The Colorado Rockies may be buried in the standings, but Chase Dollander gave fans a reason to believe with a gritty performance that snapped Colorado's eight-game skid. Despite dealing with a cracked fingernail, the Rockies' rookie pitcher held the high-powered Atlanta Braves to just two hits across 5 2/3 innings in a 2-1 win at Coors Field.

Dollander's outing was impressive not just for the stats, but for the pain he played through. After the game, he revealed to Patrick Saunders on X, formerly Twitter.

“It happened in Spring Training actually, and I was kind of fighting through it then, but I was able to go to a nail salon and put a fake nail and stuff on it… I just kinda fought through it.”

The Dollander injury flared up again mid-game, but the rookie still managed to strike out four, including a signature 79 mph curveball that froze Marcell Ozuna in the sixth.

Manager Bud Black removed him after a two-out walk to Matt Olson, but not before Dollander cemented his best MLB start yet. The performance didn't go unnoticed. Patrick Lyons of DNVER noting on X, formerly Twitter:

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“His mental fortitude and composure in that moment said everything about his upside.”

The win not only ended a brutal stretch for the Rockies, but marked Dollander's second career victory.

Offensively, Brenton Doyle's solo homer off Chris Sale in the third inning proved decisive in this Rockies vs Braves showdown. It was Dolye's fourth long ball of the year, and it stood up thanks to a trio of rookie relievers. Jake Bird, Seth Halvorsen, and Zach Agnos (who earned his first MLB save) slammed the door to secure the team's fifth win of the season.

Though the Colorado Rockies news cycle has been mostly bleak this year, Dollander's fight through visible pain to give his team a much-needed win shows why he's a key piece of the franchise's future. Stem Day at Coors Field saw thousands of students in the stands, and they may have just witnessed the emergence of a new fan favorite in purple pinstripes.