Red-hot TJ Rumfield breaks Rockies' home run drought but D-Backs win 5-4

Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post on May 24, 2026

Published in Baseball

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TJ Rumfield played drought-buster, but that wasn’t enough to lift the Colorado Rockies to a win in the desert on Saturday night.

Another poor start from veteran right-hander Michael Lorenzen, and hitting 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position cost Colorado in a 5-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

Rumfield led off the eighth with a solo home run off Brandon Pfaadt, the first home run in 312 plate appearances for Colorado, just eight plate appearances shy of the longest drought in franchise history.

Key moments: Arizona leadoff hitter Ketel Marte blasted a two-run, 424-foot homer off Lorenzen in the fourth to give the Diamondbacks a 5-2 lead. The ball came off Marte’s bat at 112.4 mph.

The Rockies had a chance for a big inning in the eighth, putting two men on after Rumfield’s homer, but the rally was short-circuited when Ezequiel Tovar’s bunt turned into a forceout at third, and Sterlin Thompson and Chad Stevens failed to drive in the tying run.

Who’s hot: Rumfield, who has the most hits of any rookie in the majors, went 3 for 4 and raised his average to .289 and his OPS to .819. Troy Johnston hit 2 for 3 and drove in a run in the fourth. Johnston is hitting .323.

Righty reliever Keegan Thompson made his Rockies debut and kept the Rockies in the game by pitching 2 2/3 scoreless innings. He allowed three hits and walked two, but worked his way out of trouble. Thompson did not make a big-league appearance in 2025, going 6-2 with a 4.50 ERA in 33 appearances for Triple-A Iowa in the Cubs organization. The Rockies picked him up off waivers in January.

Who’s not: Lorenzen, who saw his ERA rise from 7.03 to 7.21 after the D-backs tagged him for five runs on eight hits over five innings. However, Lorenzen struck out five while walking just one. The right-hander entered the night with the highest ERA among pitchers with at least 10 starts. Opponents are hitting .353 off him, the highest average in the majors.

Third baseman Kyle Karros, coming off a homestand in which he hit .176 (3-17), is 0 for 9 in the first three games against Arizona, and his average is down to .200.

Worth noting: The Rockies’ lineup is limping. Infielder Willi Castro, initially slotted to start at first base and hit cleanup, was a late scratch Saturday night because of low back tightness. Castro had been swinging a solid bat of late, going 8-for-24 (.333) in his last eight games.

On Friday, the Rockies placed outfielder Mickey Moniak on the 10-day injured list with right ankle tendinitis. Moniak is hitting .280 and leads the team in home runs (12) and RBIs (28).

Pitching probables

Sunday: Rockies LHP Jose Quintana (2-2, 4.08 ERA) at Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (1-3, 5.19), 2:10 p.m.

Monday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-5, 7.04) at Dodgers Emmet Sheehan (3-1, 4.93), 7:10 p.m.

Tuesday: Rockies TBA at Dodgers LHP Eric Lauer (1-5, 6.69), 8:10 p.m.

Wednesday: Rockies RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (4-3, 3.68) at Dodgers RHP Shohei Ohtani (4-2, 0.73), 8:10 p.m.