Colorado Rockies offense looking for more consistency when it matters

The month of August has been very deceiving for the Colorado Rockies. Even though they have had the flare for the dramatic, having nine of their last 11 wins being comebacks, including five after the 8th inning, they are surprisingly only 13-10 this month.

It may feel like the Rockies are playing good baseball right now but in reality, it has been much closer to average.  The reason for that is the Rockies’ offense has failed to drive in runners when it matters the most.

Before Saturday night’s 8th inning onslaught of going 7-for-10 with RISP which scored 8 runs, the Rockies offense had struggled in those key situations. Case in point, Friday’s failed comeback resulting in a 7-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.  In that game, the Rockies were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and they left a total of 13 runners on base. Had they managed just one extra hit, the outcome of that game may have been completely different.

Pitching this month has held up its end of the bargain by surrendering 4.34 runs per game with a .244 batting average against and a 4.24 ERA. On the other hand, the offense is scoring 4.3 runs per game with a .253 batting average and more importantly .243 RISP (it was .221 before Saturday’s 7-for-14 performance) with an astonishing 160 runners left of base (almost 7 runners a game).  Had the Rockies been able to drive in a few more of these chances, many of the tight games that they have been in lately would not have been close.

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Most importantly, the Rockies have struggled to deliver its fans the sacred taco’s special.  Saturday night was only the third time in 36 games that the Rockies have scored 7 or more runs in a game and the first time they have at home since July 13th when they beat the Seattle Mariners 10-7.

Of course, some of this may be the result of the opponent.  20 of the 23 games this month, have been against teams that had a record above .500.  This means the Rockies have faced much tougher pitching, but they still need to find ways to deliver in the clutch.

Hopefully, Saturday night’s 8th inning scoring barrage is only a sign of things to come.  But if they Rockies plan winning the NL West, they need to be more consistent driving in runs.