Colorado Rockies: Kyle Freeland part of franchise first on Monday

When Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland and San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Kevin Gausman squared off against each other at Coors Field, it marked a moment of pride for the state of Colorado and a first for Coors Field.

Here’s why Monday’s Colorado Rockies-San Francisco Giants game had a special meaning to it

With Freeland (a Denver native) and Gausman (hailing from Centennial, a suburb of Denver) serving as the starters for their respective clubs, it marked the ninth time in Major League Baseball history that two Colorado natives had squared off to begin a game. It was also the first time that a pair of Colorado natives had opposed each other to start a game in Denver.

Freeland and Gausman have each started other games against Colorado natives, with Freeland squaring off against San Francisco’s Ty Blach (Denver native) on June 28, 2017 in San Francisco and Gausman pitching against Seattle’s Marcos Gonzales (born in Fort Collins) on April 1, 2021.

Meanwhile, Blach and Gonzales pitched against each other on April 3, 2018.

Outside of those four pitchers, here are the other matchups that have exclusively involved Colorado-born starting pitchers.