Hunter Goodman provided a spark for the Colorado Rockies on Friday night, snapping out of a brief slump and rediscovering the form that earned him All-Star and Silver Slugger honors last season.
After managing just two hits in 25 at-bats with 11 strikeouts over his previous six games, Goodman erupted with a 4-for-5 performance, including a two-run homer, to lead Colorado to a 9-7, 11-inning win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.
Goodman will look to carry that momentum into Saturday evening, as the visiting Rockies aim to secure a series victory in the three-game set against the Phillies.
Goodman’s home run powered a five-run fourth inning for the Rockies. He now has 10 homers this season, joining former Phillie Mickey Moniak (11) as the only Colorado players in double digits for home runs.
Long balls were a hallmark of Goodman’s breakout 2025 campaign, when he became the first Rockies player to surpass 30 home runs in a single season since Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, and Trevor Story accomplished the feat in 2019. Goodman finished with 31 homers and 91 RBIs last year.
Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer praised his starting catcher’s turnaround, saying, “If he doesn’t have a good homestand, you can’t keep a good man down long. … Really nice job with two strikes, good job against the breaking ball. It was really fun to watch him play.”
Left-hander Kyle Freeland (1-3, 5.04 ERA) will take the mound for Colorado on Saturday. In his last outing Sunday against Atlanta, Freeland lasted just 4 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits in an 11-6 loss.
Freeland, 32, owns a 2-4 record with a 3.38 ERA in 10 career starts against Philadelphia. His turn in the rotation did not come up when the teams met in Denver earlier this season.
Friday marked a milestone for Phillies rookie outfielder Justin Crawford, who smashed his first career home run. Crawford went 3-for-4, but his most memorable hit came in the eighth inning when he connected off Jimmy Herget to tie the game.
Philadelphia interim manager Don Mattingly praised Crawford’s developing power after the game: “We’ve been working on helping him slowly learn to pull the ball better — we’re seeing some of that — so good for him to get the ball in the air there and drive it out of the ballpark. It’s something that we think is going to grow over time with him.”
The Phillies will counter with right-hander Aaron Nola (2-3, 5.06 ERA) on Saturday, as they look to avoid their first series loss under Mattingly. Philadelphia has won eight of 11 games since Mattingly replaced Rob Thomson following a disappointing 9-19 start.
Nola showed signs of overcoming early-season struggles in his last start, tossing six shutout innings with five strikeouts in a 1-0 win at Miami on Monday.
Nola has enjoyed success against the Rockies historically, going 5-2 with a 3.17 ERA in 12 starts. The 32-year-old has spent his entire career with Philadelphia, debuting one year after being selected 11th overall in the 2014 MLB Draft.
