NEW YORK — Now comes the tough part for the Rockies. After an impressive 6-3 road trip, and riding a five-game winning streak, they return to .
That’s meant to be facetious, of course, but the truth is, if the Rockies want to keep rolling, they must play better at 20th and Blake. Which is odd to say based on their history of playing well at home and awful on the road.
The challenge begins Tuesday night when the Rockies host the Angels, who lead the American League West with a 21-13 record and are a sizzling 13-3 on the road.
Angels’ center fielder Mike Trout arrives in Denver looking even more dangerous than his normal MVP self. Trout went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer in the Angels’ 8-2 win over the Mariners on Sunday at Safeco Field, finishing the weekend with his third consecutive three-hit game. He’s hitting .545 (12-for-22) with three doubles, two triples, two home runs, six RBIs and eight walks over six games in May. For the season he’s hitting .336 with a 1.178 OPS.
The good news for the Rockies is their young starting pitchers have been on a terrific ride, with an ERA of 1.71 over their past 11 starts, more than making up for an inconsistent offense.
“We are seeing growth in a lot of our pitchers,” manager Bud Black said. “It’s great to see. You look at the (recent) stretch of games, and every starter has pitched to a level of quality. We have been in some low-scoring games, and we had to make some pitches to keep it right there. I talk about it all the time. For us to contend, the starting pitching has to be there, and it’s been there the last couple of weeks.”
But most of that success has come on the road, where Colorado is 15-8. Its pitchers, including the bullpen, own a 3.35 ERA road, fourth-best in the National League.
At Coors, it’s been a different story: a 5.78 ERA, worst in the National League. It’s a small sample size, however. The Rockies have played only 12 games at home, going 5-7. In fact, the first two months of the season is lopsided with road games. After the upcoming six-game homestand, the Rockies face another nine-game road trip, this time to the West Coast vs.division foes San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Right-hander is scheduled to start Tuesday against the Angels. He’s been solid on the road (2-2, 3.42 ERA) and shaky at home (1-2, 7.31). But, he’s coming off an excellent performance at Chicago where he shut down the Cubs with the wind blowing out at Wrigley Field, allowing one run on three hits over seven innings.
Colorado’s offense, like its pitching, has yet to find its groove at home, with a .255 average. History says the offense is about to heat up, right along with the temperatures. In three of the past four seasons the Rockies have hit above .300 at Coors.
On the road, the Rockies’ .215 average is the worst in the National League, but they’ve been saved by the long ball, slugging 33 homers, led by , who’s hit 10 of his 11 home runs on the road.
Strong-arm streak
Starting pitchers for the Rockies have been on an impressive streak over the last 11 games. Here is a closer look.
| Date | Pitcher | Opponent | Innings | Hits | BB | SO | ER |
| April 24 | Kyle Freeland | Padres | 7 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| April 25 | Jon Gray | Padres | 6 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| April 27 | Tyler Anderson | @ Marlins | 1 1/3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| April 28 | German Marquez | @ Marlins | 6 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| April 29 | Chad Bettis | @ Cubs | 7 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| April 30 | Kyle Freeland | @ Cubs | 7 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| May 1 | Jon Gray | @ Cubs | 7 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| May 2 | Tyler Anderson | @ Cubs | 7 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
| May 4 | German Marquez | @ Mets | 6 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| May 5 | Chad Bettis | @ Mets | 7 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| May 6 | Kyle Freeland | @ Mets | 7 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 2 |
Looking ahead…
Angels LHP Andrew Heaney (1-1, 5.31 ERA) at Rockies RHP Jon Gray (3-4, 4.99), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
Heaney turned in his best outing of the season last week against Baltimore, yielding one run on five hits in six innings of work. The southpaw has only started once against the Rockies, in 2015, while Gray has also seen little of the Los Angeles hitters with only 15 career at-bats by Angels against him. With a lack of familiarity on both sides, Gray looks for his third straight win following confidence-building showings against the Padres and the Cubs, while fellow Oklahoma native Heaney keeps searching for his groove following Tommy John surgery in 2016 and elbow inflammation that forced him to begin the season on the disabled list. — Kyle Newman, The Denver Post
Wednesday: Angels RHP Jaime Barria (2-1, 3.46) at Rockies LHP Tyler Anderson (2-0, 3.78), 1:10 p.m., ATTRM
Thursday: Brewers RHP Jhoulys Chacin (2-1, 4.54) at Rockies RHP German Marquez (2-3, 4.76), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
Friday: Brewers RHP Chase Anderson (3-3, 3.97) at Rockies RHP Chad Bettis (4-1, 2.05), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
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