28-31, 2012, which was Houston's final season in the National League.
Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer talks about the lineup’s ability to “pass the baton,” as exemplified throughout the three-game sweep, but the idea applies to pitchers as well, and from veterans dropping their knowledge for younger players.
“It's always been hard to pitch here, and it's going to be hard to pitch here,” Lorenzen added. “You're going to have bad outings, but you got to bounce back, and you are capable of bouncing back and making those adjustments.”
The Rockies took an early lead in the first frame, with second baseman Edouard Julien hitting a leadoff single to right, stealing a base, then scoring on a Tyler Freeman single to left.
After the Astros scored their lone run in the second, Colorado quickly bounced back with a hit parade in the bottom of the frame, scoring five runs on two doubles, two singles, three walks, two steals, and two sacrifices -- of both the bunt and fly variety.
Hunter Goodman stole his first base of the season in the big second inning and hit a Statcast-projected 378-foot solo shot to left in the fourth. The Rockies added a run in the sixth with two hit batsmen, a stolen base, a walk, and a sac fly to center from TJ Rumfield and a final insurance run aided by a pair of one-out walks in the eighth to secure the sweep.
“That was fundamentally sound, with sac bunts involved, base hit bunts involved, sac flies involved, taking our walks,” Schaeffer said of the approach. “We took some really, really tough walks today. [Goodman] took a couple of them. [TJ] Rumfield, big walk. That's what we want to do. We want to pass the baton. We want to execute with runners on third and less than two [outs]. That was very good today.”
It was the second game in a row that the Rockies won with only two pitchers toeing the rubber, as Zach Agnos took the final 3 1/3 innings, allowing just one hit and no walks while striking out two. Agnos confirmed he had no idea he would be there to close the game after entering in the sixth.
“No, absolutely not -- the longest outing I've ever gone is 2 1/3 innings,” Agnos said. “It was always in my mind, I walked up to [Ryan] Feltner in the seventh or the eighth, and I said, ‘Let me get the ninth, too.’”
Agnos credited Lorenzen for helping him rebound from a tough start to the season, with his scoreless outing cutting his early season ERA nearly in half from 12.27 to 6.43.
“He's helped me more than he knows,” Agnos said of Lorenzen. “After my outing in Toronto, I was pretty upset, and he just had a conversation with me and said, ‘The fact that you're still pounding the strike zone shows that you have a lot of resiliency.’ He's been great.”
Goodman pointed to his manager for establishing a winning atmosphere in the clubhouse that players have quickly bought into.
“The vibe’s totally switched,” Goodman said. “It all starts with Warren Schaeffer. If that's not a guy you want to play for, I don't know who [is]. The energy that he brings every day just rubs off on us.”