With their offense in a funk of playoff-crippling proportions, the Rockies’ margin for error has become tissue-paper thin.
The latest example: A 6-2 loss to Arizona on Saturday night in front of 39,442 fans at , many of them no doubt wondering what’s become of Colorado’s bats. Handcuffed by Arizona starter Patrick Corbin for 5 ⅓ innings, then blanked by five relievers, the Rockies managed only four hits in their home ballpark.
As scoreboard watching heats up, the Rockies look like a team grabbing bats too tightly and swinging too hard. In other words, it looks like they are pressing. Manager Bud Black, however, doesn’t necessarily agree with that psychological assessment.
“We have talked about this, as a group and individually,” Black said. “This is a great time for these players. I mean, these guys have not been through this before. They know where they are. They might be pressing, but I sense that they care. That’s what I like.”
Boxscore:
The Diamondbacks’ ninth consecutive victory moved them to 78-58, 5 ½ games in front of Colorado (72-63) for the National League’s top wild-card slot. During the streak, Arizona pitchers have posted a 2.44 ERA, with starters going 9-0 with a 1.83 ERA.
In the process, that Diamondbacks rewrote the history books too. They have now held the lead for 52 consecutive innings, the third-longest stretch during baseball’s live-ball era (since 1920). The only teams with longer streaks were the 1983 (55) and the 1963 St. Louis Cardinals (53).
Thanks to Milwaukee’s 3-2 loss to Washington, the reeling Rockies maintained a 1 ½ game lead over the Brewers (71-65) for the second wild card. Still, the Rockies have lost four of five games on this important nine-game homestand.
Some perspective on Colorado’s offensive woes: From opening day to June 20 (when the Rockies were a season-high 21 games over .500 at 47-26), the Rockies batted .321 with runners in scoring position. Since then, they have hit .261 with runners in scoring position, including their 0-for-7 performance Saturday, and are 25-37 in that 62-game stretch.
Arizona scored three runs in the first inning Saturday and it stood up.
Rockies starter almost averted disaster, but not quite, and so his one, big mistake pitch ended up deciding the ballgame early.
David Peralta opened the game by smacking a loud leadoff double. Ketel Marte followed up with an infield single to third, just beating ‘s throw after a barehanded grab. But Gray got the next two batters out and seemed to have J.D. Martinez on the ropes with a 2-2 count. But on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Martinez crushed Gray’s 88 mph slider to center for a three-run homer. Martinez’s 30th of the season traveled 449 feet, according to Statcast.
Pretty quickly after Martinez hit the ball, Gray realized it was gone, displaying his frustration on the mound by bending over and pounding his glove.
“The pitch didn’t have the action it was supposed to, then my tempo got really quick and it was hard for me to slow down,” said Gray, who fell to 6-4 as his ERA rose to 4.26. “It was very frustrating when the game starts out like that. It seems like worse-case scenario, but I just did what I could and tried to take us deeper into the game.”
Gray pitched well after that, but his night was short and unrewarding: five innings, three run on five hits, with six strikeouts and three walks. The Diamondbacks made Gray work, as evidenced by his 100 pitches.
“I felt like I started to rebound there toward the end,” he said. “Even my feel started to get better and I felt like I threw some good curveballs.”
Arizona added an insurance run in the sixth off reliever , who uncorked a wild-pitch, allowing Chris Herrmann, who had walked, to score from third.
The Rockies nicked Corbin for a run in the fourth when led off with a triple high off the right-field fence, Arenado walked and LeMahieu scored on ‘ double-play grounder. LeMahieu, who played in his 800th career game, extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Arizona gift-wrapped a run in the sixth when the Rockies cut the lead to 4-2. LeMahieu walked and then raced to third when Martinez misplayed Arenado’s rising line drive to right field into a two-base error. Reynolds’ grounder to second brought home LeMahieu.
Arizona gave itself a comfortable cushion by scoring two runs in the ninth on a single by Martinez off reliever , and a wild pitch by Chatwood. However, reliever Mike Dunn was charged with both runs.
The Rockies will try to avert a sweep when the two teams play Sunday afternoon at Coors Field.
Rockies’ Tale of Woe
- Have lost six of their last seven games against Arizona, including four straight.
- Have lost three consecutive series at home overall.
- Have lost nine of their last 13 games, scoring two or fewer runs four times and three or fewer runs eight times during that span.
- Over that 13-game span, they have scored 3.6 runs per game while batting .246 overall and .157 with runners in scoring position.
- Have batted 1-for-22 with runners in scoring position over the last three games.
