The Colorado Rockies entered their two-game set with the Texas Rangers before heading out onto the road for 24 of their final 37 games in what is the second-most difficult remaining schedule.
Since June 17 when the Rockies swept the visiting San Diego Padres, Colorado has gone 20-12 at home.
On Tuesday night, Germán Márquez allowed three runs on two homers before recording an out, but a series of a few more three-run innings saw the Rockies come out ahead 7-6.
Colorado get behind again early on Wednesday thanks to six hits and seven runs in the second inning that chased José Ureña in his worst start with the club.
Here are 10 of the most important statistics for the 54-71 Rockies to come out of the homestand against the Giants and Rangers this week.
1
Jon Gray made his first appearance back at Coors Field after signing a four-year, $56 million deal with the Rangers last offseason. Though he’s currently been on the injured list with a left oblique strain since August 2, the 3rd overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft is still traveling with the team as he rehabilitates. During games started by Gray of Texas’ lone All-Star Martin Pérez, the Rangers are 27-17 (.614) and 30-50 (.375) in all others.
5
Since the All-Star break, Brendan Rodgers has the fifth-most hit in the National League. He entered Wednesday batting .353 (41-for-120) with seven doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI over the past five weeks. On the defensive side, he leads all second basemen with 15 defensive runs saved.
7
Germán Márquez has faced all 29 other teams in MLB, but has failed to earn a victory against seven. He had a no decision in one start against Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit and Tampa Bay. He was charged with a loss versus Los Angeles (AL) in two starts against the Angels and is 0-3 against the Rangers following the no-decision on Tuesday night.
8
Wynton Bernard added his fifth infield hit of the year on Tuesday and his sixth on Wednesday. While he was caught stealing for the first time in four attempts in the first game of the series, the 31-year-old remains a speedster. Per Baseball Savant, Bernard is the eight-fastest player in MLB thanks to a 30.1 feet-per-second sprint speed that ranks in the 98.8 percentile.
10
On August 20, the 32-year-old José Iglesias joined Charlie Blackmon as the second Rockie to reach the mark this season and third active player on the roster as Jhoulys Chacín reached the milestone last season.
14
Don’t let his 14 errors in the field fool you. Ryan McMahon has been a bit better than the boilerplate defensive stat might suggestive. His 10 defensive runs saved are actually fourth-most in MLB amongst third baseman.
39
Colorado has used 39 total players (18 position players, 21 pitchers), fewest among MLB’s 30 teams this season. One might think this year’s club could set the franchise record for fewest players used – 41 by the 1995, 2017 and 2018 Rockies – but Bud Black recently said, “We’ll have a couple of new players in September. We’re hoping there might be a new face or two here to evaluate.” Intriguing.
173
Following a fresh shave, Connor Joe went 2-for-3, his first multi-hit game since July 15 vs. Pittsburgh. He hit his sixth home run of the season on Friday against the Giants, his first since June 7 at San Francisco, snapping a 48-game homerless streak that lasted 173 consecutive at-bats.
337
Though the Rockies have struggled to win on the road (7-21 since June 17), Iglesias is still producing at the plate on the road. His .337 batting average over that span leads the team by a large margin with Rodgers at .250 for a distant second.
567
Ryan McMahon started 567 games before batting leading off for the first time over the weekend. When he batted first on Tuesday night, he moved into a tie with Jason Bates for third-most (2) by a Rockies’ third baseman. Only Jamey Carroll (4) and Chris Stynes (10) have done it more times.
