Central Plains FFA Chapter

09/22 23:13 CDT Rockies become the first team since the Mets from 1962-65 with 4 straight 100-loss seasons Rockies become the first team since the Mets from 1962-65 with 4 straight 100-loss seasons By CRAIG MEYER Associated Press DENVER (AP) --- During a mound visit in the top of the first inning with the Colorado Rockies already trailing the Arizona Diamondbacks by two runs, a lone voice of encouragement emerged from an otherwise restless and murmuring crowd at Coors Field. "Let's go, Rockies!" a fan shouted Tuesday from section 130, just behind home plate in the lower bowl. It was one of the few cheers the Rockies would receive on a night they reached an ignominious historical mark. Behind three hits from former Rockies All-Star Nolan Arenado and seven innings of two-hit ball from Michael Soroka, the Diamondbacks beat the Rockies 7-2 to guarantee Colorado its fourth straight season with at least 100 losses in front of an announced crowd of 19,324 (along with an estimated 800 dogs on one of Rockies' Bark at the Park nights). The Rockies became just the fifth club in major league history to lose at least 100 games in four consecutive seasons and the first to do so since the New York Mets in their expansion season of 1962 through 1965. "You learn your hardest lessons in difficulty in life," said Warren Schaeffer, in his first season as Colorado's full-time manager. "This is not easy. Last year, we talked about it at the end of the year, how we want to feel this and never feel it again and remember it and hold on to it. The guys have done that. We've just lost 100 again. There are a ton of lessons to learn from it. If we don't learn these lessons from these games this year, we won't get better." It's the latest low for a franchise that has made the playoffs just twice since 2010 and hasn't won a playoff series since a memorable run to the World Series in 2007. Since the start of the 2023 season, the Rockies are a major league-worst 220-423, 23 games worse than the next-closest team (the Chicago White Sox). "I've been a part of those here when I was here," Arenado said. "With the young group that they have, sometimes, this is just a part of it. You're going to go through some tough times. But I think from their offense and some of their bullpen guys, they've got some real arms and they've got some really good hitters. As they continue to grow, I think that's going to change." For much of the season, it looked as if Colorado would avoid 100 losses. On Aug. 16, the Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants 13-7 for their fourth win in five games, improving to 50-74. Since then, however, Colorado has gone 7-26, including 2-13 in its past 15 games. Some of their struggles remain familiar. As it has for much of its history, an organization tasked with playing baseball a mile above sea level has struggled keeping opponents off the board. Entering Tuesday, the Rockies had a team ERA of 5.57, the highest mark in the majors. Colorado has finished with the highest team ERA every season since 2022 and if it does so again this year, it will become only the third club since 1913 to have the worst ERA in the majors in five consecutive seasons. The Rockies also compete in the same division as the Los Angeles Dodgers, the two-time reigning World Series champions, and the San Diego Padres, who are on the verge of their fifth postseason appearance in the past seven seasons. This season, Colorado went a combined 5-21 against the Dodgers and Padres. The Rockies did improve this year after losing a franchise-record 119 games last season. Rookie first baseman TJ Rumfield entered Tuesday fifth in the National League with a .300 batting average and led all qualified rookies in batting average and on-base percentage. Hunter Goodman, Colorado's 26-year-old catcher, was an All-Star for a second consecutive season and is one home run shy of becoming the first Rockies player with 40 homers in a season since 2019. "I think everything we're doing inside this clubhouse --- coaches, players, front office, all staff --- has been doing an incredible job to make sure that this team and this org is heading in the direction that is winning," said Rockies starter Kyle Freeland, a Denver native who is in his 10th season with the club. "You see it." ___ See AP's full MLB coverage here