Rockies snap record 220-game streak since last shutout.
DENVER -- The Colorado Rockies ended a dubious streak by recording a zero.Rookie right-hander Tanner Gordon pitched six innings as the Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-0 on Wednesday for their first shutout since May 15, 2024, ending a streak of 220 games -- the third longest in MLB history -- since they last kept an opponent from scoring.
"I did not know that," Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. "That's a long time without a shutout. But I'm glad we shut them out today. That was good behind Gordon. Gordon did a fantastic job."
Colorado is the only major league team since at least 1901 to go more than 200 games without a shutout victory.
Going back even further, only the Washington Senators, who went 383 games without a shutout from 1893 to 1896, and the St. Louis Browns/Perfectos, who went 298 games from 1897 to 1899, had longer streaks than the Rockies in MLB history, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
The last shutout for the Rockies came in an 8-0 victory at the San Diego Padres last season. Their last shutout at home was a 2-0 win over the Athletics on July 30, 2023.
Gordon (2-2) scattered four hits while striking out three and walking three to become the first Rockies rookie since Kyle Freeland in 2017 to pitch at least six scoreless innings in a game at Coors Field. Freeland did it twice that season, with one-hit ball over 8⅓ innings of a 10-0 win versus the Chicago White Sox on July 9 after going seven innings in an 8-0 victory against the San Francisco Giants on April 23.
The Rockies (26-76) have won consecutive series for the first time this season, taking two of three games from the Cardinals after coming out of the All-Star break by winning two of three against the Minnesota Twins last weekend.
"Extremely important," Rockies catcher Austin Nola said. "One game at a time. And I think that's the biggest thing, is sticking to the plan, being in the present. And then at the end of the day, we're going to come out on top."
Last month, Colorado ended an MLB-record streak of 22 consecutive series losses, dating to last year, with a 3-2 victory at the Miami Marlins.
Giants' Justin Verlander ends historic 16-game winless streak.
ATLANTA -- Justin Verlander had good reason to fear the worst when rain began to fall at Truist Park on Wednesday, sending fans scurrying for cover in the fifth inning when he still needed three outs to qualify for his elusive first win in a San Francisco Giants uniform.San Francisco led 3-0 when 42-year-old Verlander was forced to consider whether bad luck again would extend a winless streak of 17 starts that already ranked as the longest in a season in Giants history.
"I didn't know. I figured something like that would happen," Verlander said. "This would be the game that gets rained out or we have a two-hour delay and they don't let me go back out."
Instead, there was no delay. Verlander pitched through the light rain to complete the fifth inning of San Francisco's 9-3 win over the Atlanta Braves. He allowed only one hit and overcame five walks, including three in the first inning, to throw five scoreless innings.
Following the game, teammates who had been pulling for the three-time Cy Young Award winner's first win of the season placed a bottle of Verlander's favorite wine at his locker.
"It's awesome," said Matt Chapman, whose two-run homer in the fifth helped put Verlander in position for the win. "We've wanted so badly to get him that first win."
It was Verlander's first win since Sept. 28, when he was with the Houston Astros, and career win No. 263.
"I'll probably have a little bit of that [wine]," Verlander said when asked how he would celebrate.
Rafael Devers, who served as the Giants' designated hitter one day after making his debut as the starting first baseman, drove in four runs with three hits, including two home runs.
The win was more than a personal drought-breaker for Verlander. It gave the Giants the series win, outscoring the Braves 18-3 in the final two games after Tuesday night's 9-0 victory ended a six-game losing streak.
San Francisco outscored Atlanta 18-3 to win the final two games of the series after the Braves won the opener 9-7.
"The division is still not out of reach," Chapman said of the NL West race. The Giants are third in the division and began the day 2½ games out of an NL wild-card spot.
Verlander (1-8) was winless in his first 16 starts, the longest stretch by a Giants pitcher in a single season in franchise history. The right-hander finalized a $15 million, one-year deal with San Francisco in January and missed one month with a strained right pectoral muscle early in the season.
He took a 4.99 ERA into Wednesday's game but had received only 26 total runs from Giants hitters in his 16 starts.
"It's been a tough stretch for me, physically and on the mound a bit," Verlander said.
The nine-time All-Star was in danger of not surviving the first inning. Thanks to the three walks, Verlander needed 40 pitches to make it through the inning, which ended with a fly ball to the warning track in center field by Michael Harris II.
The 40 pitches tied for Verlander's third most in an opening inning in his career, and the most since 2014.
Giants manager Bob Melvin already was considering bringing a reliever into the game.
"To get through the first was huge for us," Melvin said, adding that Verlander's first win was "great."
"We knew it every time he goes out there," Melvin said. "Guys try extra hard, and for some reason it hadn't worked out."
Chapman was hit by a pitch on his left elbow in the seventh inning. Melvin said X-rays were negative.
Mariners reportedly acquire 1B Josh Naylor from the D-backs.
