The Rockies have lost 8 in a row, but everyone chasing them is just as awful

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The Rockies have lost eight games in a row, and to compound the emotional problems that arise from that kind of stretch, those eight losses came on eight consecutive days. There are a few silver linings to this horrific stretch for Rockies fans, though, and we’re not talking about how well Colorado played in defeat or anything like that. No, it’s just that, while the Rockies were losing eight games in a row, nearly everyone chasing them for a playoff spot was nearly as bad.

Consider this: After the last Rockies victory, on June 20, the Cubs were 36-34, and standing atop the heap of NL teams waiting for a wild card spot. Chicago was 7.5 games back of the Diamondbacks, who held the second of the two NL wild cards. Now, after eight Rockies losses, the Cubs are 6.5 games back of the Rockies for that same second wild card.

The Rockies slipped in the standings, sure, but they still possess a postseason spot, and the Cubs only managed to gain one game in the process, one that will likely end up as their best chance to gain ground.

The gap has closed a little bit for the non-Cubs teams — the Pirates were previously the next-closest after Chicago at 11 games back, but now it’s the Braves at eight games back. Do you think the Braves are going to end up winning a wild card spot in a rebuilding year when they’re already eight back? Probably not! Cheer up, Rockies fans: your team is still in a great place.

It also helps that Colorado won six games in a row before dropping eight, so over their last 14, they’ve been pretty close to .500, and are 14-11 overall in the month of June. It’s disappointing that the Rockies weren’t able to build on their 14-3 start to June, sure, but they’re still in a great place as the month nears its close, and taking their next series — a three-game set against a D-Backs that recently leapfrogged them — will turn that narrative right around again.