Friday 4x4: D-Backs Hit a Bump in the Road
The Rockies back-to-back wins in the final two games at Chicago provided them a chance to chip away at the gap between them and NL West-leading Arizona. The Diamondbacks have lost back-to-back games for the first time this year, and in splitting four games with the Dodgers had a streak of winning nine consecutive series to open a season stopped.
It's the second longest such streak in MLB history, two series shy of the record 11 in a row the Cubs won to open the 1907 season.
Now, the D-Backs embark on a challenging part of their schedule. In the next three weeks they face a contender in 18 consecutive games. Ten of the first 12 will be played at Chase Field.
The Rockies, in the same time, play 16 of their 18 games against a team with a winning record, and 12 of those 18 are on the road.
| Rockies | D-Backs | |||||
| Dates | Opponent | Games | Dates | Opponent | Games | |
| Fri-Sun | at Mets | 3 | Fri-Sun | vs. Astros | 3 | |
| Tues-Wed | vs. Angels | 2 | Tues-Wed | at Dodgers | 2 | |
| 5/10-5/13 | vs. Brewers | 4 | 5/10-5/13 | vs. Nationals | 4 | |
| 5/14-5/15 | at Padres | 2 | 5/14-5/16 | vs.Brewers | 3 | |
| 5/17-5/20 | at Giants | 4 | 5/18-5/20 | at Mets | 3 | |
| 5/21-5/23 | at Dodgers | 3 | 5/21-5/23 | at Brewers | 3 |
The D'Backs do, however, not only have the best overall record in the NL. They also have the best NL record at home and the best NL record on the road.
| Total | Home | Road | ||||
| Team | W- L | Pct | W - L | Pct. | W - L | Pct. |
| D-backs | 21-10 | 0.677 | 11 - 5 | 0.688 | 10 - 5 | 0.667 |
| Braves | 19-11 | 0.633 | 8 - 4 | 0.667 | 11 - 7 | 0.611 |
| Pirates | 17-15 | 0.531 | 10 - 5 | 0.667 | 7 - 10 | 0.412 |
| Brewers | 19-13 | 0.594 | 8 - 6 | 0.571 | 11 - 7 | 0.611 |
| Cardinals | 17-12 | 0.586 | 9 - 5 | 0.643 | 8 - 7 | 0.533 |
| Mets | 17-12 | 0.586 | 7 - 7 | 0.5 | 10 - 5 | 0.667 |
| Cubs | 16-12 | 0.571 | 8 - 6 | 0.571 | 8 - 6 | 0.571 |
| Phillies | 17-13 | 0.567 | 11 - 5 | 0.688 | 6 - 8 | 0.429 |
| Rockies | 17-15 | 0.531 | 5 - 7 | 0.417 | 12 - 8 | 0.6 |
| Giants | 16-15 | 0.516 | 10 - 7 | 0.588 | 6 - 8 | 0.429 |
| Nationals | 16-16 | 0.5 | 8 - 9 | 0.471 | 8 - 7 | 0.533 |
| Dodgers | 14-17 | 0.452 | 7 - 8 | 0.467 | 7 - 9 | 0.438 |
| Marlins | 11 - 19 | 0.367 | 7 - 11 | 0.389 | 4 - 8 | 0.333 |
| Padres | 11 - 21 | 0.344 | 5 - 12 | 0.294 | 6 - 9 | 0.4 |
| Reds | 7 - 24 | 0.226 | 3 - 12 | 0.2 | 4 - 12 | 0.25 |
The Rockies have had their success on the road in no small part because they have a chance to put runs up in a hurry. The Rockies lead NL teams in road home runs, and Charlie Blackmon leads MLB hitters in road home runs.
| Player | Team | HR | Team | HR | SLG | |
| Charlie Blackmon | Col | 9 | Colorado Rockies | 28 | 0.378 | |
| Ozzie Albies | Atl | 8 | Atlanta Braves | 26 | 0.472 | |
| Paul DeJong | StL | 5 | St. Louis Cardinals | 23 | 0.411 | |
| Bryce Harper | Was | 5 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 21 | 0.423 | |
| DJ LeMahieu | Col | 5 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 20 | 0.387 | |
| Yadier Molina | StL | 5 | Washington Nationals | 19 | 0.409 | |
| Kyle Schwarber | ChC | 5 | Milwaukee Brewers | 18 | 0.372 | |
| Nolan Arenado | Col | 4 | New York Mets | 17 | 0.371 | |
| Brandon Belt | SF | 4 | Chicago Cubs | 15 | 0.417 | |
| Asdrubal Cabrera | NYM | 4 | San Diego Padres | 13 | 0.359 | |
| Paul Goldschmidt | Ari | 4 | San Francisco Giants | 13 | 0.347 | |
| Nick Markakis | Atl | 4 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 12 | 0.39 | |
| David Peralta | Ari | 4 | Miami Marlins | 10 | 0.313 | |
| A.J. Pollock | Ari | 4 | Philadelphia Phillies | 9 | 0.338 | |
| J.T. Realmuto | Mia | 4 | Cincinnati Reds | 8 | 0.344 | |
| Kurt Suzuki | Atl | 4 |
The Mets have been in a funk. After opening the season by winning 11 of the first 12 games they have lost 11 of their last 17.
| Date | Opp | Score | WP | LP | Save | |
| 4/14/2018 | Mil | L | 1-5 | C. Anderson | M.Harvey | J.Hader |
| 4/15/2018 | Mil | W | 7-4 | J.Familia | M.Albers | |
| 4/16/2018 | Was | L | 6-8 | A.Cole | A.Ramos | R.Madson |
| 4/17/2018 | Was | L | 2-5 | G.Gonzalez | Z.Wheeler | S.Doolittle |
| 4/18/2018 | Was | W | 11-5 | A.Ramos | R.Madson | |
| 4/19/2018 | @Atl | L | 4-12 | M.Wisler | M.Harvey | |
| 4/20/2018 | @Atl | W | 5-2 | R.Gsellman | J.Ravin | J.Familia |
| 4/21/2018 | @Atl | L | 3-4 | J.Biddle | J.Familia | |
| 4/24/2018 | @StL | W | 6-5 | R.Gsellman | M.Bowman | J.Familia |
| 4/25/2018 | @StL | L | 1-9 | M.Wacha | S.Matz | J.Brebbia |
| 4/26/2018 | @StL | L | 3-4 | J.Gant | P.Sewald | |
| 4/27/2018 | @SD | W | 5-1 | J. deGrom | C.Richard | |
| 4/28/2018 | @SD | L | 2-12 | J.Lucchesi | J.Vargas | |
| 4/29/2018 | @SD | W | 14-2 | Z.Wheeler | B.Mitchell | |
| 5/1/2018 | Atl | L | 2-3 | M.Soroka | N.Syndergaard | A.Vizcaino |
| 5/2/2018 | Atl | L | 0-7 | S.Newcomb | P.Sewald | |
| 5/3/2018 | Atl | L | 0-11 | J.Teheran | J.Vargas |