The Rockies lost their momentum in San Francisco. Again.

Coming off a 4-2 homestand culminating with a 20-7 bombardment of the Red Sox on Wednesday, the Rockies were manhandled by left-hander Kyle Harrison Friday night at Oracle Park.

Harrison allowed one run on one hit over 6 2/3 innings as the Giants routed Colorado 11-4 Friday night at Oracle Park. Harrison matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts.

Harrison got a big assist from sizzling rookie shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald, who launched a pair of two-run homers as he continued his magical July. All told, the Giants hit four home runs.

The Rockies, 14-37 on the road, have lost nine consecutive games at Oracle. Since the start of the 2021 season, they are 5-24 in the City by the Bay.

“Overall, it was a tough one tonight,” Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters in San Francisco. “Harrison was the key.”

With left-hander Kyle Freeland on the mound, the Rockies took the field with a puncher’s chance. After all, Freeland came in riding a streak of five consecutive quality starts, during which he posted a 1.95 ERA.

Although Freeland struck out eight and escaped jams in the second and third with clutch punchouts, he was tagged for two home runs. Jorge Soler led off the first with a blast to left, and Fitzgerald ripped a two-run homer to left in the fourth. Heliot Ramos and Casey Schmit also tagged Freeland for triples to right-center field.

Freeland got the hook after four innings, charged with six runs on eight hits.

“Kyle had to work hard and they had some good at-bats against him,” Black said. “Kyle’s stuff was good, but they worked him hard, they really did. And he just couldn’t seem to find the inside corner enough with the fastball.”

Fitzgerald’s second two-run homer came in the sixth inning off Tyler Kinley, extending the Giants’ lead to 8-1.

Fitzgerald, who homered in five straight games from July 9-23, is riding an eight-game extra-base hit streak, the second-longest by a Giants rookie since 1900. It trails only Hall of Famer Hack Wilson’s nine-game streak in 1924.

Fitzgerald’s overall hitting streak is now at nine games, during which he’s hit .452 (14 for 31).

Plain and simple, Harrison owns the Rockies. He’s 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA and 28 strikeouts. On May 7 at Coors Field, he pitched a career-high seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits in San Francisco’s 5-0 victory.

Powered by a two-run double by Brenton Doyle in the eighth, the Rockies’ hibernating offense woke up late. But it was too little, much too late, especially after Heliot Ramos crushed a three-run homer off reliever Ty Blach in the eighth.

Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.

Originally Published: July 26, 2024 at 11:11 p.m.

The Denver Broncos have had some good fortune with a trio of oft-injured players while getting some not-so-good news with a fourth. As they attempt to climb out of the NFL doldrums and improve upon Sean Payton’s eight-win first season, the Broncos need these players to step up.

These are positions that are widely considered a concern for the Broncos, as they need help with each. Those four positions: tight end, safety, linebacker, and wide receiver. Let’s examine each of these four players and why the Broncos are relying on them to get and stay healthy in 2024.

As training camp got underway, there was good news on the Dulcich front. He avoided the physically unable to perform (PUP) list and was ready to go as camp practices got underway. With a few days of practices behind them, it’s been good for the young tight end, but he’s always delivered solid practices when healthy.

As a rookie, Dulcich showed he could affect an offense, and while the time was limited, he also revealed why Payton was calling him the ‘joker’ before the 2023 season — until he got hurt before halftime in the season opener. In the 2023 season-opener against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Broncos’ offense completely shifted after Dulcich went down.

Without Dulcich, the Broncos ran 12 more plays for 11 more yards than when they had him and needed a defensive pass interference to help keep a drive alive. Dulcich was helping create favorable matchups for the Broncos offense, so his two catches for 22 yards don’t fully reflect his impact on that game before he pulled his hamstring. He only saw time in one additional game later on in the season, being sidelined with an additional foot injury.

Dulcich’s promise as a receiver is enticing. But his hamstring injuries date all the way back to his rookie year.

