DENVER -- Before Denver native Kyle Freeland’s voice broke during his message to fans, he talked about a Rockies team that needs to somehow fix itself.
Freeland extended his club record for starts for his hometown team to 208, and he made his 105th start at Coors Field to extend his other club record. That was the best that could be said by Freeland after the Rockies' 10-2 loss to the Tigers on Thursday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader.
The Rockies also lost the second game -- 11-1, in similarly ill-fated fashion -- to fall to 6-31. In the Modern Era, starting in 1900, they’re tied with the ‘88 Orioles for the worst at this point.
Going back further, only the 1884 Kansas City Cowboys at 5-32 were worse through 37 games. The double-knit pants of the 2025 Rockies and the 1988 Orioles are joined at the hips with the wool flannel knickers of the 1895 Louisville Colonels and 1876 Cincinnati Reds -- with six wins in their first 37.
Detroit, a team that has a history of being on such lists, got eight strikeouts from right-hander Casey Mize and three RBIs from Spencer Torkelson, playing like a team that shed its history by making the postseason last year. Throughout this rough start, the Rockies have looked across the field at teams that have climbed off their recent struggle buses -- the Padres, the Reds, the Royals and the Tigers, for example -- and left Colorado behind.
“What they’re doing is right,” Freeland said. “What we’re doing is wrong. We’re not winning baseball games. It’s as clear as day. We’re playing a bad brand of baseball, all around -- pitching, fielding, hitting. It’s bad.”
This one was fitting of such ignominy. Freeland yielded 11 hits in three innings. But just five of the nine runs off him were earned because of three errors that bent toward slapstick.
Second baseman Adael Amador had the ball slip from his grip and fall behind him while making a simple relay throw in the first. Shortstop Alan Trejo extended the second inning by having a bases-loaded grounder bounce off his chest, thus making a double play impossible. Catcher Hunter Goodman let a throw to the plate sneak off his shin guard and past him (right fielder Mickey Moniak was charged with the error) during the Tigers’ two-run third.
Freeland, a product of Denver Thomas Jefferson High School and the Rockies' top pick in the 2014 MLB Draft out of the University of Evansville, broke in during the first consecutive postseason trips in club history, 2017 and 2018. The last two years, he has endured the Rockies' first two 100-plus loss seasons.
The 31-year-old's carriage was that of a man who was hurt to a heart that belonged to the Rockies long before his paychecks came from them.
Angry looks greeted the errors, but Freeland reserved some body language for himself. After Javier Báez led off the third with a double past third base, Freeland’s frame went hangdog -- shoulders drooped, chin tucked to chest.
“I was frustrated with myself,” Freeland said. “Wasn’t making pitches. Stuff was up in the zone -- easy stuff for them to pick up and hit.”
Not exactly what the Rockies needed when trying to escape a nightmare.
“Maybe not as crisp as we’ve seen him,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “We didn’t help him a great deal, either.
“I mean, [we played] a little sloppy today.”
Freeland detailed the Rockies’ fate.
“When you’ve got no momentum going for yourself, you’ve got no momentum going with your offense or defense, you’re not going to have anything," he said. "You’re trying to throw [stuff] against the wall and see what’s going to stick. It’s not a way of winning baseball games on a consistent basis.”
And he contrasted his team with the Tigers.
“It’s a great team,” Freeland said. “We saw that. They’ve been building over the past couple of years, especially the run they made last year. They have a great veteran presence. They got a young core, and they’re playing meaningful baseball early in the season. They plan on keeping doing that.”
Asked what can be said to fans, Freeland, who as a child was one of them, let his sadness rise.
“Keep believing in us,” Freeland said. “Keep ridin’.”
Then he walked away.