The Astros rocked the American League by pulling off a mega-deal with the salary-dumping Twins to bring shortstop Carlos Correa back to Houston

The Padres showed they’re going for it in the NL West by trading with the Athletics for closer Mason Miller and starter JP Sears. The Padres also acquired first baseman Ryan O’Hearn and outfielder Ramon Laureano from the Orioles in exchange for six players.

The Rockies? They didn’t make any blockbuster moves, but they weren’t wallflowers either. They traded veteran third baseman Ryan McMahon last Friday, veteran reliever Tyler Kinley on Wednesday, and righty reliever Jake Bird on Thursday

Following is a look at the Rockies’ dealings:

Biggest winners: McMahon and Bird, both of whom were shipped to the Yankees in exchange for four prospects. McMahon and Bird went from a team on the cusp of its third consecutive 100-loss season and possibly the most losses in baseball’s modern era, to a legitimate World Series contender.

Of course, with opportunity comes pressure. Expectations in the Bronx are exponentially higher than in LoDo.

“Hopefully, the environment is a great thing for him, that he falls into that and doesn’t have to be the guy,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of McMahon when talking to reporters last Friday. “Go do your thing. Go find the role. But it’s our job — my job, staff, coaches, players — to make sure they’re welcomed and get them as comfortable as possible.”

Biggest loser: Veteran right-hander German Marquez, who was a likely trade candidate until he went on the injured list with biceps inflammation. Multiple big-league sources said that several teams were eyeing the 30-year-old Marquez as a rental starter for the remainder of the season. Marquez, really bad early in the spring, was starting to resemble the pitcher he was in his 2021 All-Star season. He posted a 2.97 ERA over six starts in June.

Now, he won’t get a chance to show his stuff for a contender, something that could have enhanced his value when he becomes a free agent this offseason.

Most intriguing prospect: Roc Riggio, a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft out of Oklahoma State. Part of the Bird trade, along with lefty starter Ben Shields, Riggio was the Yankees’ No. 10 prospect. He’s not big — listed at 5-foot-9, 180 pounds — but he’s scrappy and has some sneaky power.

Though not a speed burner, he’s aggressive on the bases. Riggio stole 27 bases in 2024 and has nine steals so far this year.

Brendan Rodgers never became the second baseman the Rockies envisioned, and Adael Amador has shown no power and only middling skills as a big-league hitter. Perhaps Riggio, who’ll start out with Double-A Hartford, can be a long-term answer.

“He’s always been a competitor, he’s a gamer,” general manager Bill Schmidt said. “There’s a toughness to him.”

Salary dump? Several folks have written that trading McMahon was nothing more than a salary dump. The Yankees assumed the remainder of McMahon’s contract, which includes approximately $4.5 million for the rest of 2025 and $32 million over the next two seasons.

Schmidt told me that he doesn’t see the McMahon trade that way. I agree. It was time for McMahon to move on, and while the Rockies got some salary relief for the future, they also picked up a couple of decent prospects.

Now, if Colorado can find a way to reduce Kris Bryant’s annual $27 million salary through some sort of deferral arrangement, perhaps the Rockies can add an impactful, veteran hitter during the offseason.

Not enough in return: Colorado fielded offers on late-game relievers Seth Halvorsen and Victor Vodnik, as well as two-time Gold Glove center fielder Brenton Doyle. The Rockies’ asking price was high, as it should have been. The Rockies think Halvorsen and Vodnik, both under team control at pre-arbitration salaries, have significant upside.

The Rockies also know that Doyle is the sort of gifted outfielder they need in center field and are hopeful he can emerge from his slump at the plate.

The Rockies also hope that strikeout-prone first baseman Michael Toglia will finally prove he can consistently hit big-league pitching. If not, he would very well be on the trade block in the offseason.

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The Rockies traded two proven veterans, third baseman Ryan McMahon and workhorse right-hander reliever Jake Bird, in exchange for four Yankees prospects.

Before Thursday’s trade deadline closed, Colorado traded Bird to the Bronx for second baseman Roc Riggio and left-hander Ben Shields. Riggio was the Yankees’ No. 10 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, and Shields was their No. 29 prospect.

