Rox Pile
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Colorado Rockies: The nightmare stretches of seasons past

ByColin Gaiser|
25 Jul 1999: Larry Walker #33 of the Colorado Rockies misses the ball as he stands at bat during the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at the Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Cardinals defeated the Rockies 10-6. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport
25 Jul 1999: Larry Walker #33 of the Colorado Rockies misses the ball as he stands at bat during the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at the Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Cardinals defeated the Rockies 10-6. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport
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DENVER, CO – JULY 25: Troy Tulowitzki #2 of the Colorado Rockies reacts after flying out in the seventh inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds at Coors Field on July 25, 2015 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – JULY 25: Troy Tulowitzki #2 of the Colorado Rockies reacts after flying out in the seventh inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds at Coors Field on July 25, 2015 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

Stretch: 2010, Sept 19 – Oct 3

Record: 1-13; record from 82-66 to 83-79

There may technically be worse stretches in franchise history, yet few have been as agonizing as the run of games that ended the 2010 season. On Sept. 18 (after a 12-2 blowout victory over the Dodgers), Colorado was just one game behind the Padres in the NL West and 2.5 games behind Atlanta for the Wild Card spot. When the season wrapped up, Colorado was nine games behind the San Francisco Giants and eight games back for the Wild Card spot.

The stretch started, naturally, with a heartbreaker at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles recovered from a 6-1 deficit and scored in the ninth to push the game into extra innings, then in the 11th inning, A.J. Ellis hit a RBI single off Manny Delcarman to give the Dodgers a 7-6 win.

Sure, there were poor pitching performances, but it was the offense that sent the Rockies plummeting out of contention. The team slashed a truly horrific .203/.279/.331 over the final 14 games. The pitching gave up 68 earned runs and 78 runs total, but the offense could only manage to drive in 49 (or 3.5 runs per game).

Only Dexter Fowler (.333/.373/.563 slash line) was hitting well down the stretch – in fact the only player to have a wRC+ over 100. Troy Tulowitzki had a .212 batting average. Chris Iannetta managed just three singles in 32 plate appearances. Given that the Rockies lost eight games in this stretch by two runs or less, a little more offensive punch might have carried this team to the playoffs.

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