Colorado Rockies morning after: Rediscovering the winning formula

For the Colorado Rockies, the winning formula is simple. Get a strong start from your rotation and follow with enough offense to carry you past the opposition.

It happened in San Francisco on Sunday with German Marquez becoming the first pitcher in franchise history to throw a one-hit, complete game shutout in a 4-0 win that was desperately needed by the Colorado Rockies.

It happened again on Monday in San Francisco with Antonio Senzatela returning from the injured list and allowing just one run in 6.2 innings of work as Colorado posted a 5-2 win over the Padres.

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Strong pitching was the core of the back-to-back wins, but there was also the common denominator of Nolan Arenado finally breaking through with home runs for the first time in 2019. With a homer in each of the two wins, Arenado not only seemingly relieved a little of the pressure on himself but also on the rest of the offense.

And let’s not forget Ian Desmond, who had a double and his first home run of the season on Monday night to help fuel the win. Desmond gets a lot of criticism for the way he performs at the plate, but seems to turn into a different creature inside Petco Park. His home run was the sixth he has hit as a member of the Rockies, just one of six Colorado players who can ever claim that.

Sure it’s a smaller sample size, but there’s no question that Desmond has performed well for the Rockies in San Diego. With 28 RBI in 38 career games in hitter-friendly San Diego, maybe there’s something to the Desmond-Petco connection.

The Rockies even put Wade Davis in a position to earn his first save of the season to close up Colorado’s 17th game of the campaign. That’s the longest the Rockies have ever gone without a save to open the season. Strange days indeed.

Consecutive wins may feel good at the moment, but there is still plenty of work to be done for the 5-12 Rockies. Those five wins are currently tied for the second-fewest in the National League and still have them 5.5 games behind the Padres in the NL West standings.

It’s early and there is a lot of baseball left to be played. That’s the good news for the Rockies. The even better news? The Rockies are starting to feel like they’re finding their stride, even with a myriad of players on the injured list.

Jon Gray takes the hill on Tuesday night in San Diego with a chance to give the Rockies a three-game winning streak heading back to Denver with an off day and Kyle Freeland back on the mound at home on Thursday night. Can the Rockies keep their formula for success going? We’ll find out tonight in San Diego.