Spare a thought for fans of the Colorado Rockies, after their team gave up a barely-believable 21 runs to the San Diego Padres in an embarrassing Saturday night at Coors Field.
The Rockies are out on their own as the worst team in baseball in 2025, with Sunday’s loss their 33rd in 39 games, leading to chants of ‘sell the team’ from the crowd.
Padres pitcher Stephen Kolek threw a complete game shoutout in the 21-0 win, which was the most lopsided nine-inning performance by a pitch since Silver King for the St Louis Browns in May 1889.
The Padres hit five home runs, including from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Xander Bogaerts in the fifth inning, on a dominant night in Denver.
On social media, fans were quick to label the Rockies the ‘worst team in professional sports history’, and a tough upcoming schedule means things are only likely to get worse.
One fan wrote: ‘If you lined up every professional franchise in every sport and ranked them 1-n, the Colorado Rockies are n and it isn’t even close.’
Jacob Stallings, usually a catcher, smiles as he watches one of his pitches fly over his head
The scoreboard did not make for kind reading for fans of the Colorado Rockies on Saturday
Sportswriter Tab Bamford added: ‘I didn’t think it could get worse than last year’s White Sox but the current Rockies are the worst team in baseball history. Period.
‘They’re putting a Double-A lineup out there every night with pitching that probably should be in a men’s Sunday league.’
The Rockies have now matched the 1988 Baltimore Orioles for the worst 39-game start in the majors in 130 years. Baltimore finished 54-107 that season.
Kolek’s shutout, meanwhile, came in only his second major league start. He cruised through Colorado’s lineup, allowing five hits and struck out seven.
It was an incredible night for Stephen Kolek (left) of the San Diego Padres at Coors Field
Bud Black is enduring a chastening season as manager of the woeful Colorado Rockies
The only time he faced trouble was in the sixth when the Rockies had runners on the corners with one out but he induced Hunter Goodman into an inning-ending double play.
Sheets homered off Bradley Blalock (0-2) in the five-run first inning and Heyward hit a three-run shot in the fourth when San Diego sent 12 men to the plate. The Padres scored at least one run through the first six innings.
Jackson Merrill had four hits and Elias Díaz and Luis Arraez finished with three hits apiece. Eight batters recorded at least two hits for San Diego.
Colorado’s backup catcher Jacob Stallings tossed the final two innings. He gave up a run in the eighth and struck out Díaz looking to start the ninth.
