On Monday: Too Few Clutch Hits, and Too Little Relief
Don't be deceived by the score in the Rockies 5-4, 10-inning loss at St. Louis on Monday night.
It wasn't that close.
Nolan Arenado provided all four Rockies runs, delivering the fifth grand slam of his career in the fifth inning. It was his NL-leading 28th home run, three ahead of Bryce Harper of the Nationals and Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals, who are tied for second. And it gave him 79 RBI, one shy of Eugenio Suarez of the Reds for the NL lead.
The more telling number, though, is one -- as in one hit for the Rockies in nine at-bats with a runner in scoring position on Monday night at Busch Stadium. Now, it's not like that's a season-long problem for the Rockies. They do rank third in the NL in average with runners in scoring position. It was, however, the 11th time this year they had nine or more at-bats with a runner in scoring position and one or fewer hits.
They are 3-8 in those 11 games.
Opportunity Knocks
| Missed OPP | NL Teams | MISP | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ------------ | --------- | ---- | --- | ---- | ---- | ------------- | -- | ----------- | ------- | -- | ||
| AVG | ||||||||||||
| Date | Opp | AB | H | 2B | HR | Result | Braves | .278 | ||||
| 4/12/2018 | at Was | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | W, 5-1 | Pirates | .270 | ||||
| 5/9/2018 | LAA | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | L, 0-8 | Rockies | .267 | ||||
| 6/26/2018 | at SF | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | L, 2-3 | Reds | .261 | ||||
| 7/10/2018 | Ari | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | L, 305 | Marlins | .257 | ||||
| 4/28/2018 | at Mia | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | L, 1-4 | Nationals | .255 | ||||
| 6/7/2018 | at Cin | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | L, 5-7 | D-backs | .253 | ||||
| 4/5/2018 | at SD | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | W, 3-1 | Cubs | .252 | ||||
| 5/26/2018 | vs. Cin | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | L, 5-6 | Giants | .251 | ||||
| 6/8/2018 | vs. Ari | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | L, 4-9 | Padres | .249 | ||||
| Sunday | vs. Oak | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | W, 3-2 | Dodgers | .246 | ||||
| Monday | at StL | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | L, 4-5 (10) | Phillies | .246 | ||||
| Cardinals | .242 | |||||||||||
| Brewers | .233 | |||||||||||
| Mets | .229 |
The Rockies, however, still had a chance to win. They still had a 4-1 lead going into the seventh inning, and with Tyler Anderson in control there seemed like there was nothing to worry about. Anderson, however, who had not walked a batter in the first six innings, walked the first three batters in the seventh. They all wound up scoring, tying the game at 4-4.
Anderson has walked three or more batters in a game in only 11 big-league starts. He is 1-1 in those games, but the Rockies are 3-8.
Walks Do Haunt
| Anderson | Opponent | Score | W | L | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/15/2018 | @Was | W 6-5 | 0 | 0 | 4.2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| 4/9/2017 | LAD | L 10-6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 3/30/2018 | @Ari | L 9-8 | 0 | 0 | 2.1 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 7/10/2018 | Ari | L 5-3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 7/18/2016 | TB | W 7-4 | 1 | 0 | 6.1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8/8/2016 | Tex | L 4-3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 4/29/2017 | @Ari | W 7-6 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 5/26/2018 | Cin | L 6-5 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 6/1/2018 | LAD | L 11-8 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 7/24/2018 | Hou | L 8-2 | 0 | 0 | 7.1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 7/30/2018 | @StL | L 5-4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 3-8 | 1 | 1 | 61 | 48 | 41 | 38 | 13 | 39 | 45 |
Scott Oberg relieved Anderson, and with one out, Oberg walked home a run, and then, with two outs, Oberg got ahead in the count 1-2 against Matt Carpenter, but Carpenter sent the next pitch into right-center field for a game-tying hit. It's not a total surprise, though. The Rockies bullpen leads the NL in allowing inherited runners to score at 40.9 percent.
