DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Rockies got to shake hands after a game for only the second time in three weeks, and they celebrated after a rookie outpitched the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner.
“You guys can probably hear it now. We’re in pretty good spirits,” Chase Dollander said after Wednesday’s 2-1 win over the Atlanta Braves stopped an eight-game losing streak. “I would never say we were down in the locker room. Obviously, losing’s not fun, but at the same time, we know that we’re capable of winning and we can put a winning product on the field, so that’s exactly what we did today.”
Colorado had lost 16 of its previous 17 games. At 5-25, the Rockies avoided becoming just the second MLB team since 1901 to lose at least 26 of its first 30 games of the season.
Only the 1988 Baltimore Orioles, who went on to go 54-107, had a worse 30-game start.
“There’s frustration, sure. Guys are angry,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “These guys are professional baseball players who want to win games and want to do well and it just hasn’t happened as a group, right? We just don’t have enough guys playing well. For us to get going, we have 26 players, they all have to do a little better, maybe not all 26, but we need a higher majority of the guys to perform and right now, we only have a few guys.”
Brenton Doyle hit a tiebreaking home run in the third inning. Ryan McMahon went 0 for 3 and extended his hitless streak to a team record 0 for 34, one more than Desi Relaford in 2005. McMahon has two hits in his past 58 at-bats.
“We have to as a group and more players have to do a little bit more on the field,” Black said.
Doyle’s home run ended a skid of 20 consecutive at-bats without a hit.
“Everyone in here is a competitor, so losing definitely hurts,” Doyle said. “But we know we have to celebrate the wins. That’s what we’re going to do today.”
Dollander, the Rockies’ No. 9 overall pick in the 2023 amateur draft, got his second big league win in his fifth major league start by limiting the Braves to one run and two hits in 5 2/3 innings as part of a three-hitter.
He left because of a cracked fingernail on the middle finger of his throwing hand.
“This is a great confidence-builder for him, going up against Chris Sale, a Cy Young Award winner, and he basically outdueled him,” Black said. “What a great feat today for him.”
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