Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland couldn’t help but think, “Here we go again.”
In the first inning on Thursday, the Astros turned three cheap hits — an infield single by Jake Meyers, a bloop single by Jose Altuve, and an excuse-me double down the first-base line by Cam Smith — into a 2-0 lead.
But Freeland didn’t pout; he got tough. And although he didn’t get the win, his six strong innings set the table for Colorado’s 7-6 victory at Coors Field.
“When you start a game with weak hits, frustration starts to build immediately,” said Freeland, who gave up three runs on six hits. He struck out two and walked two. “It’s all about how quickly you can wash it, forget about it, and get back to work. I was able to do that, as best I could.”
Manager Warren Schaeffer recognizes a gutty performance when he sees one.
” ‘Free’ gave us a professional outing,” Schaeffer said. “He hung in there, made an adjustment and started pitching effectively away. He got us to the sixth inning to save the ‘pen, which was necessary.”
Freeland has notched quality starts in four of his last five outings, posting a 4.76 ERA over that span.
Tovar time. Gold Glove shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, who’s missed 27 games because of a left oblique strain, is scheduled to begin an injury rehab stint at Triple-A Albuquerque on Friday. Tovar, who’s played in just 32 games this season, missed a month early in the season with a left hip contusion. He came back strong, hitting .306 over 16 games before the oblique injury sidelined him.
High heat Halvorsen. Rookie closer Seth Halvorsen not only notched a four-out save Thursday, but he also threw the fastest recorded pitch in Rockies history (in the Statcast Era, 2015-25). In the bottom of the ninth, on the game’s final pitch, his fastball against Victor Caratini reached 103.3 mph, breaking Halvorsen’s own record set on May 17 at Arizona (102.9 mph). Caratini popped out to end the game.
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