Kyle Freeland delivered six strong innings, while Blaine Crim homered and drove in two runs as the Colorado Rockies closed out their home schedule with a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.
Victor Vodnik worked the ninth for his 10th save, helping Colorado (43-113) avoid matching the 1962 New York Mets’ infamous 120-loss mark. With six games left, the Rockies are guaranteed to finish with fewer losses than that historic low point for a National League team.
Mike Trout, coming off his 400th career homer the night before, doubled to lead off the game and scored the Angels’ lone run on Jo Adell’s RBI single. Los Angeles (70-86) wrapped up a rough road trip at 1-9.
Freeland (5-16) settled in after the shaky start, retiring 13 of 14 hitters before Taylor Ward singled in the sixth. A one-out walk followed, but the lefty escaped by inducing Logan O’Hoppe into a double play. He struck out seven and issued only one walk.
Angels rookie Caden Dana (0-3) was perfect through three innings before control issues in the second caught up with him. Three walks set up Kyle Karros’ sacrifice fly to tie the game.
Crim gave Colorado the lead with a leadoff homer in the fourth, then padded it with an RBI groundout in the eighth.
Key Moment:
With two on and one out in the first, Freeland struck out O’Hoppe and Christian Moore to limit Los Angeles to just one run.
Key Stat:
The Rockies went 25-56 at Coors Field, setting a franchise record for most home losses in a season. The previous worst was 46 in 2012.
Up Next:
The Angels return home Tuesday to open their final season series against Kansas City, with their starter yet to be announced. The Rockies travel to Seattle, where RHP McCade Brown (0-4, 9.17 ERA) will start Tuesday.