Game #19 Preview: 4/27, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Colorado Rockies

Tyler Matzek LHP, 1-0, 2.40

Chase Anderson RHP, 0-0, 3.00

Charlie Blackmon - CF	Ender Inciarte - LF
Corey Dickerson - LF	A.J. Pollock - CF
Troy Tulowitzki - SS	Paul Goldschmidt - 1B
Justin Morneau - 1B	Mark Trumbo - RF
Nolan Arenado - 3B	Yasmany Tomas - 3B
Carlos Gonzalez - RF	Chris Owings - 2B
Michael McKenry - C	Tuffy Gosewisch - C
DJ LeMahieu - 2B	Nick Ahmed - SS
Tyler Matzek - LHP	Chase Anderson - RHP

Much like the Diamondbacks, the Rockies started off better than most expected out of the gate, but have hit a rough patch recently. Indeed, on April 15, nine games into the season, Colorado was leading the division, having just swept the defending World Series champions, on the road in San Francisco. Having scored 30 runs in six road games, the usual Coors heavy offense seemed to be less of an issue in 2015. But the small sample size birds came home to roost, with the Rockies having the worst record in the division since, at 3-6, and they've been outscored 32-55 in that time.

Normal service seems to have been resumed, with the Rockies batting .301 at Coors, the highest average in the National League compared to .257 on the road, good enough only for seventh. Bizarrely, the Diamondbacks are showing a strong reverse split here, hitting just .226 in Chase, compared to .260 elsewhere: getting swept in a three-game set at home and scoring a total of two runs in the process, will tend to do that to the numbers this early in the season. Goldie (.844) and Inciarte (.707) are the only regulars to have enjoyed home cooking to date, with half our regulars below the Uecker Line. Getting them back in gear, the sooner the better, is necessary.

History would seem to favor the D-backs doing better tonight, if just because only twice have we been held to one run or less for more than three consecutive games. The first time was for four contests in 2000, and the most recent was, perhaps surprisingly, in our World Series season of 2001. In five brutal games around the All-Star break, we lost 1-5, 0-3, 1-5, 1-2 and 1-4. Arizona batted .174 with a K:BB ratio of 39:6 over that time, so the resulting OPS of .409 was far worse than the current one of .480 - especially when you consider how much more subdued offense is in general these days.

So, things could be worse. However, I'm hoping they get better tonight: a three-game losing streak is nothing in the overall scheme of things, but the complete lack of offense made it feel a lot worse than it is. For a team whose starting pitching was likely the biggest area of concern coming in, to get nine quality starts in a row. yet have a losing record in those games, has the distinct feeling of a badly-wasted opportunity.