This is why the Broncos are still sticking with Dulcich despite the issue of staying on the field. He could be the guy for them at the tight end position, but he has to remain on the field. There’s no way around it, though; the Broncos are betting on a guy who has played 529 snaps over two seasons when the offense has played 2,208 snaps over that span, or 24% of the offense snaps. 

What happens next on the Broncos beat? Don’t miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second, sign up for our free newsletter, and get breaking Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily!

Sterns is entering the fourth and final year of his rookie contract. After being a part-time rookie, he has barely played the last two seasons.

In fact, by the start of the 2024 season, Sterns will have played two regular-season snaps in over 700 days. The bad news is that he’s starting out on the PUP list, though he is expected back before the start of the season. 

Sterns was purported to be a part of a three-way battle for a starting safety spot, vying with P.J. Locke and Brandon Jones. The Broncos are looking to replace Justin Simmons, which is a challenging task.

Sterns was once tabbed as a starter, but the injuries have derailed that momentum. The loser of the three-way battle will likely still have a significant role on defense as the third safety, unless JL Skinner can win that spot. If Skinner rises up, the Broncos won’t be so dependent on Sterns snapping his injury bad-luck streak.

In the three years Sterns has been with the team, the Broncos have had roughly 3,370 snaps on defense, and he has played 587 of them, or about 17.5% of the snaps, with 53% coming in his 2021 rookie season. His injuries have been on the severe side, and while they don’t typically linger (like Dulcich’s hamstrings), they do cause the player to miss significant time.

Those injuries can also take a more significant toll on the player’s body than the smaller lingering issues. That said, after the second day of training camp practice, Coach Payton said, “[Sterns] has a long road ahead of him,” as he works back from his knee injury to start last season. 

Griffith is battling for the starting linebacker spot to replace Josey Jewell with Cody Barton. Griffith missed all of the 2023 season but played 591 snaps between 2021 and 2022, slightly better than Sterns.

Griffith, like Sterns, showed flashes of being a quality starter but has needed help staying on the field. Griffith has a chance to be a starter now, but like the others, he has to remain on the field. 

However, out of all the players, no one has had a worse few years than Patrick, who suffered season-ending injuries in 2022 and 2023 training camp, a year apart. He’s back, and based on reports out of minicamp and OTAs, he’s back with a vengeance.

The Broncos have reworked their wide receiver room and even adjusted Courtland Sutton’s contract, but they still need Patrick back at a high level. Before each of the injuries in the last two seasons, some reporters suggested Patrick would be the Broncos’ top receiver. 

There is good and bad news for the injured players the Broncos are betting on. They need each other to step up, but even more importantly, they need each other to get healthy, stay healthy, and be available. That’s the first step to making something of the 2024 season.

Follow Mile High Huddle on X and Facebook and subscribe on YouTube for daily Broncos live-stream podcasts!

After being traded from the LA Clippers to the Utah Jazz, nine-time NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook was waived by Utah and will sign with the Denver Nuggets as a free agent. In a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania, it was revealed that Westbrook is joining the Nuggets on a two-year contract worth $6.8M that includes a player option for the second season.

Westbrook will join the Nuggets as a much needed rotation guard after Denver lost both Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Jackson this summer. Capable of a lot more of what Denver needs than what Jackson was able to do last season, Westbrook should help the Nuggets in several different ways.

Westbrook appeared in 68 games for the Clippers last season, only missing time due to a fractured left hand that cost him three weeks. Averaging 11.1 PPG, 5.0 APG, and 4.5 APG in just 22.5 minutes per game, Westbrook became the only qualifying player in NBA history to reach those averages in less than 23 minutes per game.

Also one of the NBA’s best on-ball guard defenders last season, Westbrook was often tasked with defending the other team’s best player when on the court. This is a responsibility he will almost certainly see more of next season with the Nuggets losing Caldwell-Pope to the Orlando Magic in free agency.

Denver Nuggets Star Reacts to Nikola Jokic’s Brother Punching Fan

Carmelo Anthony Reacts to Team USA’s Controversial Caitlin Clark Decision

Nikola Jokic’s Former Teammate Makes Massive Luka Doncic Statement