(Photo credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images)

Two pitchers who will be glad to flip the calendar from May to June take the mound Monday night when the Colorado Rockies open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif.

Left-hander Kyle Freeland (1-6, 8.08 ERA) starts the opener for Colorado and will be opposed by right-hander Jose Soriano (6-4, 2.65).

Freeland, who earned his lone victory of the season on April 7 against the visiting Houston Astros, 5-1, had an eye-popping 12.46 ERA while picking up losses in four of his five May starts. He allowed 30 earned runs on 42 hits, including 10 home runs, over just 21 2/3 innings during the month.

Freeland comes in off a 15-6 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday when he allowed eight earned runs on nine hits, including three homers, in four innings.

The potentially good news for the Rockies is that Freeland has been outstanding in five career starts against the Angels, going 3-0 with a 2.40 ERA, including 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two career starts at Anaheim Stadium.

Soriano was named the American League's Pitcher of the Month for March/April following a 5-1 start with a 0.84 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings. But talk of a potential Cy Young Award run cooled during May when he went 1-3 with a 5.34 ERA in five starts, walking 15 batters in 28 2/3 innings.

This will be Soriano's first career start against Colorado. He is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA in one career appearance against the Rockies. That came in 2023 when he allowed one unearned run, one hit and one walk while striking out four in two innings of relief.

Colorado comes in off an ugly 19-6 home loss to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, allowing 25 hits, including 13 extra-base hits, in the process. Willy Adames hit a grand slam, one of three home runs allowed by Rockies pitchers, and the Giants also clubbed nine doubles and a triple.

The loss denied the Rockies a chance to leapfrog San Francisco out of last place in the National League West standings and also kept them from garnering their first series sweep of the Giants since Sept. 3-5, 2018.

'They came out ready to hit today,' Colorado manager Warren Schaeffer said. 'It was just a bad game. You have those every now and then. You take winning the series.'

Los Angeles returns home following a 3-3 road trip to Detroit and Tampa Bay that concluded with a 5-2 loss to the Rays on Sunday. Logan O'Hoppe hit his first home run since April 15 and also doubled to lead the Angels offensively, but it was a highlight-reel catch by outfielder Jose Siri in the third inning that was the talk of the locker room afterward.

Siri reached over the fence in left and backhanded a drive by Taylor Walls to rob him of a grand slam. Making the catch even more special was the fact Siri spent three seasons (2022-24) with the Rays, who traded him to the New York Mets in November 2024 for pitcher Eric Orze.

'They were happy, they congratulated me and said it was a tremendous play,' Siri said in Spanish of his teammates. 'I felt good coming back here. I had a good time and I felt the love of the fans.'

--Field Level Media