DENVER — The Colorado Rockies have a short http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-khris-davis-jersey , simple agenda as they begin a four-game series Monday with the slumping Philadelphia Phillies.The Rockies have to keep winning and hope for helpthe Rockies to finish 4-5 on what began as a ruinous road trip. The Rockies are 1 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West and trail the St. Louis Cardinals by 1 ½ games in the chase for the second NL wild-card spot.Rockies left-hander Tyler Anderson (6-9, 4.76) will start against Zach Eflin (11-7, 4.09).Article continues below ...The Phillies were just swept by the Braves in four games at Atlanta, mathematically ending their chances of winning the NL East or reaching the postseason via the wild-card.The Phillies (78-77) were 63-48 on Aug. 5, which was the second-best record in the NL, just behind the Chicago Cubs (64-47). But since Aug. 5, the Phillies are 15-29, which is the worst record in the NL, leaving them just a half-game ahead of the Washington Nationals in the NL East.To be sure, the Phillies have improved greatly from last year when they finished 66-96. But getting swept at Atlanta has forced the Phillies to lower their sights and hope to finish with a winning record. That will require the Phillies to win four of their remaining seven scheduled games.“Everybody understands that there’s a lot of value in having a winning season,” first-year Phillies manager Gabe Kapler told reporters Sunday after the series sweep in which the Phillies scored 12 runs in four losses to the Braves. “I don’t think that’s something that you have to flag or highlight. It’s pretty baked into the DNA of these players who want to win.”Eflin is 2-0 0.79 in his past two starts, the last of which was Wednesday in a 4-0 win against the New York Mets when he allowed three hits and three walks in five innings with a season-high tying nine strikeouts. Eflin, who has allowed three or fewer runs in four of his past five starts, has been better at home (8-3, 3.33) than on the road (3-4 Dave Henderson Jersey , 5.07).The right-handed Eflin has been far more successful against right-handed hitters, holding them to a .236 average and .658 OPS in 290 plate appearance. Lefties are hitting .283 with a .838 OPS against Eflin in 290 plate appearances.Eflin is 1-1, 7.50 in two starts against the Rockies and 1-0, 3.00 in his one start at Coors Field in 2016.The Rockies (85-70) finished 44-37 on the road, setting a franchise record for road victories. They are a deceptive 41-33 at Coors Field. Since ending an eight-game home losing streak June 19, the Rockies are 30-13 (.698) and have the best home winning percentage in the NL.Anderson has made 13 starts, 11 of which the Rockies lost, since his last victory July 4. But correcting some delivery issues has enabled Anderson to end a long struggle. Before his past two outings, he was 0-5, 10.13 in seven starts — six of which the Rockies lost — yielding 11 homers in 29 1/3 innings in that stretch along with a .351 average and 1.096 OPS by opposing hitters.In each of his past two starts, Anderson has allowed two runs in six innings, giving the Rockies, who have little margin for error in their quest to reach October, reason to believe they can count on Anderson in this crucial game and giving Anderson confidence he can deliver another good start.“I keep telling myself that this is what I’ve wanted my whole life,” Anderson Dennis Eckersley Jersey , who is 2-1, 3.13 in four starts against the Phillies told MLB.com. “As it gets closer, you start smelling it and really want to go after it.” Another ugly loss for the Orioles, who fall two games under .500 for the first time this season."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Commentary & AnalysisOrioles ProspectsOrioles Game RecapsOrioles News and RumorsCamdencastOrioles Game RecapsStraily starting debut a bust as Orioles fall to Athletics, 10-3New,15commentsAnother ugly loss for the Orioles, who fall two games under .500 for the first time this season. EDTShareTweetShareShareStraily starting debut a bust as Orioles fall to Athletics, 10-3Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY SportsAnother day, another disastrous game for the Orioles. For the second straight game they gave up double digit runs to the Athletics, this time losing by a score of 10-3. Hey, none of us are surprised by these kinds of losses, or at least we shouldn’t be. But that doesn’t mean I like writing about another redheaded, bearded starting pitcher giving up multiple home runs in another loss by the Orioles.I’m speaking, of course, of new Oriole Dan Straily Santiago Casilla Jersey , who labored through 3.1 innings to start tonight’s game. It was actually his second appearance since joning the team, the first a miserable 1.1 innings last Sunday. Tonight’s outing for him was....better, I guess? He gave up the same number of runs (five) but pitched two more innings. The first inning for Straily was a harbinger of things to come. He didn’t allow any runs but he gave up two very hard hit balls to the outfield. Luckily for him a double play helped keep the inning in check. Things didn’t go so well in subsequent innings as he gave up runs in each of the second, third, and fourth innings before being pulled from the game. He gave up two home runs, the first of five for the A’s on the night. Straily is the one who will take the loss on his record, but he was hardly the only problem. The first 12 batters of the game were retired by A’s starter Frankie Montas, who looked early on like he would cruise to a complete game shutout with under 100 pitches thrown (aka The Maddux). But the Orioles’ hottest hitter, Trey Mancini, dashed those hopes with a leadoff home run. Two batters later Rio Ruiz hit his first home run as an Oriole, a two-run shot that came THIS close to landing on Eutaw Street. Hit that dinger again in July, Rio, and you’ll get a nice plaque out there. Those three runs cut the A’s lead to four runs at 7-3. Not particularly close, but close enough that I started to imagine a world where the Orioles could come back. Enter Josh Rogers, who was just called up from triple-A Norfolk to replace the injured Alex Cobb. Rogers had taken over Straily with one out in the fourth inning and got out of the inning Mark McGwire Jersey , but gave up a two-run homer to Khris Davis before the Orioles staged their modest rally. It didn’t really matter since the Orioles never scored another run, but he couldn’t hold the four-run deficit. In the seventh inning, Marcus Semien lashed a double to start the inning and then rode home on Matt Chapman’s fourth home run of the season. Before Rogers could even catch his breath, Davis launched his second home run of the game to make the score 10-3. As for the Orioles’ offense, things didn’t go so well after that fifth inning. They tried to start something in the seventh when a Ruiz walk and a Joey Rickard double put runners on second and third with no outs, but neither Jesus Sucre nor Hanser Alberto were able to bring them home. The best performance of the night came from an unexpected source: Mike Wright. Wright came out to start the eighth inning and struck out the first two batters he faced. He pitched the final two innings of the game and while he did allow one base runner in each, no one scored. Well done! As a footnote to the game, struggling hitter Chris Davis didn’t start tonight for the second game in a row. When last we saw Davis, he was breaking the record for most at bats without a hit. Tonight, he tied another dubious record. Between innings MASN showed video of Davis working with hitting coach Don Long before the game as Jim Hunter optimistically suggested that Davis could improve with this extra work. Davis came up to bat as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning with the Orioles down by a score of 10-3. I’d say that’s about a low pressure as you can get. Davis worked the count to 2-2 before sending a fly ball to deep center field. Ramon Laureano caught it just in front of the warning track, and with that Davis tied Tony Bernazard for for most plate appearances without a hit at 57. I don’t know what Davis has been working on, but he is at least striking out less than before. So, another tough but rather expected game for our rebuilding Orioles. Tomorrow at 12:35 these teams will meet again for the last of this four-game series. The Orioles will send Dylan Bundy to the mound looking for the series split.