Charlie Blackmon Shrugs Off Recent Home Run Binge

Don’t let the home runs fool you. Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies will tell you that he’s not on a long ball tear or changing his game in any way.

Blackmon led off Tuesday night’s game with a home run and added another solo shot in the fourth, powering the Rockies to an 8-4 decision over the New York Yankees in the Bronx.

Colorado’s leadoff hitter now has 10 homers on the season and three in the last two games. Is he flexing his muscles or ready to challenge Nolan Arenado for the MLB home run lead? Hardly. In fact, he says he’s not even focused on hitting the ball deep.

“I feel like I ran into some pitches in the last three at-bats,” Blackmon shrugged. “I don’t necessarily feel locked in or anything. That’s just how baseball goes sometimes.”

After snapping an 0-for-14 hitless streak on Sunday in Miami, Blackmon has been on a tear. That also coincides with the Rockies snapping out of their offensive funk that led to three consecutive losses against the Marlins before Sunday’s victory.

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Blackmon knows the connection between his success and the team’s success, but he’s quick to downplay it. It’s part of the “focus on getting better” mentality that continues to drive him.

“I feel like if somebody gets on near the top of the order, we have a really good chance of scoring runs,” Blackmon said. “I give a lot of credit to DJ (LeMahieu) for that. He’s a really good handler of the bat. He can hit behind the runner. He can hit guys over. He can do a lot of different things for you. I think CarGo is starting to get hot. When he gets hot, he can be better than anybody.”

It also doesn’t hurt to have guys like Arenado and Trevor Story in the lineup either. It’s becoming a lineup, top to bottom, that is solid and problematic for pitchers around the league. Blackmon takes pride in helping the Rockies try to strike first and cause problems for the starter and, subsequently, the bullpen.

Such was the case on Tuesday night when Ivan Nova gave up three runs in the first inning, forcing Yankees relievers to start warming up, even before the opening frame was over.

“When you come out and you have to work that hard to get through the first three outs, I think it sets the tone for the rest of the game that it’s not going to be easy and you’re not going to get a lot of easy outs,” Blackmon said. “I think doing that early, especially in the first game of a series, can go a long ways.”