The Colorado Rockies reached a grim historical milestone Tuesday night at Coors Field, cementing a fourth straight season of at least 100 losses in a defeat that drew as much attention for who delivered the blow as for the record itself.
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Michael Soroka struck out nine in seven innings of one-run ball, while former Rockies standout Nolan Arenado collected three hits — including his team-leading 28th home run of the season — as the Diamondbacks beat Colorado 7-2.
The Rockies became just the fifth club in major league history to lose at least 100 games in four consecutive seasons, and the first to do so since the New York Mets across their expansion seasons of 1962 through 1965. It is the latest low for a franchise that has made the playoffs just twice since 2010 and hasn't won a playoff series since a run to the World Series in 2007. Since the start of the 2023 season, the Rockies are a major-league-worst 220-423, 23 games worse than the next-closest team, the Chicago White Sox.
The loss came in front of an announced crowd of 19,324 — along with an estimated 800 dogs on one of the Rockies' Bark at the Park nights. The Diamondbacks never trailed, taking a 3-0 lead after one inning, with Arenado doubling to lead off the second and scoring on a two-out double from Tim Tawa to make it 4-0.
Arenado, a four-time All-Star during his time with Colorado, extended his on-base streak to 16 games, batting .379 with seven home runs and 14 RBIs during that stretch. In four starts against the Rockies this season, Soroka allowed just four earned runs across 23 innings, with 23 strikeouts and six walks.
Kyle Freeland took the loss for Colorado, allowing five earned runs in three innings. The Denver native made his final home start of the season for the Rockies, the only organization he has played for in his 10-year MLB career.
For much of the season, Colorado appeared on track to avoid 100 losses — as recently as Aug. 16, the club improved to 50-74 with a win over San Francisco. Since then, however, the Rockies went 7-26, including 2-13 in their final 15 games entering Tuesday.
Entering Tuesday, the Rockies carried a team ERA of 5.57, the highest mark in the majors. Colorado has finished with the highest team ERA every season since 2022, and if that holds again this year, the club will become only the third franchise since 1913 to post the worst ERA in the majors for five consecutive seasons.
Not all news out of the season was bleak. Rookie first baseman TJ Rumfield entered Tuesday fifth in the National League with a .300 batting average, leading all qualified rookies in batting average and on-base percentage, while catcher Hunter Goodman was an All-Star for a second consecutive season and stood one home run shy of becoming the first Rockies player with 40 homers in a season since 2019.
With several games remaining in the regular season, it remains to be seen whether the Rockies can avoid matching or exceeding last year's franchise-record 119 losses, and whether Goodman will reach the 40-homer threshold before the final out is recorded.