Colorado Rockies finding ways to lose
By Hayden Kane
To say that a professional sports team is “finding a way to win” or “finding a way to lose” can be a relatively bland claim to make. In most cases it is just an attempt to find a different way to say that the team is awesome or the team stinks.
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It is with that in mind, then, that I state the following without hesitation: the Colorado Rockies are finding ways to lose.
In the horrible stretch that has been their plummet to the bottom of the National League West, the Rockies have been able to score runs. It has been the combination of a battered starting rotation and a horrible bullpen that has continued to gag games away, in many cases wasting good offensive showings. The offense has had its bad moments also, but those have been more understandable and less frequent.
Speaking of that horrible bullpen, one of the few bright spots has been veteran closer LaTroy Hawkins. He continues to pitch well and generally come away unscathed, scant though his opportunities have been.
It is with those factors in mind that we consider the 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night. The offense went quiet, though we should acknowledge the fact that stud Zack Greinke was on the mound and went eight outstanding innings. The Rockies then handed a tie game to Hawkins; he proceeded to have a rare tough outing and give up the winning run courtesy of a Juan Uribe single (because OF COURSE IT WAS JUAN URIBE).
The simple analysis, and frankly the only one I can get my head around at this low point in the season, is that two areas that have mostly gone well this season went bad on Thursday. That is a perfect example of a bad team finding a way to lose. Hopefully the end is in sight soon, but as of now the Rockies are officially down in the portion of the overall standings that consists of teams like the Houston Astros and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Things don’t get easier Friday night. Clayton Kershaw will start opposite new acquisition Jair Jurrjens.