The offensive fireworks that often have accompanied Tomoyuki Sugano’s starts for Colorado this season might be appropriate on Independence Day when the Rockies host the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night in Denver.

Jake McCarthy had a leadoff home run and subsequent grand slam in the Rockies’ 15-3 victory over the Giants in the series opener on Friday. It was Colorado’s third win over San Francisco in four tries this season.

All four meetings have been high scoring, with the Rockies totaling 31 runs in their three wins, while the Giants put up 19 in their lone victory. All four games have been at Coors Field.

Sugano (8-4, 4.80 ERA) went unbeaten in five June starts, going 4-0 with a 6.58 ERA. But the Rockies gave him 48 runs of support to help make the five Rockies wins happen.

The right-hander has allowed multiple home runs in four of his 16 starts this season.

He’s faced the Giants just once in his two-year MLB career. He served up a homer to Rafael Devers among 10 hits and seven runs in 3 1/3 innings in a 13-2 loss for the Baltimore Orioles in San Francisco on Aug. 31.

The Rockies have won three games in a row, scoring 35 runs. Mickey Moniak, who contributed two hits to Friday’s 18-hit assault, said the offensive approach comes from manager Warren Schaeffer.

“Instilling a mindset comes from Schaeff, from just knowing that we can bang and we can do damage, one through nine,” Moniak said. “And the four guys on the bench are all tough outs. It doesn’t matter who’s at the plate, that guy’s gonna get the job done. We got full confidence in that, and it’s a fun thing.”

Colorado will attempt to get the fireworks going early in Saturday’s rematch, against Giants left-hander Robbie Ray (7-6, 3.39 ERA), who hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last three starts, limiting the Atlanta Braves (twice) and Athletics to a total of two unearned runs and eight hits over 22 1/3 innings. He’s won all three of those games and hasn’t lost since May 18, a stretch of seven starts.

One of those outings was a 19-6 win at Colorado on May 31, a game in which he was not credited with a win because he went only four innings, allowing one earned run.

Ray, 34, is 6-6 with a 5.14 ERA in 23 lifetime starts against the Rockies, including 2-2 with a 5.10 ERA in 12 visits to Coors Field.

Friday’s loss was the Giants’ eighth in their last 13 games, a stretch in which they’ve faced the Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks and Rockies — all sub-.500 teams — in seven contests.

San Francisco manager Tony Vitello grumbled a bit when it was suggested to him after the loss by a reporter that his team had failed to take advantage of an “easy” stretch of games.

“There’s no easy part of the schedule in this league, especially when you’re on the road,” Vitello said. “I don’t even know what (the Rockies’) exact record is, but there’s plenty of left-handed hitters in the middle of their lineup that are plenty good.”

–Field Level Media

The St. Louis Cardinals have gotten their offense in gear.

After scoring eight runs over the final three innings of an 11-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, the Cardinals set a season high in runs and hits (17) on Friday in a 17-1 romp over the rival Chicago Cubs.

The Cardinals will look to set off more offensive fireworks and capture a series win in the rematch vs. the Cubs on Saturday night at Wrigley Field.

“Love coming to this park, and to do what we did was awesome,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said after his team ran roughshod on Friday. “… Overall, regardless of score, they were taking really gritty at-bats. They weren’t giving anything away. We find different ways to win. Today, we definitely slugged.”

Masyn Winn joined Nathan Church in hitting a three-run homer, and Bryan Torres also went deep for the Cardinals, who scored only one run in a loss to the Braves on Wednesday. Winn and Alec Burleson each drove in four runs on Friday, and Blaze Jordan matched Ivan Herrera with three hits.

“It was a blast. I heard it was gonna be rowdy and a lot of fun. So, to come out on top like that, it was a lot of fun,” Jordan told STL Sports Central. ” … We’re just trying to keep this thing rolling.”

The Cubs were rolling into the series opener on the strength of a 23-3 shellacking of the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, They belted eight homers in that contest, including three by Dansby Swanson and two by Michael Conforto.

