Mickey Moniak homers twice to beat his former team as Phillies drop series finale to Rockies

DENVER — Mickey Moniak hit two homers against his former team to help the Rockies down the Phillies, 4-1, on Sunday.

The Phillies weren’t able to complete the sweep at Coors Field, and the loss snapped a nine-game win streak over Colorado going back to 2024.

Colorado jumped on Phillies starter Taijuan Waker early with a three-run bottom of the first. Moniak started things off, crushing a four-seam fastball for a solo home run. A single followed by a two-run homer from TJ Rumfield — a 2021 Phillies draft pick — put the Phillies in a 3-0 hole, marking the first time they trailed all series.

“I felt really good coming into today’s start, just with two outs and a couple pitches middle-middle there, with two strikes too. That’s what beat me,” Waker said. “Got to make better pitches with two strikes.”

Moniak, whom the Phillies selected first overall in the 2016 draft and traded to the Angels in 2022, has carved out a role for himself in the Rockies outfield after Los Angeles released him in March 2025. He hit .129 with one home run over 105 plate appearances as a Phillie before the trade.

He added an insurance run for Colorado in the fifth with his second homer of the day off Walker, coming on a curveball that stayed up in the zone. Walker pitched five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out four.

With 10 whiffs, Walker induced more swing-and-miss on Sunday than he did in his first start of the season, which Phillies manager Rob Thomson thought was a positive sign.

“There’s a lot of intent on all his pitches,” Thomson said. “He missed a couple of spots in the first inning and paid for it, and then he was really good. He really mixed well until the fifth and he just left a curveball up to Moniak, and that’s what happens. But I thought he was fine. He kept us in the game.”

All the damage the Rockies did came with two outs.

“Rough,” Walker said of his start to the season. “I felt like the stuff is good and is playing up, just when I’m making mistakes it’s getting hit right now.”

The Phillies’ only run of the game came in the second inning, courtesy of a solo homer from Adolis García off Rockies starter Tomoyuki Sugano. In total, the Phillies were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base.

García rebounded from an 0-for-4 night on Saturday to finish with two hits. He said he felt like he was more disciplined on Sunday after falling into some bad habits the day before.

“I think that’s what I’m focused on, is that swinging at strikes, and I think that’s one of the keys to have a successful season for this year,” García said through an interpreter.

Tim Mayza, Tanner Banks, and Kyle Backhus each pitched a scoreless inning in relief, collectively retiring nine straight batters to give their offense a chance.

“Mayza has been tremendous for us all year,” Thomson said. “And Banks is has always been, the last couple of years, he’s been good, and it sounds like every time Backhus goes out, he gets a little bit better. So those four lefties with [José] Alvarado, that makes it pretty easy to match up.”

Kyle Schwarber came a few feet from a three-run home run in the fifth inning that would have tied the game. With runners on second and third, he sent a sweeper 421 feet to center field that just stayed in the ballpark for Jake McCarthy to make the catch on the warning track. According to Statcast data, it would have been a home run in 28 out of 30 major league ballparks.

In the seventh inning, Rafael Marchán made solid contact on a sinker, but the Rockies center fielder made a jumping catch at the wall.

“I thought [Schwarber’s] ball was out, and I thought Marchán’s ball was out,” Thomson said. “That’s the way it goes.”

The Phillies put two runners on in the ninth inning with singles from Alec Bohm and García to bring the tying run to the plate, but Brandon Marsh and Marchán both struck out to end the game.