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DENVER (AP) — For once Bill Melton Jersey , the Colorado Rockies head into the offseason searching for more pop at the plate to go with excellent pitching, not the other way around.The Rockies lacked patience at the plate in getting swept by Milwaukee in the best-of-five NL Division Series with a 6-0 loss Sunday, their second straight shutout.They were outscored 13-2 as they hit .146 with three extra-base hits and no homers . They didn’t score in their last 19 innings and set an NL Division Series low for runs,So much for a return to the thin air of Coors Field to spark a dormant offense.“I don’t know what it is,” third baseman Nolan Arenado said. “It’s just a bad stretch at the wrong time.”Rockies fans have a long winter to lament that and manager Bud Black’s decision to start German Marquez in Game 3 rather than hometown hero Kyle Freeland, who was 17-7 and pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings in the 2-1 wild-card win at Wrigley Field last Tuesday.“Everyone wants to be the guy that takes the ball or has a big at-bat or makes a big play in the field,” Freeland said, admitting he was “a little bummed. I mean, it would have been great to pitch in this atmosphere, in Denver, my hometown.”Carlos Gonzalez also lamented not seeing Freeland on the mound in this series.“I really like our chances with Kyle on the mound because he’s been our horse all year long,” Gonzalez said. “But we’re talking about a guy who has a brilliant future, and I’m sure he’s going to have plenty of opportunities to pitch in front of this home crowd in big games.”Until this week, Colorado was known for its hitting http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-paul-konerko-jersey , for teams like the Blake Street Bombers who outscored opponents in games that resembled church softball leagues more than the major leagues.Then came the humidor and while Coors Field was no longer the slugger’s Shangri-La, its cavernous dimensions still made it a hitter’s dream and a pitcher’s nightmare.Not so much anymore.After losing the NL West tiebreaker 5-2 to the Dodgers in Los Angeles and flying to Chicago for the win over the Cubs, the Rockies seemed flat as they lost 3-2 in 10 innings at Miller Park and then 4-0 — their first postseason shutout in franchise history.And when they got back to Coors, they were still impatient at the plate, expanding their strike zones.“We were trying to get things going. You saw a lot of guys chasing bad pitches, including myself,” Gonzalez said. “I think we were anxious. But at the same time, they have a great staff there. Their bullpen did a tremendous job.”Arenado, eligible for free agency after the 2019 season, issued a challenge to teammates and the organization in July, suggesting he wanted to play in meaningful autumn games.They did just that, but Arenado went 3 for 16 in the postseason, although he flashed the glove that could turn help him earn free-agent riches.Fellow All-Stars Charlie Blackmon (2 for 15) and Trevor Story (5 for 18) also failed to emulate their regular-season grooves at the plate, and Gonzalez went 2 for 12.“Our pitchers pitched great. They did exactly what we needed Early Wynn Jersey ,” Arenado said. “It’s on the offense. We just couldn’t get anything going.”By the ninth inning, what was left of the sellout crowd was booing the bad at-bats, and Arenado didn’t take offense.“It was a bad loss. It was bad at-bats,” Arenado said. “It comes with the territory. It’s October. You’ve got to do something and we weren’t able to — I wasn’t able to.“This game teaches you something every year, and I’ve obviously learned a lot about myself and I’ve got to get better. That’s basically what this game is telling me, what October’s telling me.”Colorado won nine of its last 10 regular season games to force a one-game playoff with the Dodgers. The Rockies’ 91-72 record and .562 winning percentage was second-best in franchise history. They reached the playoffs for the second straight season, a franchise first.That isn’t enough anymore.Now they need some hitting to go with that young pitching.Freeland thinks all that is needed offensively is a change of fortune.“You know this lineup with the bats is going to have success. I know it didn’t show too much against the Brewers with this series. But we all know what they’re capable of one through nine,” he said.“So, knowing we have both pitching and hitting, it makes the future very exciting.” BOSTON (AP) — Somehow, Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora looked at Mookie Betts’ MVP season and saw room for improvement.Not the .346 batting average that was the highest in the major leagues. Not the career-high 32 homers, either.But Betts drove in just 80 runs last year while spending almost all of his time as the leadoff hitter for the Red Sox. That seemed like a missed opportunity, so Cora is planning to bat Betts second this season and move Andrew Benintendi to leadoff.“If you play 162 games, you’re going to come up 162 at-bats with nobody on Avisail Garcia Jersey ,” Cora said.Betts tied for the major-league lead with 129 runs scored, but he had the fewest at-bats with runners on base in baseball (among batters with at least 600 plate appearances). He is expected to get more batting behind Benintendi, whose .366 on-base percentage was third on the team behind Betts (.438) and J.D. Martinez (.402).It’s one of the few changes Cora has planned for a team that won a franchise-record 108 games in his first season and its fourth World Series since 2004.Here are some other things to look for from the defending champions:ON REPEATAfter going 86 years without a championship, the Red Sox have won four this century. But they haven’t won back-to-back World Series since 1915-16.Cora isn’t pretending there’s any other goal.“One thing about repeating,” he said, dismissing popular theories of a championship “hangover” that prevents back-to-back winners. “I think it’s who you have in the clubhouse and what they want to do.”The last major league team to win two (or more) World Series in a row was the 1998-2000 New York Yankees. But Cora notes that since then, several other teams have come close enough to debunk the notion that there’s some sort of hex.The Phillies made it back to the Series after winning it all in 2008, the Giants won three times in five years and the Los Angeles Dodgers have won back-to-back NL pennants.“We do believe we’re going to do it,” Cora said. “We’ve got a good team.”CLOSING TIMEThe biggest offseason departure is closer Craig Kimbrel, who remained unsigned in this offseason’s curious free agent market after turning down Boston’s $17.9 million offer.Kimbrel saved 42 games and struck out 96 batters in 62 innings last year. He had six saves but also a 5.91 ERA during the postseason, and Cora went to starter Chris Sale to close out the Game 5 clincher of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.Reliable setup man Joe Kelly has signed with the Dodgers.In their place, the Red Sox are auditioning Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree, Ryan Brasier and Tyler Thornburg. (Another option http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-paul-konerko-jersey , knuckleballer Steven Wright, has been suspended for 80 games after testing positive for human growth hormone). None has impressed this spring.Cora has said he might use more than one pitcher in the role, depending on matchups.NEW FACESThe Red Sox have won three straight AL East titles, and they have done it with virtually the same roster.Last year, they signed J.D. Martinez during spring training, and then added Steve Pearce and Nathan Eovaldi midseason. Pearce, who was the World Series MVP, and Eovaldi, who pitched six innings of relief in the 18-inning Game 3, were both re-signed this offseason.ROOKIES TO WATCHTop prospect Michael Chavis hit four homers in 11 spring training games but already has been optioned to Triple-A. Bobby Dalbec, who also plays first and third base, could get the call if the team needs help at one of the infield corners.ON DECKThe Red Sox open the regular season at Seattle on March 28 and then complete their West Coast swing in Oakland and Arizona before returning to Boston to raise their championship flag at Fenway Park on April 9 against the Toronto Blue Jays.