The Arizona Diamondbacks host the Colorado Rockies on Sunday in the season finale. The Rockies entered Saturday night’s action with a one-game lead over the Diamondbacks for fourth place in the National League West. Entering Saturday’s game, these were two of only four teams that were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Colorado and Arizona have split their first eight games that they have played against each other this season. The Diamondbacks swept the Rockies in a doubleheader on Friday by scores of 4-0 and 11-5. This preview was written before Saturday night’s game.
Rockies trying to stay out of the NL West basement
The Colorado Rockies, who were 20-20 on September 6, have fallen on tough times over the last three weeks. Since that time, they have won just five of 18 games entering the final two games of the regular season. They began the season winning 11 of their first 14 games before falling apart. Their goal now is to stay ahead of the Diamondbacks and hold on to fourth place, which they will do with a win either Saturday or Sunday. The Rockies were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Friday.
“It's not a great feeling," Rockies infielder Ryan McMahon said about being eliminated on espn.com. "You're always holding out hope you can sneak in there. But I'm proud of this team, we battled, didn't hold back anything, gave it everything we had."
Raimel Tapia leads the Rockies with a .309 batting average, while Charlie Blackmon has had a solid season, batting .308 with six homers and a team-leading 40 RBI. Trevor Story has hit a team-leading 11 home runs this season, while batting .292. Colorado is batting .257 with just 61 home runs this season. The Rockies are batting just .232 on the road with a .663 OPS (compared to .280 and .762 at home).
Kyle Freeland takes the mound for the Rockies on Sunday. He is 2-2 with a 3.69 ERA in 12 starts this season. Freeland has just a 2.70 ERA on the road. He has faced Arizona once this season, giving up two runs and seven hits in seven innings on August 11. Freeman has faced Arizona 13 times in his four-year career. He has gone 3-4 with a 5.27 ERA.
Diamondbacks looking to end season on a high note
The 2020 season has been mainly a disappointment for the Arizona Diamondbacks, but a four-game winning streak through Friday got them to 10 games under .500 for the first time in three weeks. The winning streak was their second-longest of the season. They were riding high after winning six straight from August 12-August 18. They proceeded to lose 18 of their next 20 games to plummet to last place in the division.
“It seems like one of those guys does something different every night,” outfielder Tim Locastro said after the Diamondbacks beat the Rockies, 11-5, to sweep a doubleheader on Friday on azcentral.com. “They keep one-upping each other. It’s fun to watch. Hopefully these last two games we get more of it.”
David Peralta tops the Diamondbacks in hitting with a .307 batting average, while Kole Calhoun has hit 15 home runs and has 37 RBI. Arizona has hit less than one home run per game this season, hitting 57 in 58 games through Friday. They are hitting just .239 with a .701 OPS. Arizona has a winning record at home this season, winning 15 of their 28 games at home.
Madison Bumgarner gets the start for Arizona on Sunday. Bumgarner has had a forgettable season in his first season for the Diamondbacks. He is 0-4 with a 7.36 ERA in eight starts. His career ERA is 3.21, and he has never ended a season with an ERA above 3.90. His last start was his best, however, as he pitched five scoreless innings, giving up just two hits and striking out seven. Bumgarner, who has spent his entire career in the NL West, has faced the Rockies 35 times in his career, going 16-8 with a 3.28 ERA.
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