Know Your Foe #51: Rockies Limp Into Final Home Series Vs Padres

by Andrew Martin on Sep 19, 2011 2:00 PM MDT in Know Your Foe

San Diego Padres (65-88 / 5th in the NL West / 23 GB, E)
After a 4-game sweep from the hated Giants, the Rockies will welcome in the San Diego Padres for one final series at Coors Field in 2011. The Padres are sitting 5.5 games back of the Rockies in the NL West, and the way the Rockies have been playing lately, I'm not so sure that 4th place "lead" is entirely safe.

2011 Record vs. Colorado: 6-9 (65 runs scored, 68 runs allowed)

Last Series vs. Rockies: September 2-4 (L 1-2 at Petco Park)

Game 1 of this 3-game series featured a weak Padres lineup in the pitchers' paradise that is Petco Park running straight into the visiting buzzsaw that is Kevin Millwood. Millwood went 7 shutout innings, striking out 8 Friars while walking none. You wouldn't think Millwood had it in him, but you never know what you'll find when you take a veteran pitcher with nothing to lose and put him up against a San Diego lineup prone to these kinds of games. Oh, and for the record, Rockies batters struck out 12 times during this game against Aaron Harang and company. For his career, Harang has a 7.4 strikeouts-per-9-innings rate, but against Colorado, that number jumps to 9.6. Final 3-0 Rockies.

Game 2 was kind of a frustrating matchup between Alex White and Cory Luebke, as neither pitcher really seemed to want it. Luebke was chased early in the 5th after striking out 5, walking 1, and allowing 5 runs on 8 hits. Alex White lasted the entire 5th, but was tagged for 4 runs of his own, including a home run (shocker) to Will Venable. By the time the bullpens came into the game, it was all over. Both sides just kind of looked at the 1-run gap and decided not to do anything about it. Final 5-4 Rockies.

Game 3 looked like classic Rockies baseball, struggling through 7 innings of 5-hit, 2-run ball off of Mat Latos while punching out 8 times. Aaron Cook wasn't really bad, getting 11GB to 8 FB and going 6 innings, allowing only 3 runs. The game looked to be a tight 3-2 while heading into the latter innings, but a bases-loaded Mark Ellis error kept the inning alive and also drove in Cameron Maybin. I wish there were a good way to track innings where the Rockies make an error, just to see how the opposing offense finishes said inning. In this case, Will Venable tripled to the deepest part of the CF/RF gap, blowing the game wide open. That was the 8th, and after a 1-2-3 9th, that was all she wrote. Final 2-7 Padres.

Latest Series Results: L 0-3 vs. San Francisco, W 2-1 vs. Arizona

I swear, those past 2 series just played right into the Giants' hands. Getting swept by the Giants and then giving up another 2 to Arizona while the Rockies get swept by San Fran? Come on, San Diego, that's just inconsiderate. You don't want the Giants to win any more than we do.

Random observation: The 2011 Padres are pulling 25,801 San Diegoans per game, about 500 less per game than last year when they spent most of the season in 1st place. The only season that the Rockies have pulled that few per game was the 2005 season when they finished 67-95. That 25,801 mark is the 14th best Attendance/Game mark in Padres Franchise History. Sad.

In other news, this final series is capped by an Aaron Cook start to finish the Colorado Rockies Home Season, and possibly his career with the Rockies. I can't think of anything better than him unexpectedly dominating, just to give himself a pleasant sendoff.