Rockies’ pitchers relying on double plays, not strikeouts

Rockies pitchers ranked 27th in the majors in strikeouts entering Thursday’s play, averaging just 6.04 per game.

They got just two Ks during their 9-7 win over the Nationals on Thursday afternoon. What’s been saving the Rockies’ bacon in the early going are double plays. It’s their bread and butter. Colorado has turned 40 of them, including 36 groundball double plays, both the most in the majors.

Rockies pitchers induced two key double plays Thursday, one by reliever Jhouyls Chacin to diffuse the Nationals’ rally in the fifth and another by reliever Robert Stephenson to limit the damage in a two-run seventh.

“It’s a function of us having groundball pitchers, especially in the rotation,” manager Bud Black said. “We know that we have to keep the ball down in this park. Here, it’s a little dangerous to pitch up, unless you have a guy who consistently throws it in the right spot, where (opponents) will swing at it.

“So we stress keeping the ball down in the zone, and defensively we have always stressed, even prior to me, the importance of defense in this ballpark.”