Last Friday, the Yankees sent pitching prospects Griffin Herring (No. 8) and Josh Grosz (No. 21) to Colorado in exchange for McMahon.

“By trading McMahon and Bird, we ended up with four of the Yankees’ top 30 prospects,” general manager Bill Schmidt said Thursday. “We acquired young guys to build on. They are, hopefully, relatively close. They’re not three or four years away.”

Riggio has been playing at Double-A Somerset and has slashed .264/.370/.567 with 27 doubles, five triples, and 11 home runs at High-A and Double-A this season. A fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft, the left-handed hitting 23-year-old should give the Rockies some needed depth in their farm system.

“Regarding Roc, I’ll just say that he’s a baseball player,” Schmidt said. “He’s a good second baseman and he’s a grinder. He’s having a good season in the Eastern League. He’s a gamer, and though he’s not big (listed at 5-foot-9, 180 pounds), he’s got some power.”

Schmidt said that Riggio gives the team some depth and competition at second base, where Colorado also has switch-hitting Adael Amador, who has had two stints with the big-league club.

Shields pitched at four minor league levels this season and is 1-2 with a 3.03 ERA over nine starts with 42 strikeouts vs. just 14 walks. In five starts at Double-A (23 2/3 innings), the 26-year-old was 1-2 with a 3.37 ERA, 26 strikeouts and 10 walks. The 6-foot-4 Shields is considered a diamond in the rough. He was an undrafted free agent in 2024 despite leading the Atlantic 10 Conference in strikeouts at George Mason.

The Rockies will groom him to be a starter at Double-A Hartford, though he could eventually become a reliever in the majors.

“Shields is an older guy, but he’s got a good arm, a fresh arm,” Schmidt said. “It’s a low-to-mid-90s fastball, with a slider. There’s pitchability there. We’ll start him out as a starter, but if he ends up moving to the bullpen, his fastball would probably (improve) to the mid-90s or higher.”

Bird, a 29-year-old workhorse middle reliever, has been Colorado’s best pitcher for much of the season. There was even talk that he might be a dark-horse candidate for the All-Star Game. Over 45 games (53 1/3 innings), Bird is 4-1 with a 4.73 ERA, a 1.481 WHIP, 62 strikeouts and 23 walks. Before the All-Star break, he was 3-1 with a 3.62 ERA, but a few rough innings in July inflated his ERA.

“Jake’s done a good job for us here, filling a variety of roles,” Schmidt said. “We appreciate everything he did for us.”

Trading for Bird won’t cost the Yankees much financially. He’s in his final pre-arbitration season and controllable for three years after this season. However, the McMahon trade gives the Rockies some salary relief for the next two years. The Yankees assumed the remainder of McMahon’s contract, which includes approximately $4.5 million for the rest of 2025 and $32 million over the next two seasons.

But Schmidt insisted that trading McMahon was not about jettisoning salary.

“We really like Herring,” Schmidt said. “We think he has a chance to be a starter. He’s in High-A, and next year we think he has a chance to be in Double-A. And Grosz is another good arm. We didn’t look at it like (a salary dump).”

On Wednesday, Colorado traded right-handed Tyler Kinley to the Braves for right-handed pitching prospect Austin Smith. Smith, 26, is 0-4 with a 4.31 ERA, four saves, 15 walks, and 34 strikeouts in 29 relief outings between High-A Rome and Double-A Columbus this season.

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Guardians DH David Fry took Rockies southpaw Kyle Freeland deep for a two-run homer in the first, and Cleveland never looked back to beat the Rockies 5-0 and take the series, too, at Progressive Field.

After rallying to beat Cleveland with a four-run ninth on Monday, the Rockies got crushed 10-4 on Tuesday and then showed little life on Wednesday to finish their road trip 2-4. Colorado also won the series opener in Baltimore to begin last weekend, before losing the next two to drop that series.

Wednesday’s defeat dropped the Rockies to 28-80 on the year, pacing the Rockies to finish 42-120. After winning consecutive series at home to start the second half, a suboptimal road trip has the club continuing to flirt with the modern loss record of 121 set by the White Sox last year.

