So I’m riding a bit of a high today, after the Rockies finally slashed their 5-game losing streak with a 7-1 routing of the Nationals. Wearing my favorite black and purple uniforms to boot.
Without the strength of Tulo’s bat, the Rockies offense has notoriously struggled in the past, evidenced by the runs scored in their previous 5 games (0-3-2-1-1).
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But this afternoon, with Cargo’s “2” armband representing his All-Star teammate, the purple men did anything but struggle at bat.
Corey Dickerson hit a pair of doubles with an RBI in his MLB debut, Nolan Arenado blasted his 6th homer of the season, Michael Cuddyer extended his hit streak to 20 games with an RBI single, and DJ LeMahieu knocked in his first homer. The Rockies combined for 12 hits, no errors and 7 runs. Cuddy’s streak is the longest active in the league right now, and tied for the longest this season.
Plus, for what feels like the first time in a while, the bats and the pitching meshed with perfect harmony, as Jhoulys Chacin (6-3) pitched 7.0 scoreless innings along with an RBI single. None to shabby.
Though I’d like to think otherwise, there are still plenty of lows and woes to ride along with the highs this season; making Katy Perry’s “Hot ‘n Cold” the Rockies’ perfect anthem.
Before today, it seemed as though the team can only have one aspect of the game working for them at a time. Last night, Tyler Chatwood allowed just 1 ER in 7 innings pitched, but the offense could only muster 1 hit as the Rockies fell to Strasburg 2-1. Two days ago, Roy Oswalt struck out 11 in his Rockies debut, ending in a loss.
Adding salt to the wound, there have been a series of promos playing from season’s past, for the team’s 20th anniversary season. Particularly from the franchise’s only World Series run in 2007. It was painful to watch the highlights of walk-off home-runs from the 20-game win streak of the past after a 5th straight loss.
But this season isn’y nearly the bust it was predicted to be. The purple men, under first-year manager Walt Weiss, have only dipped a single game below .500 once since opening day. At 37-38, they share the number of wins with the Washington Nationals, whom many presume will be a front-runner in this year’s pennant race. And though they’ve dropped down to fourth in the NL West, they’re still only 3.5 games behind the first-place Diamondbacks.
With a creamy crop of young players on the rise for the Rockies, (I see you Rutledge) and Weiss still rubbing the green off his nose, the Rockies have a shiny future ahead of them. There are worse anthems than “Hot ‘n Cold.”
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