Colorado Rockies: Three games that have defined the season

It is never a good sign when we are already taking a retrospective look at a season with 40-plus games left. Unfortunately for the Colorado Rockies, that is exactly what the current state of this season has come down to.

As the Colorado Rockies continue to slip further into last place with more than a month of games left to play, focus has already shifted towards the offseason and meaningless Denver Broncos’ preseason football.

So how did the Rockies get here? Let’s take a look at the three games that have defined the most disappointing season in recent memory.

Game 2, March 29th: Rockies 6, Marlins 1

More from Colorado Rockies News

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: 3 things we appreciated from Tuesday in San Francisco
• What Bill Schmidt’s comments mean for the Colorado Rockies in 2023

The Rockies started out the season with consecutive wins but they lost their lone big offseason free agent acquisition while doing so. In the fourth inning of the second game, Daniel Murphy broke a finger on his left hand diving for a grounder. He remained in the game but was placed on the Injured List the next day.

The Rockies would go on to lose 12 of the next 13 games for a 3-12 start to the season. Murphy would return from the IL from in mid-April but his injury clearly lingered with him for another month.

Game 69, June 14: Padres 16, Rockies 12

After spending the first two months digging out of their early hole, the Rockies were only two games back of the Wild Card with a struggling Padres team coming to town. Leading 11-4 heading into the eighth, the Padres preceded to score seven runs in the final two frames, including six in the ninth off relievers Mike Dunn and Wade Davis. They would later score five more in the 12th to blow the game wide open.

This game foreshadowed the struggles the pitching staff would endure, including two games later when the Rockies blew another big late-inning lead (five runs going into the seventh). Davis gave up four runs in the ninth for the loss.

Game 93, July 15: Giants 19, Rockies 2

This was the turning point of the season. Coming out of the All-Star break on a six-game losing streak, the Rockies thought they had stopped the bleeding with a series win over the Reds. That all went out the window of the first game of a day/night doubleheader in which the Giants were up 16-0 by the sixth before the Rockies got on the scoreboard.

The Giants carried that momentum to a four-game series sweep where they outscored the Rockies 40-15. The sweep led to a 4-13 record to end the month of July and the struggles have continued into August.

Honorable Mention, Game 97, July 19: Yankees 8, Rockies 2

This game isn’t about how the Rockies lost, but rather who beat them. In the first matchup against former Rockies DJ LeMahieu, Mike Tauchman and Adam Ottavino, the Yankees beat up on the Rockies thanks to these three. LeMahieu and Tauchman combined to hit 5-for-9 with four runs and a pair of RBI while Ottavino struck out the side in his lone inning of relief.

It is hard to believe that a season filled with such high expectations going in for the Rockies is practically over in the middle of August. I suppose we all can start looking forward to roster expansion in September and, of course, the start of the Denver Broncos.