Rockies Stage Epic 17-16 Comeback Win Over Pirates/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ The Colorado Rockies pulled off a stunning 17-16 comeback against the Pittsburgh Pirates after trailing by nine in the first inning. Brenton Doyle sealed the win with a two-run walk-off homer in the ninth. The game capped a high-scoring night across MLB not seen since 1930.
Rockies Pull Off Historic Comeback – Quick Looks
- Colorado overcame a 9-run first-inning deficit to defeat Pittsburgh 17-16.
- Brenton Doyle hit a two-run walk-off homer in the ninth.
- Rockies are first team since 2006 to win after surrendering 9 in the first.
- Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz hit a grand slam and McCutchen homered in the first.
- Rockies chipped away with 5 multi-run innings before a 5-run ninth inning.
- Hunter Goodman started the ninth with a 425-foot homer.
- Warming Bernabel and Thairo Estrada followed with clutch hits.
- Game was one of three with 25+ combined runs Friday.
- Miami and Milwaukee also delivered wild offensive performances.
- Night marked first time since 1930 with three such MLB games.
Rockies Stage Epic 17-16 Comeback Win Over Pirates
Deep Look
DENVER — In what may go down as the most explosive game of the 2025 MLB season, the Colorado Rockies pulled off an improbable 17-16 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates after falling behind 9-0 in the first inning. Outfielder Brenton Doyle capped the wild contest with a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth, electrifying the Coors Field crowd and etching the comeback into baseball lore.
“Honestly, pretty speechless,” Doyle said following the game. “It’s hard to put into words. Just so proud of everyone in this clubhouse, never giving up. Man, what a win.”
Colorado’s comeback marked one of the rarest feats in MLB history. According to Elias Sports Bureau and MLB.com, the Rockies became the first team since the 2006 Cleveland Indians to win after surrendering nine runs in the opening inning. The last instance came when Cleveland rallied from a 10-1 deficit to beat Kansas City 15-13 in extra innings.
In the opening frame Friday, the Pirates exploded for nine runs, sparked by Oneil Cruz’s grand slam and a three-run blast from Andrew McCutchen. At that point, few expected anything other than a lopsided win for the red-hot Pirates.
But the Rockies kept clawing back.
The Rally That Refused to Die
Colorado managed to score at least one run in five separate innings, beginning with a lone run in the bottom of the first to avoid a shutout. They added three in the third, two in the fourth, and four in the fifth, closing the gap to 15-10. The Pirates tacked on one more run, bringing the score to 16-10, but the Rockies weren’t done.
In the eighth, the Rockies scored twice, cutting the deficit to 16-12. Then came the five-run ninth inning—a comeback for the ages.
Hunter Goodman led off the inning with a 425-foot solo shot to make it 16-13. After Dennis Santana struck out Ezequiel Tovar, things unraveled quickly. Jordan Beck drew a walk, followed by a triple from Warming Bernabel, and Thairo Estrada’s RBI single made it 16-15.
Then came Doyle’s moment.
Facing a one-run deficit with one out and one on, Doyle sent a 406-foot homer into the night sky, clinching a 17-16 victory and delivering one of the season’s most dramatic finishes.
“Getting down nine in the first, it’s tough to come back from,” Doyle said. “But we kept the energy high. We kept the fight in us. Oh my God, what a game.”
Offense Reigns Across MLB
The wild night in Denver was just one part of a historic offensive explosion across Major League Baseball. According to StatsPerform, Friday marked the first time since June 23, 1930, that three MLB games featured at least 25 combined runs on the same day.
- In Miami, the Marlins erased a 6-0 deficit and scored three in the ninth to defeat the Yankees 13-12.
- In Washington, the Milwaukee Brewers piled on 25 hits in a 16-9 demolition of the Nationals.
It was a night that mirrored the high-scoring chaos of the sport’s early days and served as a reminder of baseball’s capacity for unpredictability.
Historic Context and Rarity
Before Friday’s wild finish, only three other teams in MLB history had come back to win after allowing nine or more runs in the first inning—and those games happened in 1884, 1896, and 1913. That’s how rare this type of comeback truly is.
The Rockies’ feat joins that elite group and adds another bizarre twist to a season already filled with surprises.
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