The Colorado Rockies have the worst record in the National League, but it is a big improvement over last season.

Colorado didn’t win its 43rd game until Sept. 21 and finished with 119 losses.

On Sunday afternoon, the Rockies will have a chance to record their 43rd win of the 2026 season when they wrap up a three-game series against the host Milwaukee Brewers.

Colorado left-hander Kyle Freeland (2-9, 7.28 ERA) will oppose right-hander Jacob Misiorowski (10-4, 1.57) in the decisive contest of the series.

Misiorowski leads the majors with 173 strikeouts and in ERA. He consistently hits 100 mph or more on the radar gun, as the Rockies experienced in Denver on June 6 when he held them to one unearned run over seven innings in a 7-1 Milwaukee victory.

It was the first time he has faced Colorado in his career.

Freeland, meanwhile, has lost his last two decisions, allowing four runs over six innings in both outings. He also added a little drama when he faced Washington on Monday.

Freeland took exception to Andres Chaparro running over the mound following a flyout, leading to the pitcher having words with Chaparro and the benches clearing. Despite his record and ERA, Freeland has maintained his intensity, and he will carry that into his 12th career start against the Brewers.

He is 5-4 with a 3.55 ERA in the previous 11 outings.

Freeland credits the offense for the team’s improvement from last year and acknowledged the pitching staff has been a weak point.

“They’re doing a good job of putting runs on the board, but the big thing is pitching,” Freeland said. “It’s been the trend the whole season. We’re not throwing the ball especially well. We’re making our offense fight and claw at the end of games to come back.”

Milwaukee, conversely, has been one of the better teams offensively and on the mound. The Brewers lead the National League in ERA (3.44) and saves (33) while being fifth in the majors in runs (524) and ranking tied for fourth in stolen bases (103).

The offense has gotten a boost from a pair of rookies, who were instrumental in Saturday night’s 8-5 Milwaukee win. Cooper Pratt hit his second career home run and drove in three runs, while Luis Lara reached base four times and had three RBIs.

Lara’s sacrifice fly and Pratt’s home run in the second inning got the Brewers off to a fast start.

“I knew that one was gone, not like the first one,” Pratt said of his homer after the game. “It felt good, and we won, too. Definitely starting to slow down, starting to breathe, starting to relax and just play baseball.”

Pratt said he isn’t surprised by Lara’s early success.

“He’s a dog. I was with him in Triple-A, and he was doing the same thing,” Pratt said. “He’s starting to heat up and he’s a dude, for sure. That’s every day for him.”

–Field Level Media

Ronel Blanco will have a tough act to follow when he makes his second start in more than a year on Sunday for the Houston Astros against the host Chicago White Sox.

Fellow right-hander Hunter Brown stymied the White Sox on Saturday over seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits, in a 4-1 victory that saw that Astros move into second place in the American League West, two games behind the Texas Rangers.

Blanco (0-0, 7.71) had not pitched since May 2025 when he took the mound on Monday against the Miami Marlins. He didn’t get a decision in the 8-5 win after allowing four earned runs on two hits — both home runs — in 4 2/3 innings with three walks and eight strikeouts.

Of his 86 pitches, 55 were strikes.

“Just focused on throwing a lot of strikes and attacking the zone because they’re a team that doesn’t go out of the zone too often,” Blanco said after the game. “So that was the main focus.”

In his most recent full season, 2024, Blanco was 13-6 with a 2.80 ERA with 166 strikeouts in 167 1/3 innings.

Blanco has only faced the White Sox once in his career in a two-inning relief stint in which he did not allow a run, walked a batter and struck out four. That was in 8-4 victory on April 1, 2023, in which Blanco left without a decision.

The Astros have won five consecutive games. On Saturday, Brown got help from Isaac Paredes, who drove in three runs on two hits, and Jeremy Pena, who finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Josh Hader got the final two outs for his 12th save.

