Can The Colorado Rockies End The Streak At Five?

By Bobby DeMuro | Apr 22, 2015

Apr 21, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; San Diego Padres shortstop Alexi Amarista (5) and center fielder Will Myers (4) celebrate scoring with right fielder Matt Kemp (27) (left) in the eighth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Padres defeated the Rockies 7-6. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rockies have dropped five straight games now, and it’s going to take nothing more than good baseball – for nine full innings – to break the streak.

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I know, I know, here we are again with these 2015 Colorado Rockies. They’re 7-7, the team’s not dead, the season’s still young, they will probably (?) win at least one more game this year, and there’s no reason to push the panic button.

BUT I’M PANICKING AND I CAN’T STOP! THE ROCKIES HAVE LOST FIVE IN A ROW AGAINST NL WEST OPPONENTS AND ALL MY WORST NIGHTMARES ARE COMING TRUE.

Whew. Now that I got that out of my system, let’s move on. Here’s what the Rox (seriously) need to do Wednesday night to snap the streak at five and salvage the series against the Padres:

Starting pitching. But seriously. Starting pitching.

Remember the 97 times I’ve written “bend but don’t break”? Well… about that. Tyler Matzek did some good things Tuesday night: he allowed only two runs on four hits and left with the lead. He also did some not-as-good stuff, too: he only got 15 outs, he walked six, and he forced the bullpen to get the final 12 outs of the game, in which they… weren’t as sharp as we’d probably like.

Kyle Kendrick needs to do this to help the bullpen: 18 outs, four or less runs (I’ll be generous! The Rockies have scored more than four runs seven times this season, so, four it is!). But really, 18 outs. After throwing 11 innings the last two days, the ‘pen could use some rest.

What the heck is going on with CarGo?

After an 0-for-4 night, CarGo’s now 5-for-40 in his last ten games, with eight strikeouts, just one RBI, and no runs. As far as we know, he’s healthy. Sure, he’s an incredibly streaky hitter. Here’s hoping that streak turns hot sometime soon, because with Nolan Arenado and Corey Dickerson playing (or not playing) as walking wounded this week, the Rockies need a power bat.

Week 2 Walt Weiss < Week 1 Walt Weiss

Weiss has made some interesting decisions in the last few days, not the least of which involves removing DJ LeMahieu in a double switch in the seventh inning Tuesday, and then leaving relievers (Christian Friedrich on Monday, Brooks Brown and Boone Logan on Tuesday) in too long to let games get (further) out of control while failing to play match-ups.

It’s tough to speculate on a manager’s decisions sometimes; Weiss certainly has information on players that we aren’t privy to, but some of his recent decisions have nevertheless confused me, at least.

Managers gamble, or don’t gamble, and sometimes it pays off, and sometimes it doesn’t. You can’t criticize Weiss too much, just like it’s tough to blow up players 14 games into the year. Small sample size, and all. But let’s see if he can manage the Rockies to a win Wednesday night with shrewd moves against a good ball club.

Whatever happens, look at it this way: aren’t we lucky to be able to watch baseball together and then tweet about it? This is fun. Baseball’s fun. The Rockies are even fun! Well, they’re more fun when they win. But still!

Rockies, Padres, 6:40 pm MT followed by tomorrow afternoon’s getaway day tilt as the Padres leave town. Remember: the Rockies can still salvage a four-game split. Not ideal, but there are two options far worse than closing out a series at two games apiece.

The winning streak starts today!

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