Three weeks remain in August and then we have four weeks of the month of September to finish this season out. If the Rockies are coming back, they'll have to be one game better per week than the Dodgers and Diamondbacks from here on in. That certainly doesn't mean that they should target just one game a week, the bulk of the ground on LA should be made up in these next three weeks when the easiest opponent the Dodgers will face would probably be our own team (they do play the Nationals, but at Washington, which is always rough). Plus, given that we've got a half dozen games against LA and nine against the Snakes yet to play indicates that we should also plan on trying to making up more ground when we go head to head, but the easy way to gauge progress on a comeback will be to look back at a week with a 5-1 record when they've gone 4-2.
This week in particular seems to loom as our last best chance to make a statement that we want in on the division chase. Looking at the remaining schedule for the three teams shows it to be one of our best opportunities to pick up multiple games on both the Dodgers and D-backs. The key scoreboard watching points, assuming the Rockies can show some legitimate signs of life (and it's not looking good on that front in these last two home series against cupcakes), will include Los Angeles' eight games against the Phillies this month, four this week while we're playing the Snakes, and four more at CBP immediately after we visit LA starting the 22nd. Let's pray that the Rox can somehow take care of business this week first, but then look to see if they can take two of three at Dodger Stadium and wear down the Dodgers bullpen in the process before sending them on a brutal West Coast to East Coast road trip while we fly back home to face Cincinnati for three.
We should also be rooting for the Cardinals to remain in play for the Wild Card and NL Central, as the Diamondbacks have seven games left to play against St. Louis in September.
The Rockies have the easiest remaining schedule of the three teams, they have fifteen head to head contests remaining against their two rivals. There's every opportunity available to them to make at least a little noise in the division, but that requires 25 guys playing like a team that's deserving and worthy of contender status. There have been maybe two points in the four plus months of this season that the Rockies have actually looked to be this caliber of a team. I'm not confident that they''ll suddenly be able to flip the switch this time around, but I'm just saying now is the time to do it if they're going to.