It was a lovely Denver evening. The Rockies were facing a lefty and looking to break a six-game losing streak. Instead, the offensive woes continued as the Colorado hitters could only muster six hits (five singles and a double), while the Giants smashed three homers in a 5-1 win over the Rockies on Wednesday night. Now with a seven-game losing streak, which has all taken place at Coors Field, Colorado will look to avoid back-to-back four-game sweeps at the hands of the Reds and Giants with the series finale vs. San Francisco on Thursday.
Where did all the offense go?
The Sim Rockies offense is last in the National League with an on-base percentage of .320 (22nd worst in the MLB) and second to last in the NL with a batting average of .248 (24th overall in the MLB). So, q total of six hits on Wednesday night in another night lacking hitting and run production at Coors Field was right on par for the homestand. In the fifth inning, Colorado advanced its first runner to second base when Ian Desmond and Elias Díaz hit back-to-back singles. Chris Owings, who pitch hit for starter Jon Gray, then doubled down the left field line to score Desmond for the lone run of the game. Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon both added singles, and Desmond finished with two hits, to round out the entire offense for the Rockies. San Francisco starter Drew Smyly got the win with six solid innings, giving up five hits and one run with four strikeouts and no walks.
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Early pitching problems
The Sim Rockies have the worst ERA in the MLB at 5.15. Jon Gray, Jake McGee, helped stay consistent with that number. Gray gave up a three-run homer to Pablo Sandoval in the first inning and a solo home run to Buster Posey in the third. He left after five innings and his record on the season fell to 2-6. McGee then entered the game in the sixth inning and immediately gave up a home run to Brandon Crawford. Jeff Hoffman, Wade Davis, and James Pazos then each pitched an inning without letting any Giants cross the plate in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, respectively. Pazos had two runners on no outs, but was saved by a Story-to-Ryan McMahon-to-Daniel Murphy double play. Gray fell to 2-6 on the season after giving up four runs on five hits with six strikeouts and four walks.
Can’t string hits together
Half of the Sim Rockies hits came in the fifth inning. If there aren’t homers, rallies and stringing hits together is key. That’s the opposite of what the Rockies are doing. In the first inning, with the Rockies already down 3-0, Story singled in the first and then Blackmon reached on an error for two on base with one out. Then Nolan Arenado hit into a double play. Nothing happened the next two innings. Blackmon then singled in the fourth with one out, but never got past first base. Arenado got hit by a pitch in the sixth inning, advanced to second on a fielder’s choice from Murphy, and was then stranded. Desmond hit a single in the seventh, but then Díaz hit into a double play. The Rockies need some small ball and stolen bases to stop the double plays. They need rallies to produce runners and runs. Currently, the Rockies are in last place in the entire MLB in runs scored with six total in 41 games.
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Up Next
The Rockies hope to prevent a Giants sweep in the series finale when Germán Márquez (3-4, 6.75) pitches against Kevin Gausman (1-2, 1.98) on Thursday at 1:10 p.m. MT. Maybe playing in the daylight will help? Thursday’s game will not be broadcast on YouTube, so be sure to check out PurpleRow.com for results.