ROCKIES HEADING INTO CRITICAL HOME SERIES
The Diamondbacks have the Rockies’ number. The numbers say so.
The National League West division leaders are 5-1 against the Rockies this season. That, after going 11-8 last season, and then beating Colorado 11-8 in the NL wild-card game.
But the Rockies have a chance to turn the tables over the next two weeks. They host the D-backs for three games beginning Tuesday night, then play three more at Arizona, from July 20-22, immediately after the all-star break. Colorado (46-44) enters Tuesday’s game in third place in the NL West, 3 games behind Arizona. The Dodgers are in second place, one game behind Arizona, entering their Monday night game at San Diego.
Arizona certainly has the respect and attention of Colorado manager Bud Black.
“They are a really well-balanced team,” he said. “They pitch well, they play really good defense, they’ve got speed, they run the bases well, and they have some power.”
The 2018 D-backs are certainly not great offensively, ranking 28th in the majors with a .231 team average, but they’ve outscored the Rockies 47-26 this season in headto-head matchups, including a 29-
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14 edge when they swept three games at Coors Field on June 8-10.
“Offensively, they might not have that (high) team average, but for some reason, they seem to hit against us,” Black said. “We have to turn that around, for sure.”
Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, selected to the AllStar Game for the sixth consecutive year, is a Rockies killer. He has hit .320 against them in his career, with a 1.010 OPS. At Coors Field, he has batted .326 with 14 home runs, 18 doubles and a 1.034 OPS in 221 at-bats.
On May 22, Goldschmidt was hitting just .198, but then he went on a tear in June with a slash line of .364/.460/.738, earning him playerof-the-month honors. During the three-game series at Coors Field, Goldschmidt punished the Rock- ies, batting 8-for-13 with four home runs, two doubles and nine RBIs.
Outfielders David Peralta (.368 average, .937 OPS) and A.J. Pollock (.344, .983) have also thrived at Coors Field.
But what has the attention of Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado’s is Arizona’s pitching. Its 3.48 team ERA is the best in the National League.
“I think their starting rotation is really good, really solid, although, unfortunately, they have had to deal with some injuries early,” Arenado said. “They have a lot of dudes in that starting rotation — Patrick Corbin, (Shelby) Miller, (Zack) Greinke and (Zack) Godley. And then they have Archie Bradley in the bullpen. We know what he can do.”
Corbin, the left-hander who has just selected to his second AllStar Game, is scheduled to start Tuesday’s game. He’s 6-3 with a 3.05 ERA and 1.01 WHIP over 18 starts this season. Overall, Corbin has done well against Colorado in his career, going 8-3 with a 4.68 ERA. Coors Field, however, is a different story. He’s 3-2 with a 7.11 ERA and a 1.624 WHIP in LoDo.
“I like the way we are playing now,” Arenado said. “Our pitching has been solid, and we’ve been hitting up and down the order. We just have to keep it going, because we have a chance to so some good things before the break.”