Warren Schaeffer's Latest Comments Show Rockies Continued Improvement in 2026

After being swept at home and falling into last place in the National League West Division, the Colorado Rockies began a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels in Southern California. The Rockies allowed 19 runs in the series final on Sunday, looking to break their five-game losing streak against an Angels team that is also struggling in 2026.

Coming off three straight 100-loss seasons, there is nowhere to go but up for Colorado this summer. Manager Warren Schaeffer is hoping that his team can make strides in several areas that they failed in the last couple of seasons. One of those areas was finding different ways to win games when it doesn't seem to be their night. That was the case on Monday night in Los Angeles.

Rockies Manager Warren Schaeffer Happy With Team's Resilience in Win Over Angels

Colorado Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman — Hunter Goodman | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Let's be honest, if this type of game were to unfold last season or even the last couple of seasons, the Rockies would have lost it. How crazy was it? Colorado was walked 10 times by Angels pitching; they had two players hit by pitches, and seven of the 10 walks issued by Los Angeles pitching were by starter José Soriano.

Despite all of that, Colorado trailed 6-3 through seven innings and left a village of 10 runners on base through those first seven innings. It would have been easy to go down without a fight with six outs left, but that wasn't the case. They scored five runs in the eighth and one in the ninth for a 9-8 victory. The big blow was a Hunter Goodman three-run home run in the top of the eighth.

“They give 12 free passes, we kick the ball around a bunch tonight, throw it around sloppy, but somebody's got to win that game,” Schaeffer said. “I thought the boys showed incredible, incredible resilience, bouncing back multiple times, and just sticking with it. And throwing up really, really good at-bats all night long, despite the horrendous defense.”

On the flip side, Schaeffer is right. The Rockies committed four errors, but amazingly allowed just one unearned run. However, without six runs over the final two innings, it would have been another gut-wrenching loss for a team that has shown signs of hope this spring.

“The whole game, even though we did punch out 10 times, I thought that the at-bats were excellent tonight,” Schaeffer said. “But two-strike battling is something we talk about all the time. The at-bat's never over until it's over.”

Sometimes it's not about winning ugly, it's just about winning. That was the case on Monday night to snap a losing streak one day after allowing 19 runs. Despite their record, the Rockies are certainly turning a page in 2026. Monday night was the latest example.

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