Two of baseball’s biggest surprises earlier this month are now streaking in the other direction as the Colorado Rockies visit the Oakland Athletics for a three-game interleague series that opens Tuesday night.
The Rockies carted a three-game losing streak across the San Francisco Bay Bridge while the A’s packed an eight-game skid for their flight home from Kansas City in a dramatic reversal of form for both clubs.
After winning three in a row in San Diego to continue a seven-game winning streak, Colorado dropped three straight in San Francisco, and was outscored 28-10 in those games.
Meanwhile, Oakland, winners of six in a row bridging April and May, was equally uncompetitive over the final eight outings of its 10-game trip to Seattle, Houston and Kansas City, losing those contests by a cumulative 49-17 count.
“It’s a game of streaks, and right now, we are in a not-so-fun streak,” noted A’s DH/outfielder Brent Rooker. “But with the group we have in here, we know we are going to come out of it, start playing better, and get back to winning baseball games.”
Such was the case when the clubs met last year in Colorado. The A’s had lost 13 of 16, including three in a row, before taking two straight from the Rockies to open their three-game set. They scored 19 runs in those games after having been held to six in their previous three outings.
Rooker enters the rematch on a nice run, having totaled four hits and four RBIs in the two weekend games in Kansas City. He homered in Sunday’s 8-4 loss.
He is one of just two current members of the A’s who have a lifetime hit against Colorado’s scheduled starter Tuesday, right-hander Cal Quantrill (3-3, 3.66 ERA). The Stanford product has never lost to the A’s, going 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA in three starts.
Rooker has gone 2-for-5 against the 29-year-old. Seth Brown is 1-for-6.
After going 0-for-April, Quantrill has rebounded with a perfect May, winning all three of his starts while allowing just two runs in 19 2/3 innings.
Two of those wins came as part of Colorado’s seven-game streak that ended in San Francisco. He threw six innings, allowing one run, in his last start, a 6-3 victory at San Diego last Tuesday.
“During the streak, we got big hits, we got two-out hits and we kept innings going,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Overall this season, hitting with runners in scoring position has been frustrating for us. When we went on our little streak, we got that done.”
Offensive reinforcements could be on the way for Colorado as first baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant and left fielder Nolan Jones, both dealing with back injuries, have looked healthy in minor league rehab stints. It’s possible both could be in the lineup for the series opener in Oakland.
If so, they’ll be up against A’s right-hander Aaron Brooks (0-1, 3.86), who is slated to make his second start of the season.
He got no offensive support in his season debut last Wednesday at Houston, coming up on the short end of a 3-0 defeat despite limiting the Astros to just three runs in seven innings.
The 34-year-old, who is in his second stint with the A’s, has never faced the Rockies in his career.
–Field Level Media
