Colorado Rockies: Five Things You Didn’t Know About June

Jun 18, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Colorado Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez (5) hits a single during the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 18, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Colorado Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez (5) hits a single during the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

For the Colorado Rockies in past years, there’s been a reason why “June” and “swoon” go together … and it isn’t just because they rhyme.

However, the Rockies are showing that this is a different team than years past. Manager Walt Weiss has said many times that he likes the chemistry and makeup of this team and, so far, his words have seemed prophetic as Colorado has shown a tendency to bounce back from tough times rather than let them destroy the season.

The Rockies finished June with a 13-14 record, going 8-7 at home and 5-7 on the road. That’s the overall view … but we bet there are a few things you didn’t know about the Rockies in June.

With that in mind, here are five things that we found interesting about the team’s performance last month…

13 isn’t so unlucky

The Rockies won 13 games in the month of June for the first time since 2013. It was their best June record since going 14-13 in both 2010 and 2011.

Let’s look at that split

Overall, Colorado’s starting pitchers were 10-8 with a 4.68 ERA, allowing 20 home runs and a .283 batting average. In Colorado’s 27 June games, the rotation combined to toss 14 quality starts, with a 3.82 road ERA and 5.40 at Coors Field.

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Relief pitchers, meanwhile, were 3-6 with saves in seven of 12 opportunities, allowing 16 home runs and a .280 batting average. The bullpen had a rough go of it at Coors Field, posting a 7.09 ERA compared to a 4.32 mark on the road.

That’s why they call him Nazty

Charlie Blackmon’s 32-game on-base streak, which was the longest active string in MLB, ended on June 7. His previous high was 22 games, set in July of 2014. Blackmon’s streak was the longest streak for the Colorado Rockies since Troy Tulowitzki reached base safely in 41 consecutive games from May 26-July 20, 2015.

It was a CarGo kind of month

Carlos Gonzalez batted .364 (36-for-99) in the month of June, which ranked second in the National League. CarGo was prominent on several of the NL leaderboards for the month including his 29 RBI (second), eight home runs (tied for sixth), 19 runs (tied for 10th) and eight doubles (tied for 11th).

Next: Arenado Laments Colorado's Missed Chances in June

Smelling like a rose

Jorge De La Rosa went 4-0 in June with a 1.96 ERA, nine walks and 19 strikeouts in five appearances (three starts). In the month, he tied with Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, Jon Lester and Max Scherzer for the National League lead in wins.

The 1.96 ERA was his lowest for a single month since he recorded a 1.93 ERA in five starts (4-0) in May of 2014.