Day after 21-0 loss, Rockies fire manager Black

DENVER -- The Colorado Rockies fired manager Bud Black on Sunday, one day after losing by 21 runs to the San Diego Padres at Coors Field.

The Rockies are off to a major-league-worst 7-33 start, even after defeating the Padres 9-3 on Sunday to salvage one game in the home series and snap an eight-game skid.

Third-base coach Warren Schaeffer will serve as interim manager for the rest of the season, and hitting coach Clint Hurdle will be the interim bench coach.

The Rockies, who also fired bench coach Mike Redmond, will open a road trip Monday night against the Texas Rangers and try to turn a corner. Even with Sunday's victory, Colorado has the worst 40-game start since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles, who were 6-34.

"Our play so far this season, especially coming off the last two seasons, has been unacceptable. Our fans deserve better, and we are capable of better," Rockies owner, chairman and CEO Dick Monfort said in a statement. "While we all share responsibility in how this season has played out, these changes are necessary. We will use the remainder of 2025 to improve where we can on the field and to evaluate all areas of our operation so we can properly turn the page into the next chapter of Rockies Baseball."

Black was in his ninth year as Rockies manager and had a career record with Colorado of 544-690. He is the winningest manager in franchise history.

"We have to get better and move forward," general manager Bill Schmidt said Sunday. "We owe it to our fans to play better baseball."

On Saturday afternoon, Schmidt backed Black, saying, "Buddy's doing a good job right now. They're showing up for work and playing with effort." Hours later, the Rockies were routed by the Padres.

Schmidt said he was attempting to get everything in place Sunday morning to make the move after the game -- win or lose. "I know it took a little air out of winning the game," he said.

Colorado was 19½ games out of first place in the National League West before Sunday's win. The Rockies have been outscored by 128 runs this season. The only team since 1900 with a worse run differential through 40 games was the 2023 Oakland Athletics (-144).

"I love both those guys to death. I'll be in contact with them for hopefully the rest of my life," Colorado pitcher Kyle Freeland said of Black and Redmond. "Clearly, some changes needed to be made to see if we can start turning this thing around, get going in a new direction and get some traction."

The seventh manager in team history, Black initially found success with Colorado when he led the Rockies to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2017 and 2018. They haven't finished with a winning record since and are coming off two straight 100-loss seasons. Colorado has a .353 winning percentage since 2023.

Black's contract was set to expire after the season. He signed a one-year extension in October.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.