It was a vintage Colorado Rockies road offense on Friday night in Los Angeles in a 5-0 loss to the Dodgers. The road-Rox managed a meager three hits in what was a kind of throwback to the Rockies teams of year’s past who used to look so lost on the road. It has been a while since the team sputtered out so completely with the bats but some credit should be given to the LA staff beginning with starter Bud Norris.

Norris allowed just two hits over six innings, striking out eight and walking only one, dominating the Rockies lineup in a way they simply have not been in 2016 thus far.

For his part, Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa was very good … again … holding the Dodgers to just two runs on five hits and actually outlasting Norris, going seven strong innings. He struck out four but in a troubling sign for Rockies fans, also walked four batters.

It’s also not as though the Rockies’ offense was better than it looked. They only got six baserunners all evening, two of their three hits came off the bat of Charlie Blackmon and every one of their hits went for just one base. It was simply and ugly, ugly night for the Rockies at the plate.

Gonzalez Germen was tagged for three runs on three hits in just a third of an inning, putting any hope of a Rockies comeback pretty far out of reach.

Lasting Impact

The question now is clear. The question now is as it has ever been. Is this performance a harbinger of things to come for the Rockies? Is this the beginning of the end? Is this the whimper after the bang? Is this the dreaded “Coors Field Effect” finally sinking it’s teeth into a team that has hitherto evaded its grasp? Will they go quietly into the night, scoring but a sparing few runs, drenched in the California wasteland? Is this the road-trip where the Rockies finally show that they simply don’t have what it takes?

Or … is something else afoot? Will they — as they have done at each turn this season — reject the temptation to fall into the worst habits of their predecessors and instead replace them with a new narrative that this team can never be counted out … even when they are down. Will they rise to the occasion? Or be buried under the event. The time is now.

What’s Next

Game 2 features Chad Bettis against lefty Scott Kazmir. Both pitchers are still looking to regain form in 2016, so naturally, we are in for a 2-1 contest. First pitch is again at 8:10 MST.