The Colorado Rockies improved to 31-17 overall, 18-7 on the road—both best in the National League—and 7-2 on their season-long 10-game road trip with a 7-2 drubbing over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night. They’ve now won the first three of a four-game series by a combined score of 23-5 in a matchup that frankly hasn’t looked like a fair fight.
The Rockies exploded for all seven of their runs and hit for the cycle as a team in the third inning off Phillies’ starter Jeremy Hellickson, punctuated by a 3-run home run off the bat of Carlos Gonzalez. Trevor Story returned from the disabled list with a double, two walks, and no strikeouts and every Rockies’ hitter with a plate appearance had a hit in a complete team performance. They knocked Hellickson out of the game after five rough innings, during which he allowed seven runs (all earned) on eight hits with four walks and just two strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Rockies’ starter Tyler Chatwood put together an outstanding start, tossing seven scoreless innings. The 27-year-old righty allowed just one single and struck out eight. The one bugaboo for Chatwood remains his walks, as he issued four free passes and has walked 4.65 hitters per nine innings on the season, but if he can maintain the bat-missing ability he showed in this start it will become less of an issue.
After Chatwood departed, Mike Dunn’s struggles continued, as he allowed a pair of runs in just a third of an inning on a Michael Saunders homer in the eighth inning. His ERA ballooned to 5.79 on the year and an especially unsightly 11.37 since returning from the disabled list. Adam Ottavino and Jake McGee finished up the final five outs of the ballgame. They didn’t allow a hit and struck out three. McGee, in particular, was impressive, as he struck out a pair in a perfect ninth and now boasts a 2.00 ERA and a ridiculous 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
At 31-17, the Rockies have their best 48-game start in franchise history, easily beating out their previous mark of 27-21 set in 1995 and 2013. The last time the Rockies went 31-17 or better in any 48-game stretch was from July 29th to September 19th, 2010. Strangely, there are no records anywhere of what happened immediately following that streak.
Tomorrow afternoon, the Rockies have an opportunity to go for a sweep in what has been a terrific road trip. Tyler Anderson will take the ball for the Rockies against Vince Velasquez for the Phillies. It’s an early start, with first pitch scheduled for 11:05 am MT.