Swanson, however, went 0-for-2 and Conforto was hitless in four at-bats on Friday as Chicago found itself on the wrong end of a lopsided result.

Alex Bregman’s RBI double in the seventh inning accounted for the Cubs’ lone run. He had two of his team’s seven hits.

Cardinals right-hander Kyle Leahy (6-4, 4.09 ERA) will start on Saturday opposite Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga (5-6, 4.30).

Leahy recorded his first win since May 16 after allowing one run on two hits in five innings of a 2-1 victory over the Miami Marlins on Sunday.

Leahy, 29, has a 3.18 ERA in 10 career appearances (two starts) vs. Chicago. He yielded one run on six hits in 4 1/3 innings in his team’s 6-1 loss to the Cubs on May 30.

Imanaga returns to the mound after pocketing a no-decision on Monday, when he permitted two runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings against the San Diego Padres. Chicago won 3-2.

“I thought Shota pitched great,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said after that outing. “We desperately needed the length. For him to get into the seventh inning just meant everything, and with the chance to win the game meant everything.”

Imanaga was shelled in his last encounter vs. St. Louis, surrendering three homers and five runs total in 5 1/3 innings of a 6-5 setback on May 29.

Imanaga, 32, is 2-2 with a 3.82 ERA in five career appearances (all starts) against St. Louis.

–Field Level Media

In the midst of a four-game losing streak, the Los Angeles Angels now must face one of the hottest starting pitchers in baseball in Boston’s Sonny Gray on Saturday night.

Gray (9-1, 2.69 ERA) hasn’t lost a game since April 14 at Minnesota and is 7-0 with a 2.08 ERA in his last 10 starts. He comes in off a 5-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday night that saw him throw 7 1/3 no-hit innings before yielding a sinking line drive single to Amed Rosario.

It was the deepest no-hit bid of Gray’s career, and the longest by a Red Sox pitcher since Garrett Crochet also tossed 7 1/3 hitless innings against the Chicago White Sox on April 13, 2025.

“God, it was really good,” Boston interim manager Chad Tracy said. “It really was. I legitimately thought he was gonna do it.”

Gray also struck out nine to hit the 2,000 mark for his career.

“It was cool, but I was just trying to win the game,” Gray said of the no-hit bid. “I just felt really focused. I wanted to come and win the game. We did that.”

Gray, tied for the American League lead in wins with nine, is 6-5 with a 3.92 ERA in 18 career appearances (17 starts) against the Angels.

Boston started the series and a nine-game road trip with a 5-2 victory on Friday. Rookie left-hander Jake Bennett opened the contest with 4 1/3 perfect innings and allowed two runs on five hits over 7 2/3 frames while striking out six.

Aroldis Chapman picked up his 17th save and fanned Denzer Guzman to open the bottom of the ninth with a 98-mph sinker for his 1,364th career strikeout, breaking the all-time reliever strikeout record set by Hall of Fame knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm.

“I feel very happy, very proud with what I’ve been able to accomplish,” Chapman said through an interpreter. “I just feel very satisfied right now.”

Chapman accomplished the feat in 890 games while Wilhelm set the mark in 1,018 relief appearances.

Left-hander Sam Aldegheri (3-3, 4.85) will make his 11th career start for Los Angeles. Aldegheri allowed one run on five hits and struck out four over five innings in picking up the win in a 4-1 victory over the Athletics on Sunday.

Aldegheri will be making his second career appearance against the Red Sox. He was charged with a blown save when he allowed two unearned runs in 2 1/3 innings in a 11-9 loss on June 4 last season at Boston.

The Angels could be without starting catcher Logan O’Hoppe for the contest. O’Hoppe, who has battled concussion issues in the past, left Saturday’s game dazed in the third inning after taking a foul tip off his mask. He still was being evaluated after the game.

“I think this may have been the third one in three or four days,” Los Angeles manager Kurt Suzuki, a longtime big league catcher, said of the foul ball off the mask. “Definitely not ideal. We don’t really know yet. We’ve got to kind of see what the tests show with the doctor. After the doctor looks at him, we’ve got to see where we’re at.”

-Field Level Media