The Rockies have been feeble on the road all season. Thursday night, Spencer Strider made them look helpless.

Atlanta’s sensational rookie right-hander struck out 16 to set a new Atlanta Braves franchise record and allowed just two hits over his eight innings.

The Braves won, 3-0, to take the three-game series.

“You’re asking me what it is about him? It’s about the stuff,” manager Bud Black told reporters in Atlanta. “It’s a powerful fastball, with velocity. It’s a breaking pitch that has good action to it and I thought it got better as the game went on.”

The Rockies were shut out for the third time in their last eight road games and blanked for the 10th time this season, tied with Washington and Milwaukee for the most in the National League. Colorado is now 20-44 away from Coors Field and owns the worst road record in the majors.

Colorado’s C.J. Cron spoiled Strider’s no-hit bid with a leadoff single in the fifth. Rookie right-fielder Michael Toglia hit a one-out double in the eighth.

Strider, 23, has made just 17 starts in the majors, and in those starts, he’s allowed no more than one run 12 times. A leading National League Rookie of the Year candidate, Strider owns a 2.67 ERA.

Hall of Famer John Smoltz previously held the Braves’ Atlanta-era strikeout record, fanning 15 on two occasions: May 24, 1992, at Montreal and April 10, 2005, versus the New York Mets.

Hall of Famer Warren Spahn holds the all-time Braves record with 18 strikeouts on June 14, 1952, versus the Chicago Cubs. The last major leaguer to strike out 16 hitters in a single game was former Rockies right-hander John Gray, who fanned 16 Padres in a complete-game shutout on Sept. 17, 2016, at Coors Field. Gray is also the last rookie pitcher to strike out 16 in a start.

Strider’s performance conjured up memories of Clayton Kershaw’s near-perfect game against the Rockies on June 18, 2014, at Dodger Stadium. The lefty struck out 15 Rockies and only missed a perfect game when shortstop Hanley Ramirez threw away Corey Dickerson’s chopper to start the seventh inning.

While Colorado’s offense has been AWOL during most of the current 10-game road trip, their pitching has been mostly solid.

Thursday night, right-hander Chad Kuhl would have had to have been perfect to keep the Rockies in the game. He was pretty good, but far from perfect.

Kuhl pitched 4 2/3 innings, gave up five hits, walked only one, and struck out seven. After 22 starts, he has a 5.19 ERA.

For three innings, Kuhl was white hot, allowing no runs on one hit and striking out five. He wobbled in the fourth when Austin Riley devoured Kuhl’s meatball changeup, sending it over the left-field wall for a solo homer, his 33rd longball of the season.

“I thought Chad’s breaking stuff was sharp and I thought that was the key through the first four innings,” Black told reporters. “His slider was sharp, he was throwing it for strikes.

“He hung in there. Not overly efficient, but he hung in there against a pretty good guy on the other side.”

But Kuhl’s fifth inning was messy. Michael Harris II led off with a homer to right and Vaughn Grissom singled up the middle. Kuhl got two flyball outs but walked Ronald Acuna Jr. and gave up an RBI single to Dansby Swanson.

What had been a 1-0 Braves lead was now 3-0, and with Strider on the mound, the Rockies were in need of a Mount Everest-sized comeback.

The Rockies begin a three-game road series at Cincinnati on Friday night.

September call-ups. Infielder Alan Trejo and relief pitcher Chad Smith were called up from Triple-A Albuquerque Thursday as the Rockies’ expanded their roster to 28 players.

Trejo received his fourth recall from Triple-A and Smith got his sixth call-up. Trejo, 26, has appeared in 11 major-league games this season, batting .231 with a homer. Smith, 27, made his first four major league outings this season, posting an 11.81 ERA.

Injury updates. Outfielder Yonathan Daza (dislocated shoulder) began his rehab assignment with Triple-A Albuquerque on Thursday night.

Lefty reliever Lucas Gilbreath remains on the 15-day injured list with a left elbow flexor strain and has undergone an MRI. Black told MLB.com that there will be a meeting with the team doctors and training staff when the team returns to Denver from its current road trip.

On Deck
Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (7-9, 4.88 ERA) at Reds RHP Luis Cessa (3-2, 5.36)
4:40 p.m. Friday, Great American Ballpark
TV: ATTRM
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM

Freeland is coming off a solid, albeit fruitless start against the Mets in New York. The Rockies were blanked 3-0 but Freeland allowed just two earned runs over five innings. The Mets tagged him for four hits — including a homer. In his last four road starts, the lefty is 2-1 with a 2.66 ERA, 20 strikeouts, and seven walks. Freeland dominated the Reds at Coors Field on May 1, holding the Reds to one run on four hits over seven innings in Colorado’s 10-1 victory. Overall, he’s 3-2 with a 7.16 ERA in six career starts against Cincinnati. He’s 2-1 with an 8.27 ERA in three starts at Great American Ballpark.

Cessa will make his 40th appearance of the season but just his fourth start. In his start last Saturday at Washington, he pitched four innings, his longest appearance since he tossed four innings of relief for the Yankees on June 30, 2019, at Boston. He has a 7.71 ERA in three starts this season and a 4.91 ERA in 36 relief stints. He’s faced the Rockies just twice, pitching two innings of relief earlier this season at Coors Field, giving up one run on two hits over two innings.

Trending: Since allowing seven earned runs over 7 2/3 innings during a 16-5 loss to Texas at Coors Field on Aug. 24, Colorado’s bullpen had posted a 1.47 ERA with four scoreless games. (Entering Thursday night’s game).

At issue: Through their last eight road games — entering Thursday — the Rockies had been limited to 14 runs, with six of them coming in last Friday’s 7-6 loss to the Mets. During those eight games, the Rockies have hit .215 with just two home runs, 71 strikeouts, and 12 walks.

Pitching probables:
Saturday: Rockies RHP German Marquez (7-10, 4.97) at Reds LHP Nick Lodolo (3-5, 4.30), 4:40 p.m., ATTRM
Sunday: Rockies RHP Jose Urena (3-5, 5.8) at Reds RHP Chase Anderson (0-1, 33.75), 11:40 a.m., ATTRM