Freeland only lasted three innings because he was ill. The Rockies’ bullpen mostly held the fort for the bulk of the game, but the offense was nowhere to be found as the Rockies struck out 10 times and only mustered three hits.

“(Freeland) honestly gave us everything he had in the tank,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer told reporters. “Even sending him back out for the third was honestly pushing it.”

Jaden Hill yielded a sacrifice fly to Brayan Rocchio in the fourth to extend Cleveland’s lead to 3-0. After that, Juan Mejia turned in a strong long relief performance, with three shutout innings, no hits, no walks and four strikeouts.

With that, Mejia became the first Rockies reliever to pitch at least three innings and not allow a run, hit or walk since Chad Bettis did so in April 2019. It was a career-long outing for the right-handed rookie.

“That was unbelievable (by Mejia),” Schaeffer said. “That kept us right in the game. He was nasty, and he’s only gone two-plus innings once this year. He showed some real guts, and he was efficient with his pitches.”

Cleveland finally scored again off Victor Vodnik in the eighth. Kyle Manzardo, who homered twice on Tuesday, had an RBI single. Then the next batter, Carlos Santana, doubled to plate another run to push the score to 5-0.

Unlike in the series opener, there would be no ninth-inning magic. Cade Smith, who blew the game on Monday, set down the Rockies in order. It sealed the 11th shutout for the Colorado offense this year.

Rookie corner infielder Warming Bernabel had one of the Rockies’ three hits as he continues his hot start to his career after debuting in Baltimore last Saturday. He is hitting .389 with two homers, two doubles, three RBIs and a 1.254 OPS in five games.

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In return, the Rockies receive right-handed pitching prospect Austin Smith.

Smith, 26, is 0-4 with a 4.31 ERA, four saves, 15 walks, and 34 strikeouts in 29 relief outings between High-A Rome and Double-A Columbus this season.

“He’s a Double-A righty with arm strength,”  general manager Bill Schmidt said. “His fastball’s been up to 99 mph. His slider has shown swing-and-miss potential.”

Smith missed nearly all of the 2023 and ’24 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery. He pitched 26 innings last year across three minor league levels, posting a 6.92 ERA.

A native of Cedar Park, Texas, Smith was selected by Atlanta in the 18th round of the 2021 draft. In five seasons with the Braves organization, he was 3-10 with a 5.10 ERA with 18 saves, 63 walks, and 131 strikeouts over 107 games. He pitched three seasons for Southwestern University (Texas) before transferring to the University of Arizona.

Kinley is making $3 million in the final year of his contract, but has a $5 million club option for 2026, which gives the Braves possible bullpen depth next season.

Kinley has pitched well for the last six weeks, posting a 2.37 ERA with a 31.1% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate in 19 innings.

The major league trade deadline is 4 p.m. Thursday.

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Cleveland dominated Colorado in Game 2 of the series at Progressive Field — a 10-4 Guardians victory in which the home team scored in each of the first six innings. The Guardians lit up Rockies right-hander Tanner Gordon for seven runs (six earned) over three innings, and the Colorado bullpen was ineffective.

Gordon, who was coming off six shutout innings in a home win against the Cardinals last week, pitched up in the zone and got hit around. That, plus runs off relievers Angel Chivilli and Jimmy Herget, negated a trio of Colorado homers.

“I saw (Gordon) living on the outside part of the plate with the fastball and changeup, and not much slider today,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer told reporters. “He didn’t have the ability to run a ball inside on them, and he couldn’t keep hitters honest. … That’s not really a recipe for success.”

Jordan Beck went deep in the fourth, Michael Toglia went deep in the seventh and Kyle Farmer took one out in the ninth, but they were all solo shots that didn’t matter much as Cleveland led from the opening inning.

In the first, Gabriel Arias’ RBI single gave Cleveland a 2-0 advantage. Brayan Rocchio’s single in the second added one more, then in a third, a two-run homer by Kyle Manzardo and a two-run triple by Rocchio made it 7-0.

