Colorado Rockies discovering themselves with a quality week of baseball

The Colorado Rockies took two of three from the Philadelphia Phillies, nearly sweeping the series if not for one very bad moment from the bullpen.

They’ve now won four of their last five after sweeping the Astros and overall simply played a far more competitive brand of baseball across the eight-game home stand.

The starting pitching has been good-to-great now all season, especially when not facing the Dodgers, and some of the young bats are showing why this team remains exciting even if limited in their ultimate potential.

What Went Wrong?

The bullpen woes continue.

Yency Almonte was unable to secure more than a single out in game one, giving up the lead in the seventh by allowing a triple, a sac fly, and a solo blast to Rhys Hoskins who had a monster series.

Inserting Jhoulys Chacin into a tied ballgame in the middle innings sure was an interesting choice. He promptly coughed up the game with a non-competitive appearance, recording just two outs, walking a pair, and giving up a three-run homer to Hoskins that blew the game wide open for the Phils.

That ended up being the decisive play in the Rockies loss.

Charlie Blackmon went 0-for-8 in the series with two strikeouts and five men left on base. He did not play in the Sunday afternoon rubber match and is hitting .164 on the season.

Whether you want to place the blame entirely on Antonio Senzatela’s shoulders or give him a bit of a pass because of C.B. Bucknor’s terrible strike zone, either way his start didn’t go super well. It was by no means a disaster but he was only able to go five and gave up four earned runs, walking three and striking out four.

For a guy who is still trying to build on the impressive strides he made last season, it was another frustratingly mediocre outing.

What Went Well?

Raimel Tapia: 6 H, 4 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 1 walk-off HR

Tapia has struck out only seven times on the season. He only struck out once on the home stand and that was over a week ago facing Jacob deGrom who he also managed to hit a home run against.

He hit a walk-off homer in the first game of the set and played the part of the pest throughout the rest of the series constantly appearing on base and starting/fueling rallies.

He is now hitting .306 on the season.

Trevor Story hit his first home run of the season in the fourth inning of the first game against Vince Velasquez on a high flyball that just cleared the wall in left. But it was his second blast that really felt like the star player was back to playing like exactly that.

He dismantled a hanging slider in the fourth inning of the rubber match to blast a 433-foot grand slam that put his team on top 7-2.

The bat flip that came with it was a true “A+” swagger moment and we would not be at all surprised to see a few more longballs on their way.

German Marquez displayed his best raw stuff of the season so far, sitting on 97 MPH with the fastball and with good location. He wasn’t as efficient as he was in his previous start against the Mets but he did notch eight strikeouts (a season high) and again allow just two runs.

He is sporting a 3.45 ERA through 28.2 IP so far in 2021.

Ryan McMahon hit a two-run home against Aaron Nola in the fifth to tie the game at 4-4. Colorado ended up losing that one but while McMahon had a quieter homestand with the bat, this was a moment that reminds you that he is campaigning hard (with his actions) for the All-Star Game.

He played stupendous defense at both second and third and is among the league leaders in DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) and tied for the league lead with seven home runs.

C.J. Cron probably had the biggest homestand of any Rockies hitter. He entered the week with a sub-.200 batting average and was looking entirely lost at the plate. We were even starting to wonder on the DNVR Rockies Podcast if he might be done in MLB.

Since then, he’s collected 10 hits, nine RBI, and three homers, regularly hitting the ball over 105 MPH off the bat and providing a spark and protection in the middle of the order. It’s also been a while since he made a key defensive mistake.

What to Watch For?

The Rockies are headed back to San Francisco for a three-game set, returning to the scene of arguably their worst series so far this season. Austin Gomber (3.38 ERA) takes the hill in the first game, looking to keep building on his positive momentum. He will face righty Anthony DeSclafani (2.14 ERA).

Chi Chi Gonzalez get the rock in the second game. He’s off to a surprisingly great start for the Rox, posting a 3.00 ERA in 15 innings pitched so far. Aaron Sanchez (1.83 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Giants.

It’ll be back to German Marquez for the Wednesday night affair. In what could be a fantastic pitcher’s duel, he takes on Alex Wood who has surrendered just a single run on four hits over 12 innings (two starts) this season.

All three games are set to start at 7:45 Mountain Time.

We will keep our eyes on Ryan McMahon’s continuing All-Star campaign, continue to see if any of the young bats are going to get hot, expect to see Blackmon break out at any moment, and will be curious to find out if anyone out in that bullpen can find some rhythm.