Homestand By the Statistics: More strong NL West play by Rockies thwarts Dodgers and Diamondbacks

Ideally, the teams with two best records in their sport meet in the championship to stake claim as the best in the world.

With a playoff format that can oftentimes take a month and prevent such a scenario from happening, the two best records in MLB actually clashed in the National League Division series last season.

The NL West produced 213 combined wins between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers last season.

Just when it seemed the division can’t get any better, the San Diego Padres started to play up to their potential this season- even without Fernando Tatis Jr. – and the rebuilding Arizona Diamondbacks have been much better than advertised.

Despite all the typical turnover of rosters, the NL West is still viewed as the most talented division in MLB.

“I agree with that,” Bud Black said earlier this week. “Some people will think the NL East with the Mets. You’ve got the Braves with how they’re playing. The Phillies had a little run. Marlins have good pitching. Overall, I think this division is the best division in baseball.”

Colorado helped prove this thesis by taking two of three from the team with the NL’s best record before doing the same against their southwestern brethren to climb out of the division’s cellar for the first time since May 9. (As many may know, a tie for fourth-place is worth a lot around these parts.)

Colorado has now won 12 of their 17 against NL West foes as they embark on seven more against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks before a four-game set against the Padres.

Here are 10 of the most important statistics for the 35-44 Rockies to come out of the 4-2 homestand this week.

0

After causing hair-loss to their entire fan base over certain stretches of the season, the Rockies have been solid defensively as of late. The current streak is eight-straight games of error-free baseball, their longest run of the season.

1

Since the June 21 contest in Miami when they committed a season-high four miscues, Colorado has been charged with just one error through their last 10 games. During this time, they are tied for the fewest errors in the Majors and are also tied for the best fielding percentage (.997).

2

Colorado has now won consecutive series for the first time since conquering Cincinnati (3-0) April 29-May 1 and Washington (2-1) May 3-5. It’s the third occasion for winning consecutive series following the opening week against Los Angeles-NL (2-1) and Texas (2-0).

3

On Monday, Chad Kuhl gave up just three hits en route to becoming the first Rockies’ pitcher at Coors Field to toss a complete game shutout against the Dodgers. He’s the 26th pitcher to toss a CG SHO on the corner of 20th and Blake Street and just the 16th Rockie to do so.

4

Tuesday’s win by Kyle Freeland gave​​ the Rockies four in a row against the Dodgers at home for the seventh time in franchise history and the first time since winning five-straight from June 3, 2015-April 22, 2016. Overall, they are 4-2 against L.A. this season with all games having been played in LoDo.

5

The deficit on Sunday in the sixth-inning was five runs. Not insurmountable, but certainly a task with D-Backs’ Zac Gallen on the hill and not having allowed a runner past first base to that point. Down 5-0, a two homer performance by Cron gave the Rockies their largest comeback since overcoming a seven-run deficit on Oct. 1, 2021 in Arizona.

6

With 162 dates on the MLB calendar, only six Rockies have ever hit more than one home run on their birthday. Charlie Blackmon hit the second birthday blast of his career on Friday night in a 9-3 loss. (His first was actually the first home run of his career back on July 1, 2011.)

Mark Reynolds, Stephen Cardullo,  Andrés Galarraga and Brad Hawpe have all connected twice on their B-Day while Todd Helton has done so five times, a mark that’s tied for second-most all-time in the history of the sport. (Mark Reynolds and Álex Rodríguez share the record with six.)

7

Since coming off the IL with a lower back strain on Monday, Kris Bryant has tallied seven hits in 21 at-bats, including a season-high three on Saturday. He also drove in his first run since April 17.

13

Because useless trivia holds so much value with a certain section of the public, it’s important you know this next part, especially since the Pandora’s box that is birthday-home-runs has already been opened.

It turns out the most players to appear in a game on their birthday in a single-season is a record that the Rockies own. A total of 13 different players on the 2001 Colorado Rockies appeared in a game that season on their birthday.

Here are the birthday boys: Ben Petrick (Apr 7), Todd Hollandsworth (Apr 20), Bobby Chouinard (May 1), Todd Walker (May 25), Neifi Pérez (Jun 2), Kane Davis (Jun 25), Greg Norton (Jul 6), José Jiménez (Jul 7), Kimera Bartee (Jul 21), Juan Pierre (Aug 14), Terry Shumpert (Aug 16), Dan Miceli (Sep 9) and Jeff Cirillo (Sept 23).

16

Though he loaded the bases in a one-run ballgame, ​​Daniel Bard still escaped unharmed to capture his 16th save of the season. Since May 18, he owns a minuscule 0.52 ERA (17.1 IP, 1 ER).