On Sunday, right-hander Erick Fedde (5-6, 4.16) will start for the White Sox, trying to avoid a series sweep after a 9-5 loss in the series opener on Friday. He has made two career starts against the Astros and is 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA.

His most recent start was a no-decision in a 10-3 win over the host Texas Rangers on Monday. Fedde gave up two runs and four hits in four innings, did not walk a batter and struck out six.

Chicago could be without shortstop Colson Montgomery on Sunday.

Before hitting a single that drove in Chicago’s only run of the game in the ninth inning on Saturday, Montgomery fouled a pitch off the same spot on his shin/calf area as he had in a game during the team’s previous series in Texas.

Even though he was wearing a shin guard, Montgomery immediately fell, and the team’s trainer came out to tend to him. He stayed in the game, then lined a pitch into the right-field corner that usually would have been an easy double. But Montgomery held at first for a single.

“It was just above where it got him the other day, so pretty sore,” manager Will Venable said. “Obviously was able to finish that at-bat. He’ll get treatment and see where we’re at tomorrow.”

The White Sox are 6-4 in their past 10 games but have lost two in a row. With Cleveland’s 3-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, Chicago stayed 1 1/2 games ahead of the Guardians in the American League Central.

–Field Level Media

The Minnesota Twins will try to win a series with their rotation facing a mound of uncertainty.

The next test for the Twins will arrive Sunday afternoon when they take on the Athletics in the decisive contest of a three-game series in Minneapolis.

The Athletics won Friday’s opener 2-0, and Minnesota bounced back for a 2-0 victory on Saturday evening.

On Sunday, however, the Twins will not have ace right-hander Joe Ryan (6-6, 3.38 ERA), as originally planned.

Minnesota had intended to start Ryan on an extra day of rest on Sunday. But the club updated those plans Saturday and announced that Ryan would not start until Tuesday at the earliest, vs. the Kansas City Royals.

Twins manager Derek Shelton said Ryan is experiencing “general arm fatigue.” The All-Star pitcher is coming off a rocky performance in which he allowed six home runs against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday — and eight runs total over four innings — in his first start after the break as Minnesota lost 13-4.

Ryan downplayed the poor start and the decision to delay his next outing.

“We were working through some stuff for a little bit, and we were trying to figure that out,” Ryan said. “Obviously, it didn’t get figured out (in my last start). So (we’re) just taking time to make sure we get everything all good.

“Injury-wise, am I concerned? No. Zero concern.”

The Twins already are short-handed in their rotation after right-hander Mike Paredes was ruled out for Saturday’s game because of a strained oblique muscle. Kendrys Rojas started and tossed four scoreless innings, and the bullpen preserved the shutout.

On Sunday, Twins left-hander Connor Prielipp (2-5, 5.00 ERA) is expected to come off the injured list and make his 14th start of the season. He has been sidelined because of a blister on the middle finger of his throwing hand.

Prielipp will go for his first victory since June 2 against the Chicago White Sox. In his most recent start July 8 against the Guardians, he allowed three runs on four hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out six in Minnesota’s 6-5 victory.

This will be Prielipp’s first career appearance against the Athletics, who will counter with left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-9, 5.96 ERA).

Springs is set to make his 21st start. The 33-year-old boasted a 3-0 record on April 14 but has lost nine straight decisions since then.

In his most recent start, Springs drew a no-decision against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday. He allowed two runs on six hits in five innings and threw 50 of 78 pitches for strikes in his team’s 5-2 victory.

Springs is 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA in four career games (two starts) against the Twins.

The Athletics will have slugger Nick Kurtz available for a second straight game after he was activated from the 10-day injured list on Saturday. Kurtz went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in his return from a thumb injury but said his tough return did not have to do with the injury.

“Swinging on the thumb felt good,” Kurtz said. “I just didn’t get (the results).”

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said he is happy to have one of his best hitters back.

“Overall, we just wanted him to come out of this game healthy and continue forward,” Kotsay said of Kurtz, who has a .263 batting average, 20 homers and 66 RBIs in 93 games this season.

–Field Level Media