How the Colorado Rockies could diabolically end the NL West hopes for Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants

The Colorado Rockies are playing some of their best baseball of the 2021 season as the season draws to a close and that could end the NL West hopes for the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Francisco Giants.

After getting swept by the San Francisco Giants at home to end their last homestand, the Rockies have had one of the best road trips in their entire franchise history. They swept the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves in a rain-shortened two-game series before they headed to Philadelphia to face the Philadelphia Phillies, who are in the thick of the NL Wild Card hunt. The Rockies took two of three from the Phillies.

To finish their three-city road trip, the Rockies went to Washington, D.C. and they also took two of three from the Nationals.

Now, the Rockies will come home for their final homestand of the 2021 season and they will start the homestand by facing the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.

Entering play on Sunday, the Giants had a two-game lead on the Dodgers for the NL West title.

The Colorado Rockies could end the NL West hopes for the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Francisco Giants

The Colorado Rockies could end up ending the NL West hopes for one of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, if they play as well as they have on their current road trip.

That’s easier said than done since the Rockies have not played well against the Dodgers or Giants in 2021 or in recent years, in general. In 2021, the Rockies have a combined record of 9-23 against the two teams.

Antonio Senzatela, Germán Márquez, and Kyle Freeland will oppose Julio Urías, Walker Buehler, and Max Scherzer in the Dodgers series so it will be a tough task for the Rockies offense to produce enough runs to win against three of the best pitchers in the National League.

But the Rockies do have a fair amount of players who are hot right now. Brendan Rodgers has a nine-game hitting streak and in that streak, he is hitting .350 with three homers and seven RBI. Trevor Story has hit safely in 16 of his last 19 games. In that span, he is hitting .286 with seven homers and 14 RBI. Garrett Hampson is hitting .306 in his last 10 games and Ryan McMahon has a .433 on-base percentage in the month of September.

Whoever does not win the NL West will win the first NL Wild Card spot as both teams have clinched playoff spots and the Dodgers currently have a 16.5 game lead on St. Louis for the first Wild card spot.

As much as the Rockies don’t want to be “spoilers” since they’d like to be in the playoff hunt themselves, they could end the season on a big high note in their final homestand of 2021 if they ruin the chances of the Dodgers or Giants to win the NL West.