Series By The Stats: Colorado Rockies manage a split with the Washington Nationals despite starting pitching woes

Colorado hoped to get back to .500 with their first homestand of the season and the 1-5 Washington Nationals on their way to Coors Field for a four-game series.

A 1-0 win during the home opener, only the 11th in Coors Field history, brought Colorado within one game of drawing even. Then, the club dropped two of the next three games.

After another scoreless gem by Kyle Freeland (12.2 IP, 0 R in two starts), the trio of José Ureña, Austin Gomber and Ryan Feltner combined to post an 8.76 ERA (12.1 IP, 12 ER) against a Washington Nationals squad that was 1-6 going into Friday’s game.

Both starters on Sunday were erratic, walking seven apiece, but Colorado was a touch more productive at the plate and came away with a 7-6 victory on Sunday thanks to a three-hit game from Elias Díaz that produced two runs batted in.

2 – SS CJ Abrams matched a Nationals record (2005-pres.) with two triples on Friday night. It was the second two-triple game in Major League Baseball this season. The first was also against the Rockies: Dodgers’ James Outman on Apr. 3 in Los Angeles. Entering Sunday, 15% of all triples in MLB this season have been hit against Colorado, who have yet to record a triple this season.

3 – Yonathan Daza has multiple hits in four of eight games to begin the season. He’s batting .303 (10-for-33) during that span and is one of four Rockies regular hitting over .300 after Saturday’s three-hit effort.

6 – By the sixth inning, you’ll know if the Rockies will win the game or not. When leading after six innings, Colorado is undefeated (4-0). When trailing after six innings, they have lost every time (0-6). 

8 – Brendan Rodgers received his National League Gold Glove Award before Sunday’s matinee, becoming the eighth player in franchise history to win the defensive honors. His 22 defensive runs saved led all second baseman and ranked second among Major Leaguers. Rodgers is hopeful to return by the end of the season following surgery to repair his shoulder labrum after a diving play during Spring Training. 

9 – Kris Bryant extended his hitting streak to nine games on Saturday night (.324, 12-for-37), the longest streak of his career to begin a season before going 0-3 on Sunday. His streak is the longest to begin the season by a Rockies player since 2016, when Carlos González began the year with an 11-game hitting streak.

18 – After winning NL Player of the Week honors for March 30 – April 2, C.J. Cron proceeded to go 0-for-18 before lashing a single in the fourth inning on Friday’s game. Cron has missed the last two games with flu-like symptoms.

26 – Mike Moustakas started at first base on Saturday when Cron was scratched and connected on his first home run as a Rockie with a two-run shot in the ninth. With the count full, Moustakas fouled off four consecutive pitches before hammering a 439 ft homer on the 10th pitch of the at bat. In doing so, he became the 26th Rockies player to homer on the 10th pitch or more of the at bat and first since Elias Díaz hit a walk-off against the Diamondback on Aug. 21, 2021.

30 – Sunday was the 30th Anniversary of the first game in Denver in franchise history. The Rockies took on the Montreal Expos on April 9, 1993 at Mile High Stadium in front of 80,227 fans. Colorado won the game 11-4, recording 18 total hits. Eric Young Sr. led off the Rockies’ half of the first inning with a solo home run. (Coaching first base for the Nationals on the anniversary: his son, Eric Young Jr.)

985 – Monday night’s starting pitcher Germán Márquez is 10 strikeouts short of tying Jorge De La Rosa (985 strikeouts) for the all-time franchise record and 15 from reaching 1,000. His next win will also be the 65th of his career, passing Jeff Francis for the most in franchise history.

1,600 – Charlie Blackmon recorded the 1,600th hit of his career with a third inning single on Saturday night. Only Todd Helton (2,519) has hit more in purple pinstripes.

1:52 – The shortest game in team history came on June 30, 2006 at Seattle when the Rockies topped the Mariners 2-0 in 1:52. Coincidentally, the next road series of the season is to Seattle on April 14-16. 

2:33 – Through the first eight games of the Rockies season, their average time of game is 2:33, which is five minutes below the MLB average of 2:38. The last time an average game was that quick: 1981.

.562 (as of Sun morning) – Colorado has gone 123-97 all-time vs. the Nationals/Expos, a .559 winning percentage that is their best against any single opponent in franchise history.

Diamond Details

Next up for Colorado is a visit by Nolan Arenado and the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday for a three-game set.

April 10 (Monday), 6:40 pm – RHP Germán Márquez (1-1, 4.76) LHP Steven Matz (0-1, 6.75)

April 11 (Tuesday), 6:40 pm – LHP Kyle Freeland (2-0, 0.00) RHP Miles Mikolas (0-1, 9.64)

April 12 (Wednesday) 1:10 pm – RHP José Ureña (0-2, 14.40) RHP Jack Flaherty (1-1, 1.80)