Missing: Colorado Rockies offense officially MIA

If you, or anyone you know, has seen the Colorado Rockies offense please report to the authorities. They have officially gone missing. For the third consecutive day, the Rockies failed to score more than a single run and struck out in the double digits.

Brandon McCarthy, making his first start back after Tommy John surgery made the Rockies look silly giving up just two hits over five innings while striking out eight and walking only one.

With the exception of the second inning, Rockies starter Jon Gray was excellent. Tracye Thomspon greeted him with a home run over the centerfield fence after which Gray lost complete command of the strike zone for a few batters.

He plunked Howie Kendrick, walked Yasiel Puig, Yasmany Grandal — and ugliest of all — pitcher Brandon McCarthy to bring in the second run of the game. After getting a flyout and a strikeout, Justin Turner smacked a single to left-field to drive in the third run and Brandon Barnes threw out Grandal to end the evening.

It was the second time in two games that Barnes has thrown a runner out at home plate.

After that, Gray was fantastic, getting through six innings without walking another batter. He struck out four in the game.

Like Jorge De La Rosa on Friday night — and to a lesser degree Chad Bettis last night — Gray’s performance would matter very, very little.

The entirety of the Rockies offense came from a seventh-inning home run by Daniel Descalso who continues his stellar 2016 campaign. Even that run would be immediately mitigated when Chad Qualls gave up a dinger to Grandal in the bottom of the frame.

It’s easy to see how you get swept in a three-game series when all of your offense boiled down to two swings of the bat … on of which was off the bat of Daniel Descalso. You won’t win too many games when Descalso is your whole offense.

In the series, the Rockies garnered a grand total of 14 hits and two runs. They struck out … 41 … times. There were only two innings in the entire series in which the Rockies did not record a strikeout.

If anyone has seen the Colorado Rockies offense, please contact the authorities. They have officially gone missing.

Lasting Impact

Two things are likely to happen from this point: either the Rockies break out in a big way in San Francisco and really surprise everyone, or we end up looking back at this stretch of games as the beginning of the end for this team in 2016.

(Slight chance of a third option that they bounce back later in the season, but this was a bad omen for the Rockies road offense the rest of the season, no two ways about it. If it lasts the rest of the road trip, get your umbrellas out.)

Performances like this are borderline acceptable against the best pitchers in the league. Clayton Kershaw is on the DL but the Rockies managed to make Kazmir and McCarthy look like Kershaw, and that simply cannot continue if they are going to surprise anyone this year.

What’s Next

In a Fourth of July afternoon extravaganza (I assume) the Rockies will begin a series against the best team in the National League West: the San Francisco Giants. Tyler Anderson will make the fifth start of his career against long-time veteran Jake Peavy. Anderson if looking for his fifth straight Quality Start. First pitch is at 2:30 MST.