Beck finally got Colorado on the board in the fourth, but Cleveland never relinquished the momentum. The Guardians tagged Chivilli for a run in both the fourth and fifth, and Manzardo hit another dinger off Herget in the sixth to make it 10-1.

Meanwhile, Guardians southpaw Logan Allen turned in a quality start with seven innings of two-run ball while working around some traffic.

“I saw a good changeup (from Allen), and a heater that was beating guys at times,” Schaeffer said. “He was keeping us off-balance, forward and backward.”

The Rockies outscored the Guardians 3-0 over the final three innings, with an RBI double by red-hot rookie Warming Bernabel sandwiched in the inning between homers by Toglia and Farmer. The Rockies finished with 10 hits, but were also 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position. Cleveland rapped out 15 hits and was 5 for 15 with runners in scoring position.

With the loss, the Rockies dropped to 28-79. They are on pace to finish 42-120, one game better than the modern loss record of 121 set by last year’s White Sox.

Colorado still has a chance to take the series on Wednesday as the Rockies look for just their third road series win in 18 tries this season.

Freeman, dealt from the Guardians to the Rockies for Nolan Jones in March, came up clutch in his return to Progressive Field in Monday’s series opener. The designated hitter had two hits and three RBIs, including the game-winning single in the top of the ninth as the Rockies put up four in the frame for an 8-6 comeback win.

“They were the enemy today, and it was fun putting it to them,” Freeman told Rockies TV.

The rally, punctuated by Freeman’s first career go-ahead RBI in the ninth inning or later, erased a disastrous seventh inning in which the Rockies turned a 3-0 lead into a 5-3 deficit in a matter of 15 minutes.

“That was a big-time character win for the boys,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer told reporters. “To be down 3-0, then go down 5-3, and then keep going those last two innings with some really good at-bats, with some small-ball getting the job done — that’s a huge character win.”

Prior to the Rockies’ rise from the canvas, starter Bradley Blalock put the club in a great position with a career-best outing. The right-hander threw six shutout innings, with seven strikeouts.

And beyond Freeman, rookie Warming Bernabel and catcher Hunter Goodman each had a homer and a double. Those two hitters underscored how the Rockies’ offense, which has consistently wilted in clutch moments this season, did the opposite on Monday.

After a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay pushed the game back, Blalock took the mound and delivered. He scattered six hits and had zero walks, while the Rockies offense did its part early to give him some cushion.

“I saw him commanding the ball, and I saw his changeup being really good tonight and being a difference-maker against a left-handed (dominant) lineup,” Schaeffer said.

Freeman, who entered the game ranked fourth in the majors in average at .302 among players with at least 200 plate appearances, continued his consistent season by driving in the Rockies’ first two runs. Freeman hit a sacrifice fly off Slade Cecconi in the third, then singled home another run in the fifth for a 2-0 Rockies advantage.

Then in the sixth, Bernabel took Cecconi deep 386 feet to left field. Bernabel, who debuted on Saturday in Baltimore, became the fifth Rockies player ever with two or more homers in his first three MLB games.

But the Rockies watched that 3-0 lead go up in smoke in the seventh.

Jake Bird, one of the best relievers in baseball through June, continued his recent fall-off. Bird ballooned his July ERA to 19.91 in nine games by walking two batters, then giving up a pinch-hit homer to Josh Naylor and another single before being pulled. The Guardians plated two more runs off Vodnik before he finally got the Rockies out of the jam.

But just when it appeared that Colorado was headed toward another letdown loss, the offense roared back.

Goodman hit his 19th homer of the season in the eighth off Hunter Gaddis, cutting the deficit to 5-4. Then came the fireworks in the final frame as the Rockies batted around to win the game. Cleveland was without its closer, Emmanuel Clase, who was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave earlier in the day as part of an MLB investigation into sports gambling.

The red-hot Bernabel started the frame against Cade Smith with a ground-rule double to left. The next pitch, Brenton Doyle laid down a sacrifice punt that Smith threw away down the right-field line, scoring Bernabel. After Smith drilled Kyle Farmer, Freeman delivered an RBI single to right that swung the lead back to Colorado, 6-5.

