Colorado Rockies news and links for Friday, September 20, 2024
September should be a magical baseball month of record breaking and playoff chasing. In Colorado Septembers, clouds should be chased away and stars should be stealing the night away. But, these days, it’s hard to remember dancing in September at Coors Field.
It’s been 17 years since Todd Helton walked-off the Dodgers, igniting Rocktober and fueling a run to the World Series. Since then, the Rockies have put together three winning seasons and two postseason runs.
The result has been a lot of Septembers where the Rockies weren’t in the playoff hunt and could only play spoiler. In some years, it also has meant that in the last full month of the season, the Rockies have simply tried not to lose 100 games. Colorado lost 98 games in 2012 and finally eclipsed 100 for the first time in franchise history last season.
However, throughout Rockies history, Colorado usually is better in September. It’s just whether or not it really matters.
With nine games left in 2024, the Rockies are sitting at 59-94 with six games remaining against the Dodgers and three against the Cardinals. Colorado has never been in the playoff picture this seaosn and it will be tough to avoid hitting triple digits in losses. So, the Rockies are back in the role of trying to play spoiler.
Even though the postseason hopes of the Chicago Cubs were already fading when they came to Colorado, the Rockies taking two of three dimed the lights to closing-time levels. This week, the Rockies took two of three Arizona, which currently holds a Wild Card spot, but is tied with the Mets and only two games ahead of Atlanta.
Add in a series win over NL Central-leading Brewers and the Rockies have three series wins in five attempts in September. As a result, the Rockies are 8-8 this month, giving them a .500 record through the first 19 days. Everything could change over the final 10 days of the season, but entering the Los Angeles series at Dodger Stadium, September is the Rockies second-best month winning percentage-wise. The only better month is May when the Rockies went 14-13 (.519).
After an atrocious April (6-19) and terrible June (7-20), the Rockies have played better as the season has progressed. Colorado went 34-63 (.351) before the All-Star break and has gone 25-31 (.446) after. This is a good sign for a team looking to getting back to the winning path.
All-time, from 1993 through Sept. 18, the Rockies have a .463 winning percentage (2,319-2,692). Outside of October, when the Rockies are 18-30 (.375 in an admittedly small sample size), the worst month for the Rockies is July at .450 (366-448).
The team’s best month by far is September at .489 (393-410). That hasn’t been true in the years since back-to-back playoff appearances in 2017-18 when the Rockies went 15-13 and 19-9, respectively in the last full month of the season. From 2019 through 2023, on the other hand, the Rockies September record was 44-78 (.361). On their way to 103 losses, the Rockies went 9-19 in September last year. Even in the Las Cucarachas era of 2019, the Rockies still lost more than they won in September, going 12-13.
This year, things are looking up. The Rockies already have eight wins. It’s possible that could be the final count. It’s also possible that the Rockies could go 4-5 (or even 9-0 is a theoretical possibility if you have a Lloyd Christmas attitude). Anything could happen in the last nine games. This September could continue building for a better future or could be the final chapter in another 100-loss season.
Good teams play well in September. The good news is that Colorado usually does, but if the Rockies are ever going to be in that above-.500 tier with playoff hopes again, they will have to be much better. A winning or near .500 record this September would be a good start.
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Colorado third baseman Ryan McMahon and his wife Natalie donated a big chunk of his six-year, $70 million contract to Children’s Hospital Earlier this week. The article features a great quote from McMahon about how much he loves kids.
Otherworldly Ohtani creates 50-50 club in a 6-for-6 game for the ages | MLB.com
Shohei Ohtani truly proved to be otherworldly on Thursday, going 6-for-6 with three home runs, two stolen bases, 10 RBI and four runs scored to lead the Dodgers to a 20-4 win over Miami on Thursday. Ohtani enters the weekend series against the Rockies having helped the Dodgers clinch a playoff berth and having practically wrapped up the MVP award. Ohtani didn’t even spend one day in the first stage of the newly founded 50-50 club, blowing straight by to 51 in both homers and stolen bases.
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On the Farm
Triple-A: Reno Aces 5, Albuquerque Isotopes 3
Elehuris Montero’s 16th homer of the year helped the Isotopes take a 2-0 lead in the sixth inning and Peyton Battenfield threw six scoreless innings, holding the Aces to five hits with two walks and two strikeouts, but a four-run Reno seventh inning proved to be too much for Alburquerque on Thursday night. The Aces added another run in the eighth and solo shot from Alburquerque’s Trevor Boone wasn’t enough to complete the comeback. Riley Pint blew the save and took the loss giving up four runs (only three earned) on three hits, two walks, and one strikeout in the seventh. Montero also tripled while Jimmy Herron and Cristopher Navarro also posted two-hit games.
Double-A: Somerset Patriots 4, Hartford Yard Goats 3, 10 (Eastern League Division Series Game 2)
The Yard Goats first-ever playoff appearance didn’t go as well as they hoped as Hartford fell in a heartbreaker in extra innings on Tuesday as Somerset took the Eastern League Division Series 2-0. After finding themselves down 2-0 after two innings, Adael Amador cut the lead in half with a solo homer in the third. The Patriots cushioned their lead to 3-1 in the sixth on a solo homer, ending Sean Sullivan’s night with the promising starter giving up three runs (only two earned) on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 5 2⁄3 innings. Hartford struck back in the seventh when Kyle Datres led off with a double and came home to score on a two-out single by Bladimir Restituyo. Amador followed with his fourth hit of the night to drive in Restituyo and tie the game.
Zach Agnos threw 2 1⁄3 innings of scoreless, hitless baseball with one walk and three strikeouts to help send the game to extra innings. Juan Mejia replaced Agnos in the 10th and a wild pitch allowed Somerset to advance a runner to third with no outs. Somerset’s Spencer Jones hit an RBI single which ended up being the game-winner. In the 10th for the Yard Goats, Amador moved Restituyo to third and Ryan Ritter drew a walk to put runners at the corners with one out, but Sterlin Thompson grounded into a double play to end the season. Hartford outhit Somerset 8-6 in the game, but also committed three errors compared to one by the Patriots.
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