No Relief in Sight
| Team | IP | SvOP | SV% | Hld | IR | ISc | IRS% | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockies | 934.1 | 35-53 | 66 | 72 | 164 | 67 | 40.9 | 4.61 |
| Braves | 931.2 | 24-35 | 68.6 | 55 | 148 | 50 | 33.8 | 3.88 |
| Mets | 926 | 26-40 | 65 | 42 | 128 | 43 | 33.6 | 4.27 |
| Giants | 975.1 | 24-46 | 52.2 | 63 | 151 | 47 | 31.1 | 3.97 |
| Brewers | 974 | 29-46 | 63 | 58 | 143 | 44 | 30.8 | 3.63 |
| Cubs | 955.2 | 31-43 | 72.1 | 61 | 185 | 56 | 30.3 | 3.76 |
| Pirates | 951.2 | 26-39 | 66.7 | 53 | 123 | 37 | 30.1 | 4.2 |
| D-backs | 975.2 | 29-44 | 65.9 | 77 | 158 | 47 | 29.7 | 3.68 |
| Marlins | 976.2 | 22-34 | 64.7 | 56 | 116 | 34 | 29.3 | 4.78 |
| Dodgers | 972.1 | 36053 | 67.9 | 63 | 123 | 36 | 29.3 | 3.49 |
| Reds | 954 | 29-42 | 69 | 60 | 197 | 57 | 28.9 | 4.69 |
| Cardinals | 956 | 25-41 | 61 | 57 | 175 | 49 | 28 | 3.88 |
| Phillies | 953.2 | 30-42 | 71.4 | 76 | 168 | 45 | 26.8 | 3.85 |
| Nationals | 938.1 | 29-38 | 76.3 | 51 | 125 | 31 | 24.8 | 3.85 |
| Padres | 976 | 27-36 | 75 | 49 | 129 | 29 | 22.5 | 4.43 |
And among Rokccies regular relievers, Oberg has allowed the highest percentage of inherited runners to score -- 65.6 percent.
Working in Traffic
| Player | G | IP | SvOP | IR | ISc | IRS% | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Dunn | 25 | 17 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Wade Davis | 46 | 44 | 30-34 | 7 | 1 | 14.3 | 4.3 |
| Adam Ottavino | 48 | 51.1 | 4-6 | 18 | 3 | 16.7 | 1.4 |
| Harrison Musgrave | 20 | 28.1 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 28.6 | 4.76 |
| Chris Rusin | 35 | 39.2 | 0-1 | 24 | 9 | 37.5 | 6.81 |
| Seunghwan Oh | 2 | 2.1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (with Toronto) | 48 | 47 | 2-5 | 20 | 8 | 40 | 2.68 |
| Total | 50 | 49.1 | 2-5 | 22 | 8 | 40 | 2.55 |
| Antonio Senzatela | 14 | 41.1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 44.4 | 5.01 |
| Jake McGee | 42 | 35.1 | 1-3 | 15 | 7 | 46.7 | 6.11 |
| Jeff Hoffman | 6 | 8.2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 50 | 9.35 |
| Bryan Shaw | 46 | 40.2 | 0-4 | 20 | 10 | 50 | 7.08 |
| Scott Oberg | 30 | 31.1 | 0-4 | 32 | 21 | 65.6 | 2.87 |
| Brooks Pounders | 14 | 15.1 | 0-1 | 4 | 3 | 75 | 7.63 |
| Yency Almonte | 5 | 6.1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 80 | 1.42 |
Chad Bettis is scheduled to make his third rehab start for Triple-A Albuquerque on Thursday, and if all goes well, he will be activated. Bettis, however, isn't likely to be slotted back into the rotation in light of how well the five starters have been pitching. He could wind up in the bullpen, where he has pitched briefly in the past.
Bettis in the Bullpen
| Bettis | W | L | SvOP | G | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0-1 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| 2014 | 0 | 2 | 0-1 | 21 | 24.2 | 42 | 26 | 25 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 9.12 |
| Career | 1 | 2 | 0-2 | 29 | 31.2 | 51 | 33 | 32 | 5 | 12 | 20 | 9.09 |