in a Tuesday loss to the Braves. Even his long home run to center field was not enough to soothe the trouble.
“I was just trying to hit the ball hard and I got one out,” said Arenado, the Rockies’ all-star third baseman. “But the rest of my at-bats weren’t very good. Not a very good day.”
He is not alone. In the first half of August, the Rockies struggled through one of their worst hitting stretches this season. They were trending for the slightest-hitting month this year, on pace for fewer runs, RBIs and home runs.
In their past eight games before Wednesday, the Rockies averaged just 2.7 runs per game, and never scored more than three in winning just twice.
“We’re definitely not putting up the run support we’re capable of,” shortstop Trevor Story said. “They’re really close games. They’ve been well-pitched games, on both sides. We just haven’t been doing enough lately.”
Story and Mark Reynolds joined Arenado by also hitting solo home runs. But the team scored just those three runs in a 4-3 loss to the Braves. The club is hitting .263 in August, with a .343 on-base percentage, the worst monthly numbers since April. But their 180 total bases are on pace for their worst mark this season.
“It’s a little weird,” Story said. “We’d like to have guys on base when we hit those home runs. Our pitchers have been keeping the games close. We need to help them out better.”
Manager Bud Black has noticed. The pitching staff has allowed just 3.5 runs per game this month through Tuesday, with their highest strikeout-to-walk ratio this season (2.54 Ks per walk) and their lowest ERA (4.01) since May.
“We haven’t bunched hits together,” Black said. “Some guys are getting hits but they’re not coming in the same inning. To score runs, you have to get two or three hits in a inning. And we’re getting a hit here and a hit there. We’re just not getting the one big hit when we have some baserunners. Those guys who are getting hits aren’t doing it at the same time. We’re spreading it out.”
Footnotes. In their past 18 games, before Wednesday, the Rockies went 8-10, and 15 games were decided by three runs or fewer, including the past 11 through Tuesday. … Arenado’s 66 extra-base hits ranked second in baseball, one spot higher than Charlie Blackmon’s 65. They are racing Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton, who has 69. Teammates ranked 1-2 in extra-base hits in only three other seasons, according to Elias: Tony Armas and Dwight Evans for the Red Sox in 1985, and Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig for the Yankees in 1926 and ’27.
Looking ahead
Braves RHP Lucas Sims (0-3, 5.25 ERA) at Rockies RHP Jeff Hoffman (6-4, 5.15), Thursday 1:10 p.m., no TV, 850-AM
Hoffman, in his first start against the Braves, will not face the towering threat he did in his previous start. Last Saturday, the Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton blasted a three-run homer off Hoffman in Miami. But the 24-year-old rookie right-hander struck out a combined 13 in two starts before that, over 13 innings. And he has a 3.50 ERA over his past three starts. Sims, another rookie, will be facing the Rockies for the first time. Welcome to Coors Field, dude.
Friday: Brewers RHP Matt Garza (6-6, 4.38 ERA) at Rockies RHP German Marquez (9-5, 4.13), 6:40 p.m., AT&T SportsNet
Saturday: Brewers RHP Brandon Woodruff (1-1, 1.50) at Rockies RHP Chad Bettis (0-0, 0.00), 6:10 p.m., AT&T SportsNet
Sunday: Brewers RHP Chase Anderson (6-2, 2.89) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (11-7, 3.74), 1:10 p.m., AT&T SportsNet
