Kyle Freeland, the left-handed pitcher who grew up close to Coors Field, became the Colorado Rockies’ all-time leader in innings pitched Sunday against Milwaukee.
The Denver native got Luis Rengifo to fly out in the fifth inning to take over the top spot. That out to center put Freeland at 1,312 2/3 innings for his career and one-third ahead of Aaron Cook, the sinkerball specialist who notched 1,312 1/3 innings for Colorado from 2002-11.
The crowd gave Freeland an ovation as he tipped his cap in appreciation. Freeland has never shied away from pitching at the hitter friendly park in part because he’s spent so much time throwing at higher elevation. He went to high school about 15 minutes from Coors Field.
As a kid, he showed up in the seats to watch plenty of Rockies games.
Freeland was taken with the eighth overall pick by Colorado in the 2014 first-year player draft. The 33-year-old made his major league debut on April 7, 2017, in a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Entering the day, Freeland was 66-96 with a 4.67 ERA. He had two strikeouts against the Brewers to give him 989 for his career.
In April 2022, Freeland signed a five-year extension that runs through the 2026 season. He has a player option for 2027 if he logs 170 innings this season.
Reporting by the Associated Press.
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