Colorado Rockies: California road trip looms large in Wild Card hunt

With 12 games left in the regular season, every game matters for the Colorado Rockies. However, these next six games could be the most crucial of all.

Colorado’s last trip of the 2017 regular season to California begins on Tuesday night as the Rockies open a two-game set against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. On Thursday, Colorado will start a four-game series against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. They are Colorado’s last six road games of the season and they come against teams which are the bottom two teams in the National League West.

Let’s not forget that Colorado’s last trip to San Francisco ended with the Rockies being swept in a three-game series by the Giants. Let’s also not forget that the Rockies have often struggled in San Diego in years past, even though Colorado is 4-2 against San Diego in southern California this season.

These games are important and will not be easy.

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With Milwaukee just two games back of Colorado for the second Wild Card slot, the Rockies can’t afford any slipups the rest of the season. That especially holds true against the Giants and Padres, the only two teams in the division who have no shot at the 2017 postseason.

Colorado’s ninth-inning loss to San Diego at Coors Field on Sunday was especially painful, not just because of the late defeat but also that it came against a team that the Rockies had manhandled 16-0 the previous night. On that night, Colorado looked like a playoff team taking care of business. On Sunday, after a rain delay, the Rockies couldn’t keep the momentum it had built before thunderstorms rolled through Denver.

German Marquez has the chance to rebound from a poor outing when he takes the hill for the Rockies on Tuesday night in San Francisco. He also has the chance to set the tone for Colorado for the entire six-game road trip.

Next: A look at the National League Wild Card race

There will certainly be plenty of scoreboard watching while the Rockies are battling the Giants over the next two days and San Diego in the days after that. However, Colorado needs to focus on its own business before worrying about anyone else or what is happening two time zones away.