Colorado Rockies morning after: Offense needs to show up in San Diego

Look on the back of a milk carton or on any telephone pole in your neighborhood and you’ll probably find a missing sign with fans up and down the Rocky Mountain region desperately trying to locate the Colorado Rockies offense.

For the second consecutive game (and now 19 consecutive innings), the Colorado offense failed to plate a run on Thursday night. This time, it was the San Diego Padres who blanked the Rockies, 3-0 at Petco Park. The loss was the fourth straight for the Rockies, who failed to capitalize on the Chicago Cubs’ win over the Milwaukee Brewers to gain any ground in the National League Wild Card race.

In fact, as the sun rose over the Rockies this morning (and yes, Rockies fans, the sun did actually come up), the St. Louis Cardinals (at 22.5 percent) loom as the top contender to knock Colorado out of the Wild Card, according to FanGraphs. Milwaukee now stands at 20.4 percent.

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And Colorado? Well, the four-game losing streak has plummeted Colorado’s chances, according to FanGraphs, from 91.6 percent to 57.6 percent. Yikes.

But the odds aren’t as scary right now as the plight of the Colorado offense, which, once again, can’t seem to find the big hit at the key time to push runners across. It’s been a precarious situation for a while. Take away the 16 runs the Rockies scored in a 16-0 win over the Padres last Saturday (a game that seems like a lifetime ago) and Colorado has just a .231 average while averaging two runs per game since September 13.

On September 12, the Rockies were the fourth-best team in Major League Baseball with runners in scoring position, posting a .289 average. Clearly Colorado has come through all season when needed. They just need to do it now when perhaps the stakes are more magnified than they have been since 2009.

"“We haven’t been getting the big hit,” Trevor Story told Nick Groke of The Denver Post after last night’s game. “These games are important — and that’s how we want them. We just need to do better.”"

The Rockies must do better … and soon. Taking advantage of the Padres is a must before coming home to face the Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers to end the regular season next week.

Next: What Colorado's postseason roster might look like

Colorado, long known for its offensive prowess, must quickly discover its bats again. Otherwise, what has been an amazing season will be remembered more for its clunky and horrific ending than beautiful beginning.