Colorado Rockies fall to 0-2 with loss to Miami Marlins

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rockies lost a nail-biter to the Miami Marlins on Tuesday by a final score of 4-3. It was not for lack of excitement or lack of chances, however, that this baseball team once again lost away from its home field.

It was also not for lack of familiarity, as the Rockies presented a number of the same darn attributes that have cost them games as the visiting team over the last number of seasons. Please follow along as we go through the checklist.

1. Strike out a lot

Nathan Eovaldi‘s stuff was dirty, as he located his 98 MPH fastball pretty much wherever he wanted (not something he always does, by the way). Problem is, the Rockies are going to face a lot of opposing pitchers who are sharp over the course of their road schedule this season.

The eight strikeouts in this particular contest were not terrible, though Nolan Arenado‘s came at the worst time to end the 8th inning. Perception here might be tainted by the lingering visual of numerous strikeouts against Jose Fernandez Monday night as well, but the point holds: this lineup needs to put the ball in play more when they are on the road.

2. Baserunning blunder

Because of course there was, courtesy of Justin Morneau. The bad baserunning of the Colorado Rockies is consistent, transcending the overhauls of rosters and coaching staffs alike. Our own Rockies Woman posed the question most astutely when she asked:

Why do the Rockies consistently suck at this?

Visual evidence provided below (via PitcherGIFS.com).

But hey, be aggressive, right Walt Weiss?

3. An almost good pitching outing

With some sharp sinkers and lots of groundball outs, Brett Anderson left us with plenty to get excited about. He just made a couple mistakes and just had one inning get away (thanks, in part, to a throwing error from DJ LeMahieu). And with that, Anderson learned about the razor thin margin of error he can expect to have when pitching on the road as a member of the Colorado Rockies. Which brings us to…

4. Missed Opportunities

With the tying run on second base and nobody out in the 8th inning, Troy Tulowitzki was up to bat. He popped out meekly. With 2 outs in that same inning Nolan Arenado had a chance to tie up the game or even give the Rockies the lead. He struck out looking. On the one hand, that’s just baseball, but on the other hand it always feels more disappointing when the Rockies miss those chances on the road because you know they probably aren’t going to score enough runs, again.

On the bright side, Tulowitzki did this.

Game #3 of 162 is on tap for Wednesday night, with Jordan Lyles making his much-anticipated necessary Colorado Rockies debut.