Freeman was pumped up going back into the dugout after the hit, doling out aggressive high-fives and hyping up his teammates with some yelling.

“We didn’t quit, and we kept picking each other up,” Freeman said.

Freeman’s knock ended Smith’s night, but not the damage. With Tim Herrin in, the Rockies added on with Mikey Moniak’s sacrifice fly and then Goodman’s RBI double to make it 8-5. Seth Halvorsen finished the game off with the save, yielding an RBI single to Jones before striking out Brayan Rocchio to end it.

Colorado improved to 28-78 with one of its better victories in a historically futile season. The Rockies are on pace for 120 losses, one short of the modern-day loss record of 121 set by last year’s White Sox.

The Freeman-Jones Trade

Comparing how Tyler Freeman and Nolan Jones have performed this season following the one-for-one trade in March. All stats are entering the game on Monday.

Tyler Freeman: .302 average, .386 on-base percentage, .788 OPS, 1 homer, -0.5 bWAR, 61 games

Nolan Jones: .217 average, .308 on-base percentage, .615 OPS, 3 homers, -0.8 bWAR, 95 games

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Brito tested positive for the performance-enhancing substance Stanozolol and for Hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic and masking agent. He was disciplined under the minor league drug program, the commissioner’s office said.

Abad tested positive for Stanozolol and was penalized under the drug program for minor league players assigned outside the U.S. and Canada.

Brito, a 22-year-old right-hander, agreed to a minor league contract with Texas in 2021 that included a $10,000 signing bonus. He was released by the Rangers in July 2024 and signed with the Rockies on May 23.

He was 1-2 with a 2.97 ERA in seven starts and nine relief appearances for the rookie-level Arizona Complex League Rockies, striking out 38 and walking 18 in 33 1/3 innings. Brito is 6-7 with a 5.94 ERA in 19 starts and 31 relief appearances over parts of four minor league seasons.

Abad, 19, signed with Cincinnati in June 2023 for a $10,000 bonus and was released last November. He hit .121 with one homer and six RBIs in 36 games over two seasons in the Dominican Summer League.

Abad’s suspension will start when he signs with a major league organization.

Eleven players have been suspended this year for positive tests, including nine under minor league programs. Atlanta Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar was suspended for 80 games on March 31 and Philadelphia Phillies closer José Alvarado for 80 games on May 25 under the major league program.

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Sandberg was surrounded by his family when he died at his home on Monday, according to the team.

Sandberg announced in January 2024 that he had been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. He had chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and then said in August 2024 that he was cancer-free.

But he posted on Instagram on Dec. 10 that his cancer had returned and spread to other organs. He announced this month that he was still fighting, while “looking forward to making the most of every day with my loving family and friends.”

Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said Sandberg “will be remembered as one of the all-time greats in nearly 150 years of this historic franchise.”

“His dedication to and respect for the game, along with his unrelenting integrity, grit, hustle, and competitive fire were hallmarks of his career,” Ricketts said in the team’s statement.

Sandberg was born and raised in Spokane, Washington. He was selected out of high school by Philadelphia in the 20th round of the 1978 amateur draft.

He made his major league debut in 1981 and went 1 for 6 in 13 games with the Phillies. In January 1982, he was traded to Chicago along with Larry Bowa for veteran infielder Ivan De Jesus.

It turned into one of the most lopsided deals in baseball history.

Sandberg hit .285 with 282 homers, 1,061 RBIs and 344 steals in 15 years with Chicago. He made 10 All-Star teams — winning the Home Run Derby in 1990 — and took home nine Gold Gloves.

“Ryne Sandberg was a legend of the Chicago Cubs franchise and a beloved figure throughout Major League Baseball,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “He was a five-tool player who excelled in every facet of the game thanks to his power, speed and work ethic.”

Even with Sandberg’s stellar play, the Cubs made just two postseason appearances while he was in Chicago.

He was the NL MVP in 1984, batting .314 with 19 homers, 84 RBIs, 32 steals, 19 triples and 114 runs scored. Chicago won the NL East and Sandberg hit .368 (7 for 19) in the playoffs, but the Cubs were eliminated by San Diego after winning the first two games of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field.

