DENVER — As a kid growing up in Denver, Kyle Freeland dreamed big. But not this big.
Sunday afternoon, the Colorado Rockies’ veteran left-hander stood on the mound at Coors Field and tipped his cap to the fans serenading him with cheers and applause. Freeland, 33, had just pitched 1,313 1/3 major league innings, all in a Rockies uniform, surpassing Aaron Cook (1,312 1/3) for the franchise record.
“At that moment, when they put it up on the scoreboard, I actually thought of Buddy Black,” Freeland said, referring to the former Rockies manager who guided Freeland through the first eight-plus seasons of his career. “Because he was the one who would tell me, ‘Hey, make sure you tip your cap to the crowd.' … So I thought of him at that moment, and I found my family and tipped my cap to them as well.”
The moment came in the fifth inning when Freeland got Milwaukee third baseman Luis Rengifo to fly out to deep center field. It was the highlight of another ugly day for the Rockies, who lost 12-4 as the Brewers polished off a three-game sweep.
Colorado, 24-42 and on pace to lose 103 games, fell 18 games below .500 for the first time this season. The Rockies, blasted for 17 hits, including 10 extra-base hits, have lost 15 of their last 21 games at home.
Freeland, Colorado's first-round pick in 2014 out of Evansville (eighth overall), watched Cook while growing up. Cook pitched for the Rockies from 2002-11.
"To be able to be the all-time leader in innings pitched, as a Rockie, from Denver, and to be able to surpass him for this record ... is pretty incredible," Freeland said.
Manager Warren Schaeffer made it clear how much he admires Freeland.
"It was very special," he said. "What a long career he's had. To set a franchise record like that, its takes a lot of durability, a lot of resilience, and a lot of success.
"Hats off to Kyle Freeland. That's a huge milestone and a special moment."
But it's been a rough season for Freeland, who had a bit of a bounce-back game Sunday, pitching five-plus innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking to and striking out one. He trimmed his ERA from 8.06 to 7.81, but knows he needs to pitch better.
"I was in a better spot (today), with everything when it comes to pitching and mechanics and stuff," he said. "I definitely feel like I'm moving forward, getting better through bullpens and outings, and everything like that.
"It's steps forward right now. Obviously, there are multiple things in this outing that need to be cleaned up. From my standpoint, they aren't up to standard for me, but moving forward, I'm trying to get better and trying to do everything I can to leave the team in a place to win a ball game."
Freeland departed with no outs in the sixth after giving up a leadoff single to William Contreras and an RBI triple to Andrew Vaughn. The Brewers proceeded to blow up the game against reliever Jaden Hill, who served up a two-run homer to Gary Sanchez and ended up giving up five runs on four hits and two walks in one-third of an inning.
"Jaden just had a hard time landing his off-speed (pitches) for strikes today," Schaeffer said. "The command just wasn't there. They took advantage of it and hit his heater."
Colorado's other highlight of the day was Hunter Goodman's solo home run to center in the ninth. He has 17 home runs, tying his own record for the most home runs by a Rockies catcher before the All-Star. Goodman had 17 homers before the All-Star break last season.