Seventeen hits. Two homers. Six doubles. Fourteen runs.
Seven-for-18 with runners in scoring position and three stolen bases.
The Rockies got their first win of the 2026 with an exclamation point of a beatdown over the defending American League Blue Jays in front of a sold-out Rogers Centre in Toronto on Monday night.
Advertisement
Is this the same team that got swept by the Marlins?
Troy Johnston hit a two-run homer to put the Rockies up 4-1 in the sixth inning — one where the Rockies put up a seven-spot and eventually took a 13-1 lead. Despite a late rally from the Blue Jays, the Rockies hung on for the victory.
Seven-Run Sixth
After not being able to string together consecutive hits and have that big inning against Miami in the opening series, the Rockies did it in style on Monday. After Ezequiel Tovar, who had three hits and three RBI, struck out to start the sixth, TJ Rumfield singled to set the stage for Johnston’s homer.
Up 4-1, Jordan Beck walked and Kyle Karros struck out. With two outs, pinch hitter Braxton Fulford hit an RBI single, which was made possible after Beck stole second. Another pinch hitter, this time Brenton Doyle, hit a single and Hunter Goodman followed with a walk. Willi Castro was then able to capitalize with a two-run double down the right field line to make it 7-1.
Advertisement
View Link
Not wanting to miss out on the action, Tovar followed with a two-run double of his own, which helped put the Rockies up 9-1.
View Link
It was the most productive offensive inning on the road since May 7, 2023 when the Rockies scored seven runs in one frame against the Mets.
The Rockies added a pair of back-to-back doubles in the eighth inning to make it 13-1. Tovar and Rumfield led the Rockies with three hits each, while Johnston, Goodman and Doyle all put up two-hit nights. Fulford pinned on a solo homer in the ninth to make it two touchdowns.
Tomo Rocks Debut, Dollander Collects Win
Tomoyuki Sugano was impressive in his Rockies debut, even if it was shorter than hoped. Against a high-powered offense, he held the Blue Jays to two hits, including one solo homer to George Springer, while walking two and striking out four in 4 2/3 innings.
Advertisement
In the second inning, Sugano got back-to-back strikeouts when he sent both Daulton Varsho and Kazuma Okamoto down swinging.
View Link
His one blemish came in the third when Springer sent his second homer of the year 416 feet to center field. Sugano tallied another back-to-back strikeout series when he got Vladimir Guerrero Jr. swinging and Addison Barger looking in the fourth inning.
With a runner on second in the fifth inning and Springer coming to the plate, manager Warren Schaeffer opted to have Jaden Hill take over. It worked out perfectly as Springer grounded out on Hill’s first pitch, ending the threat and leaving one of three Blue Jays on base.
Advertisement
Chase Dollander made his 2026 debut and his first appearance out of the bullpen since the one and only time he did it when he was a sophomore at the University of Tennessee. Backed by a solid defense and recording two strikeouts, Dollander put up goose eggs in the sixth and seventh innings.
He struggled to close it out, but luckily had a large cushion to work with. Dollander surrendered four runs, including three homers, on five hits with two walks, but also posted five strikeouts to notch the first win for a Rockies pitcher this season.
View Link
A Strange Series of Events
The third inning was straight up weird, and made me very grateful I wasn’t the official scorekeeper for this one. It started normally enough with Karros earning a walk, which, I admit, is pretty rare for the Rockies as it was only the sixth one of the season (the Rockies did draw four walks in the game to increase their season total to nine). Then, Edouard Julien struck out on a wild pitch that allowed Karros to advance to second.
Advertisement
Toronto’s starting pitcher Cody Ponce, who spent the last four seasons playing in Japan and Korea, then tripped and fell off the mound, resulting in a balk that moved Karros to third. Ponce seemed fine and was smiling. Next, Jake McCarthy hit a soft grounder between Ponce and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Ponce tried to grab it and appeared to suffer a painful lower right leg injury. He was forced to leave the game on a golf cart. Harshly, he also earned an error on the play, which allowed Karros to score and put the Rockies up 1-0.
The injury forced the Toronto bullpen to throw a lot as the Rockies saw six different Blue Jays pitchers, including two innings from backup catcher Tyler Heineman. The game could impact the Blue Jays bullpen depth in the remaining two games of the series, while the Rockies bullpen got a break with Saguno (4 2/3 innings) and Dollander (4 innings) eating innings and Hill contributing one pitch for one out.
The Rockies still struggled with strikeouts, going down at the plate 10 times, but Colorado’s pitchers also fanned nine Blue Jays.
Coming Up Next
The Rockies will continue their series in Toronto with game two on Tuesday at 5:07 p.m. MDT when Ryan Feltner will make his 2026 debut. The Blue Jays will send veteran two-time Cy Young winner and eight-time All-Star Max Scherzer, 41, to the mound.
Advertisement
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
-
Comment on articles, community posts
-
Rec comments, community posts
-
New, improved notifications system!
Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!
Read the full article here