Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
It is an ageless proverb in baseball – good pitching will always out-duel good hitting. The Colorado Rockies‘ series with the St. Louis Cardinals has been a testament to this fact. That, and a struggling offense facing one of the best pitching rotations in all of baseball is not a good combination.
Whatever the case may be, the bottom line of the Rockies’ first two road games of six is this: three hits and zero runs. On Saturday, Colorado was held without a hit until the eighth inning when rookie Nolan Arenado singled. Dexter Fowler would provide the Rockies with their only other hit on the afternoon.
Related: Colorado Rockies Snap Losing Skid Behind De La Rosa Pitching
The one bright side to the current offensive slump is the solid pitching from the team’s staff. That, combined with good fielding work by the Rockies’ defense, has kept all the games competitive throughout. Twice starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin would load the bases full of Cardinals with a single out, and the Rockies worked through the inning with no damage both times.
With the loss, the Rockies fell two games behind the NL West Division-leading San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Michael Cuddyer was held out of the line up again Saturday for Colorado and appears to be destined for the DL. Losing Cuddyer, who sits second on the team in most batting statistics, would be a tremendous blow to an offense trying to rebound.
The matchup Sunday does not look any better for the struggling Rockies. Jaime Garcia will take the mound for St. Louis, and has worked consecutive games of eight plus innings allowing on two runs total.
Jorge De La Rosa will take the mound for Colorado. De La Rosa held the New York Yankees scoreless in six innings during his last start – coincidentally, the last Rockies’ win.
Jim Heath is a Fantasy Football writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @jim_heath, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
