Rockies offense sets NL record with 35 strikeouts in two games, but Colorado routs Braves for biggest win of season

Kyle Newman, The Denver Post on Jun 15, 2025

Published in Baseball

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For one inning, the Rockies looked unstoppable.

A six-run seventh inning propelled Colorado to a 10-1 victory on Sunday to avoid a sweep at Truist Park in Atlanta. The largest margin of victory this season improved Colorado to 14-57 — still on pace to be the worst team in the modern era — and made another dubious distinction for the Rockies offense a moot point.

After striking out 19 times on Saturday, the Rockies K’d 16 times Sunday, setting a new National League record for the most combined strikeouts in consecutive nine-inning games at 35.

Austin Gomber, making his season debut coming off a shoulder injury that sidelined him since spring training, was brilliant. The southpaw held the Braves hitless through the first four innings, then worked around a couple soft singles in the fifth before being lifted. He finished with four strikeouts and a walk on 76 pitches.

Meanwhile, Colorado couldn’t solve Atlanta starter Grant Holmes early on, but the Rockies got an unearned run off him in the third after Holmes’ throwing error enabled Ryan Ritter to get to third. Braxton Fulford’s sacrifice fly then made it 1-0.

Neither team had a hit until the fifth, when Michael Harris II reached on an infield single off Gomber. The next inning, Colorado finally got its first knock, a Fulford single off Holmes.

In the bottom of the sixth, Atlanta tied the game off Jake Bird, the club’s best reliever who hasn’t been sharp in his last two outings. After giving up a three-run homer on Friday, Bird got hit around on Sunday, yielding a run on four hits before escaping with the game tied 1-1.

But Colorado finally broke through in the seventh, the team’s first time scoring six or more runs in a single frame on the road since June 2, 2023, at Kansas City. The Rockies chased Holmes, then battered the Braves’ bullpen to take command of the game for good.

Ryan McMahon led off the inning with a solo homer 429 feet to center field. After Brenton Doyle walked a couple batters later, Enyel De Los Santos came on and gave up three hits and a walk. That included a bases-loaded free pass to Fulford, and a two-run double to Jordan Beck to make it 5-1.

The Braves then turned to José Ruiz, and he didn’t fare much better. Tyler Freeman knocked in two runs with a single, then Beck scored from third on a disengagement violation. Ruiz had already attempted a pickoff twice during a single at-bat when Freeman took a fake early jump off first base, prompting Ruiz to step off the rubber for a third would-be pickoff attempt, which is a balk.

All of that gave the Rockies a 7-1 lead, and they added on in the eighth with Fulford’s bases-clearing triple down the right-field line off Aaron Bummer to make it 10-1. The rookie Fulford finished with a career-high five RBIs. The extra cushion marked the first time the Rockies have scored nine or more runs after the sixth inning on the road since June 5, 2009 at St. Louis.

The Braves officially waived the white flag after that, removing star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. from the game and putting in infielder Luke Williams to pitch the ninth.

Freeland to IL

Prior to Sunday’s game, the Rockies placed southpaw Kyle Freeland on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to June 12) with lower back stiffness. To take his place in the rotation, they recalled southpaw Carson Palmquist from Triple-A. The rookie is 0-4 with a 7.77 ERA in five starts this season.