The 1984 season featured what Cubs fans still call “The Sandberg Game,” when he homered twice and drove in seven runs in a 12-11 victory over St. Louis in 11 innings on June 23.

Chicago paid tribute to Sandberg and that game when it unveiled a statue of the infielder outside Wrigley Field on that date in 2024.

“He was a superhero in this city,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said during a TV broadcast of the team’s game on July 20. “You think about (Michael) Jordan, Walter Payton and Ryne Sandberg all here at the same time, and I can’t imagine a person handling their fame better, their responsibility for a city better than he did.”

Sandberg led Chicago back to the playoffs in 1989, hitting .290 with 30 homers as the Cubs won the NL East. He batted .400 (8 for 20) in the NLCS, but Chicago lost to San Francisco in five games.

Sandberg set a career high with an NL-best 40 homers in 1990 and drove in a career-best 100 runs in 1990 and 1991, but he never made it back to the postseason. He retired after the 1997 season.

“When you examine the offense and defense, you’ll find some years where he was the best player you’ve ever seen in your life,” former Cubs first baseman Mark Grace said.

Sandberg was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005, receiving 76.2% of the vote by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in his third try on the ballot. The Cubs retired his No. 23 that same year.

“Ryne Sandberg had a relentless work ethic and an unshakable positive outlook,” Hall of Fame chair Jane Forbes Clark said. “With it, he inspired all those who knew him.”

Sandberg also managed Philadelphia from August 2013 to June 2015, going 119-159. He got the interim job when Charlie Manuel was fired, and he resigned with the Phillies in the middle of a difficult 2015 season.

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Keeler: The Rockies need to give the Yankees the Bird. As in right-handed reliever Jake Bird, whose torrid opening nine weeks — 1.67 ERA from opening day through June 1— have rival teams curious if he can repeat it for the stretch run. Bird’s turning 30 in December, and his sweeper-sinker-curve mix, according to StatCast, has raised his strikeout rate from 16.8% in 2024 to 26.7% this season. If you can miss bats at Coors, you can miss bats anywhere. The Yanks allegedly like guys with effective sweepers. You’ve already scouted their farm system in getting RyMac to the Bronx, and Bird is the kind of arm that usually brings back a low-minors lottery ticket on the pitching side. Let’s get scratching.

Renck: General manager Bill Schmidt, trying pointlessly to save his job, would love to get something for Austin Gomber. But other than his decent road numbers, the left-hander projects as a long reliever for a contender. Bird represents the latest example of the Rockies lacking self-awareness. He was oven-mitts-required hot the first two months of the season, and now, well, he’s not. Opponents are hitting .424 off him in his last eight appearances. So, be bold. Make young reliever Seth Halvorsen available. He has several years of control left before free agency. Throws 100 miles per hour. And could land multiple good players. Taking calculated risks is the only pathway out of the darkness.

Keeler:  Like the Halvorsen idea, but I’ll raise you one righty. Can you name the Rockies’ staff ERA leader since May 1? It’s reliever Victor Vodnik. He’s young (25), cost-controlled, and his average fastball velocity (98.6 mph) as of early Monday morning ranked among the top 3% of any MLB pitcher this season, according to Baseball Savant. Despite pitching at altitude, his flyball rate and ball-in-the-air rate are a healthy chunk below the league average. Contending teams who play in small yards — the Reds immediately pop to mind — could always use fireballers who know how to keep the ball on the ground.

Renck: This suggestion hurts, but hear me out: The Rockies should move Kyle Freeland. He has roughly $21.5 million left on his contract. The Rockies saved $36.5 million in the McMahon trade. Get creative — stop laughing — and eat $12 million to land one top prospect. Quantity over quality. Freeland owns a 4.18 ERA this month and has postseason and World Baseball Classic experience. He is Mr. Denver. But he deserves a chance to compete again and could be flipped for a younger starter.

