Friday 4x4: Rockies Rotation Rolling

The Rockies offense might be struggling, but they are just 1 1/2 games back of the Diamondbacks in the NL West. So what gives? Hard as it is for the many to grasp, the Rockies pitching staff is developing into an asset.

Since giving up 13 runs to San Diego on April 23, the Rockies have put together a 3.25 ERA in 20 games -- and that includes the 11 runs Milwaukee scored last Friday. They have the third lowest in the NL, and the lowest ERA in the NL West during that stretch. The Diamondbacks are next in the division with a 3.85 ERA with the Dodgers at 4.41, Padres 4.40 and Giants 5.29.

Pitching In

Team	W	L	Pct	IP	H	R	ER	ERA	AVG
Washington Nationals	14	5	0.737	178	140	53	50	2.53	0.216
Chicago Cubs	12	9	0.571	190.2	142	72	60	2.83	0.209
Colorado Rockies	12	8	0.6	180	151	68	65	3.25	0.227
Atlanta Braves	14	7	0.667	189	173	79	71	3.38	0.243
Milwaukee Brewers	12	9	0.571	184	151	76	73	3.57	0.224
St. Louis Cardinals	10	10	0.5	191.2	177	83	78	3.66	0.245
Philadelphia Phillies	11	9	0.55	177.1	159	75	73	3.7	0.241
Pittsburgh Pirates	14	7	0.667	186	184	88	78	3.77	0.255
Arizona Diamondbacks	10	12	0.455	201	178	88	86	3.85	0.237
Cincinnati Reds	11	11	0.5	199	206	101	93	4.21	0.264
Los Angeles Dodgers	6	16	0.273	192	198	101	94	4.41	0.262
San Diego Padres	8	13	0.381	188.2	190	98	93	4.44	0.262
Miami Marlins	11	10	0.524	186	183	101	98	4.74	0.254
New York Mets	6	13	0.316	171.1	185	101	96	5.04	0.276
San Francisco Giants	12	11	0.522	204	221	133	120	5.29	0.277

Things are falling in place for the Rockies. Consider the three runs they scored in the second inning of Thursday's victory. Second baseman Daniel Castro, hitting eighth, doubled home two runs, and scored on a single by pitcher Chad Bettis, hitting ninth.

The eighth and ninth spots in the Rockies order have combined to drive in only 16 runs, the fewest for the two spots on any team in the NL, one less the Reds, and 33 fewer than the Cubs, the NL leader with 49 RBI from the bottom two spots in the lineup.

Bottoms Up

Team	No. 8	No. 9	Total
Cubs	29	20	49
D-Backs	15	15	30
Pirates	17	13	30
Dodgers	16	12	28
Phillies	17	11	28
Nationals	14	12	26
Padres	15	11	26
Braves	13	10	23
Mets	7	15	22
Cardinals	11	11	22
Brewers	12	10	22
Giants	14	7	21
Marlins	15	4	19
Reds	6	11	17
Rockies	12	4	16

The Rockies are one of 15 teams with a winning record (the AL Central does not have any), but what makes the Rockies different than others is they have been outscored by 20 runs.

The only other team with a winning record that has given up more runs than it has scored is the Mets, who have been outscored by 15. The Mariners have given up as many runs as they have scored.

At the other extreme, the Astros have outscored their opponents by 94 runs.

Margin of Victory

Team	W	L	Pct	RS	RA	Diff
Astros	28	17	0.622	210	116	94
Red Sox	28	12	0.7	234	169	65
Yankees	30	14	0.682	238	168	70
Braves	26	16	0.619	225	166	59
Cubs	22	18	0.55	209	158	51
Phillies	25	16	0.61	194	148	46
Nationals	24	18	0.571	192	157	35
Pirates	26	17	0.605	216	184	32
Angels	25	19	0.568	208	183	25
D-backs	25	18	0.581	170	152	18
Cardinals	23	18	0.561	173	157	16
Brewers	26	18	0.591	176	165	11
Mariners	24	19	0.558	196	196	0
Mets	20	19	0.513	166	181	-15
Rockies	24	20	0.545	176	196	-20

Source: Stats, Inc.

Final Word

With the Rockies game in San Francisco going into extra innings the sea gulls began descending upon AT&T Park. No surprise, said Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez.

"You always expect that when it gets late. It is time for them to take over the stadium. Anytime you play past the ninth inning they get (upset). You know they are going to show up. It's part of the show. I have been playing in this division for 10 years so I know they are going to come."