Series Preview: Colorado Rockies vs Seattle Mariners

Aug 4, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Seattle Mariners shortstop B. Miller (5) steals second under the tag of Colorado Rockies shortstop J. Reyes (7) in the ninth inning at Coors Field. The Mariners defeated the Rockies 10-4. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

SERIES KEYS FOR THE ROCKIES

Expanded rosters make for long games

No kidding, right? With Walt Weiss clearly interested in bringing out the bullpen again and again and again, these games go long. But they also do something good for the Rockies: they audition guys for 2016. Already in the last few weeks I’ve become more excited about Miguel Castro and Justin Miller doing things for the club in 2016, and far less excited about Jason Gurka and the (now-demoted) Tommy Kahnle. Funny how that works.

Play for nothing…

The Colorado Rockies have been out of it for quite a while, but now it’s a mathematical certainty (as well as yet another season finishing under .500). Can the Rockies motivate themselves enough to keep playing even though they (and the Mariners) are playing for absolutely nothing?

Yohan!

My boy Yohan starts Saturday night in Seattle, and it’ll actually be an interesting bounce back start for him. He had his first and only truly bad start of the year last Sunday against the Giants, so how he reacts Saturday night at Safeco Field is important. Also, the Mariners haven’t really seen him this year (Flande got a win last month after throwing an inning of relief at Coors Field), so he can probably use his relative anonymity to his favor.

Just a few more days with Kyle Kendrick

The Colorado Rockies have 22 more games left at the start of this series. That means roughly four more starts from Kyle Kendrick. And then we’re free! Yay! We’re free!

(I know, Kendrick alone is not responsible for the fact that this team sucks. But you must admit — Kendrick has been a special kind of awful this season.)

Next: Let's Meet The Seattle Mariners