The Colorado Rockies continue their drive to avoid history in their last home series of the season.
Colorado (41-112) opens a three-game set against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night in Denver, needing one win in its final nine games to finish ahead of the 2024 Chicago White Sox, who set the modern-era record for losses with 121.
The Rockies will send right-hander Bradley Blalock (1-5, 9.00 ERA) to the mound while lefty rookie Mitch Farris (1-1, 4.80) will get the start for Los Angeles.
It will be the first time both hurlers pitch against their respective opponents.
Colorado fell to Miami 9-7 on Thursday and was swept by the Marlins. The Rockies have lost five in a row and 22 of their last 26 following their best stretch of the season when they won seven of nine. Colorado has a minus-404 run differential, which is more than double than the next team — Washington at minus-195.
While this year’s team already has the most losses in a season in franchise history, the Rockies have one of the best defensive center fielders in baseball in Brenton Doyle.
Doyle, who has won two straight National League Gold Glove awards, continues to play great defense. In Tuesday’s loss to Miami, he made a diving catch that saved a run and then reached over the wall to rob Dane Myers of a home run in the ninth inning.
These plays are adding to Doyle’s case for winning the award for the third year in a row.
“It’s definitely creeping into your head this time of year, toward the end of the season,” Doyle said recently. “But I just focus on being where my feet are and taking it day-by-day.”
Los Angeles (69-84), which has lost seven straight, has not had a winning season since 2015 nor been to the playoffs since 2014, trends that will continue this year. That drought has spanned much of star center fielder Mike Trout’s time with the team.
Trout, who went 2-for-4 in Thursday’s 5-2 loss at Milwaukee, has won the American League MVP three times, the last coming in 2019 when he batted .291 with 45 home runs and 104 RBIs in 134 games. Trout has played 122 games this season, marking just the second time in the last six years he’s played 100-plus games. That availability fall-off has slowed his drive to 400 home runs.
He hit No. 399 on Sept. 11 at Seattle but has gone homerless his last six games. Despite his decline — he has 21 home runs in 122 games this year — interim Los Angeles manager Ray Montgomery feels Trout is still a dangerous player.
“He’s still very productive, but it’s not MVP Mike from 10 years ago,” Montgomery said. “But if you ask anybody, or watch anybody as they progress in their career — if you hold them to the standards of their best years — I think you’re going to get that drop-off.”
He gets three games in the thin Denver air this weekend against a Rockies pitching staff that has given up 234 home runs — 31 more than any other team — to try to become the 59th player in major league history to hit 400 career home runs.
–Field Level Media