Keeler:  The Rockies throw millions in salary relief to get a local hero and fan favorite off the books? We’ve seen this movie before, my friend. I love it, so it’ll never happen. It’s more likely that Schmidt and the Monforts entertain offers on outfielder Mickey Moniak, the new Nolan Jones. Although yanking The Mick’s bat from this lineup would turn a dumpster-fire offense into a volcano of pure trash in no time.

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After rallying for a 6-5 win over the Orioles on Friday at Camden Yards to start the first road trip of the second half, Colorado got pummeled 18-0 on Saturday and then lost 5-1 on Sunday to drop the series.

The pair of weekend defeats sank the Rockies to 27-78. Colorado is on track to go 42-120, which would narrowly avoid the distinction of being the worst team in modern baseball history, set by the 121-loss White Sox last year.

“It’s disappointing every time we lose a series,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer told reporters. “But we’ve won two out of three series now to start the second half, so we’re looking to go into Cleveland now and get us another series.”

On Friday, the Rockies carried over the momentum from their 4-2 homestand that featured the first two series wins at Coors Field this season. Things were looking up as Colorado looked like a competitive club for an extended stretch for the first time in ’25.

That upward trajectory continued in the series opener, when the Rockies erased an early 4-0 deficit and had an array of offensive bright spots in a season that’s been short on such moments.

Mickey Moniak, the 2016 No. 1 overall pick by the Phillies, whom the Rockies took a one-year flier on, continued to look like a guy who Colorado should consider holding on to when he homered Friday to spark the Rockies’ rally.

Thairo Estrada followed with a two-run homer, all-star catcher Hunter Goodman had an RBI double to tie the game, and in the sixth, Ezequiel Tovar’s solo homer put the Rockies ahead for good as the back end of the bullpen shut down Baltimore.

But those vibes quickly dissipated on Saturday, when Baltimore pummeled Colorado 18-0.

The Rockies only mustered two hits, one of which was by rookie Warming Bernabel. The third baseman was called up from Triple-A Albuquerque earlier in the day to make his MLB debut after Ryan McMahon was traded to the Yankees on Friday.

In the annihilation that ended with utilityman Kyle Farmer pitching the eighth, Antonio Senzatela got lit up again. His ERA stands at 6.68, and opponents are hitting .350 against him. He’s one of just six pitchers to allow an average over .340 with 20 or more starts since the turn of the century.

The Orioles tagged Senzatela for six runs over four innings with two homers, then the bullpen fared even worse. In all, it was the club’s second-worst loss of a historically futile season, behind a 21-0 blowout at the hands of the Padres on May 10 at Coors Field.

On Sunday, Austin Gomber took the mound to try to get the Rockies their third road series win this season, and fifth overall. The Rockies gave the southpaw an early lead when Bernabel launched his first career homer 385 feet to left off Tomoyuki Sugano in the second inning.

But that was all the run production Colorado could muster. The Rockies, who have lacked the ability to hit in the clutch all season, were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight men on base.

Gomber, meanwhile, wasn’t sharp. He allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings with three walks and a two-run homer in the third by Tyler O’Neill that gave the Orioles a 4-1 cushion.

In the eighth, Baltimore added another run off a couple of Colorado miscues. Gunnar Henderson got to second on a throwing error by Ezequiel Tovar, then Henderson scored from second on a wild pitch by Jaden Hill. The right-hander failed to cover home as Henderson raced around third to score easily.

Monday’s pitching matchup

Rockies RHP Bradley Blalock (1-2, 8.67 ERA) at Guardians RHP Slade Cecconi (5-4, 3.76)

4:40 p.m. Monday, Progressive Field

TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).

Radio: 850 AM, 94.1 FM

Trending: The Rockies continue to lean into their youth movement. With third baseman Warming Bernabel’s debut on Saturday, Colorado’s had 10 debuts this season, the fourth-most in MLB behind the Athletics (13), White Sox (11) and Marlins (11).

Pitching probables

Tuesday: Rockies RHP Tanner Gordon (2-2, 3.13) at Guardians LHP Logan Allen (6-9, 4.16), 4:40 p.m.

Wednesday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (2-10, 5.24) at Guardians TBD, 4:40 p.m.

— Kyle Newman, The Denver Post

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