MLB: Team Turnovers & Fallbacks; Colorado Rockies, "OFF Game"

For more analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com. SPORTS NOTEBOOK posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of each week. Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner). . . /// . . . MLB---IN just three days, two consistently aggressive teams summitted: the National League Central’s 65-43 Pittsburgh Pirates are now in first place today over second place club, the 63-44 St. Louis Cardinals, and the American League East’s 66-44 Boston Red Sox are again atop the 64-44 Tampa Bay Rays. Meanwhile, the NL East’s number one 64-45 Atlanta Braves extended a nine-game lead to 11 games ahead of second place team, the 52-56 Washington Nationals, and the NL West’s leading club, the 58-49 Los Angeles Dodgers, are now three up on second position team, the 55-53 Arizona Diamondbacks. In the AL West, the number one 63-45 Oakland Athletics edge over the 60-49 Texas Rangers dropped from five to three since Tuesday, while the AL Central’s numero uno, the 61-45 Detroit Tigers, held onto a slim lead ahead of the 60-48 Cleveland Indians. From its 66 wins, the Red Sox are leading both leagues, with the top NL Team, the Pirates, second in both leagues from its 65 wins (the two are the only clubs averaging at and above .600). . . OF the 14 franchises that are still below .500 (all third and fourth place teams), five have dropped back by nine or more decimals since Monday, the NL West’s Colorado Rockies, 477 to .464, the NL East’s Nationals, .491 to .481; the AL West’s Seattle Mariners, .476 to 463; the AL West’s Los Angeles Angels, .462 to .453; the AL Central’s Minnesota Twins, .441 to .429. So, if these accelerated changes in MLB standings at the top and middle keep on, only the NL East’s Braves and the AL West’s Athletics have considerable insurance against the impact, this from their respective 11 and five game leads. The big battles, then, between now and October, will be between the first and second place clubs of the other four divisions. Wildcard clubs, which will they be? Right now, that’s anyone guess in light of the several team fallbacks from .500. . . /// . . . COLORADO ROCKIES---Could it be that a team can never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity? Have fans just witnessed “The Rockies Baseball Horror Show-Part II,” "Part I" being the straight four that the currently 51-59 Colorado franchise lost in the 2007 World Series to the Boston Red Sox? The opportunities missed? There are two, of late. First, a 10 game homestand against clubs of less talent and poorer ratings, with the Rockies losing five of these when winning eight or more could have been numbers serving as a buffer against future games lost to higher-rated teams, the way that extra-earned wages and savings prevent a serious deficit. Too, winning a lion’s share of those 10 games might have kept the Rockies in the NL West’s second place slot instead of third, maybe three games behind first place team, the now 58-49 L.A. Dodgers, instead of today’s six behind. . . The second Rockies opportunity lost was that rare occurrence that a team can use to show what it’s really got, demonstrate that it is not an organization easy to beat, that it has what it takes to ascend. For the Rockies, this was a July 29-August 1 four-game series versus one of the year’s top-ranked teams, the NL East’s now 64-45 Atlanta Braves, second in the National league below the NL Central’s 65-43 Pittsburgh Pirates. The Braves now hold the most commanding division lead in either league, 11 games over second place team, the 52-56 Washington Nationals. Dominating the Rockies/Braves series meant more than recovery of pride after losing five of the 10 game homestand, it meant entering August 2013 fairly close to .500 and having the confidence that they could give battle to the Pirates during a three-game series starting today. The Rockies didn’t just blow this vs. Braves opportunity and set themselves back re. contention for a post-season slot; they entered the domain of great embarrassment usually occupied by the Houston Astros (36-71, last place both leagues) first losing to the Braves 9-8 in the 10th inning of Game One vs. the Braves, this after having a significant lead, then by losing three games straight to the Atlanta franchise, 11-3, 9-0, 11-2. Total number of runs that the Braves accrued in the four games, 40; Rockies, 13 (Ugh!). What to blame this on? There are myriad reasons, none unusual in teams that in the second half of a season begin a steep downward turn---injuries compounded by insufficient depth for suitable replacements; starting hurlers beginning to lose effectiveness by a fourth or fifth inning, relief pitchers unable to make up for the number of runs lost; and the best eyes, muscle and swing within a line-up lost or fading, as in LF Carlos Gonzalez out from injury, SS Troy Tulowitzki just a dozen hits out of nearly 60 at-bats, no Tulowitzki home runs in more than 15 outings at the Braves ball-field, RF Michael Cuddyer unable to be afield because of a personal issue, 1B Helton not having enough men on base for his timely hits to produce enough runs. . . THERE are lots of baseball heroes but there are very few baseball super-heroes, i.e., those that maintain high numbers April through end of September. When vast power-differences exist between a team’s usually three, possibly four heavy hitters and the other players of the batting order, it’s then that an entire season, especially the last half, is likely to be only as strong as its weaker parts. Yes, CF Dexter Fowler, 2B D.J. LaMahieu, C Wiln Rosario, 3B Nolan Arenado and others can get on base, but they need more power to move them across third to home. For a return to a respectful division finish + .500 status, either that Rockies slugger foursome (Gonzalez, Tulowitzki, Cuddyer and Helton)returns to maximum prowess, or the rest of the Rockies line-up upgrades performance levels significantly, meanwhile the pitching staff’s starter rotation and relievers expanding their ability to keep more fat from piling onto their ERA ratings. Can this happen? It’s not impossible, for there are more than 50 games left for the Rockies to play and regain prominence, 21 of them against teams that are within the Rockies own division (NL West), 12 vs. the two teams that are holding first and second place now in that division, the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks. Hence, opportunities for the Rockies to win a hefty package of games and return to second place within the NL West are here. By building on performance levels and exploiting a schedule of games favorably, it could never be said that the Rockies never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, and "Rockies Horror Show, Part Three," i.e., the Rockies finishing a season as a losing team third year in a row, will never be, either. END/ml.