By Morris Phillips

Turn the page and move on. What else could the A’s do after the clunker of a series in Denver that saw them get swept and only score four runs in three games?

“Now we have a chance to go back home and gain some ground again,” said manager Bob Melvin. “We’re looking at an extended stay at home, we’ve been on the road quite a bit and now it’s time for us to play really well at home. We do that, then we forget about this series.”

The A’s came to Denver red hot, having won 27 of 34, off a four-game sweep of Texas in which they scored 41 runs. But from the initial pitches thrown Friday night by Colorado’s Kyle Freeland, the A’s got a persistent tutorial from the National League’s hottest team and their emerging, starting rotation.

From that first inning–which ended with Matt Chapman lining out with the bases loaded–to the finish of German Marquez’ outing in the eighth inning on Sunday, the A’s were shutdown by Rockies’ starters Freeland, Antonio Senzatela and Marquez like no other starting trio had stymied them all year.

But all that pitching wasn’t a fluke, the Rockies are clearly building something. With Marquez picking up the win Sunday, the Rockies’ starters finished 8-0 with a 1.71 ERA at Coors Field in July, the best month in franchise history for their starting staff, and in terms of ERA, a full run lower than the previous record of 2.80.

Did the Rockies move back the fences, benefit from especially heavy Rocky Mountain air, or destroy the humidifiers? None of the above, it was the quality of Colorado’s pitches, and the A’s found out first hand.

For A’s catcher Jonathan Lucroy, the team’s offensive struggles with the Rockies’ staff were no surprise. Lucroy was a trade deadline acquisition for the Rockies in 2017, and had first hand knowledge of the pitching talent the team was developing.

“I knew coming into here that this was going to be a tough series. I played here for a couple of months and I knew that these guys were going to bring it, they come after it everyday. They play well at home. We kept them close defensively–on the mound–but we just couldn’t score runs offensively. Their guys threw pretty well.”

“Everything was going our way in Texas and in this series guys were lining out,” Stephen Piscotty said.

On Friday and Saturday, the A’s managed to create some scoring opportunities, but couldn’t cash in any of those situations. The A’s went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position on Friday, then 1 for 9 on Saturday. But their struggles with Marquez on Sunday were far more intense.

In seven plus innings of work, Marquez allowed solo shots to Chapman and Khris Davis, leading off the fourth and seventh innings respectively. That accounted for all of Oakland’s run scoring. The other three singles and a walk allowed by Marquez led nowhere, creating the oddity of the A’s never having a baserunner at second or third base during the entire game.

A’s hitting with runners in scoring position on Sunday? 0 for 0.

GAME NOTES: A’s starter Frankie Montas was lifted Sunday after allowing eight hits, including backup catcher Tom Murphy’s two-run homer that gave the Rockies’ early lead. Montas wasn’t all bad: he struck out six, walked two, and threw first-pitch strikes to 15 of the 23 batters he faced.

Speculation continues to surface regarding Brett Anderson being lifted from the A’s starting rotation. Anderson, in his second tour of duty with the club, is 2-3 with a 5.55 ERA and he was the losing pitcher on Saturday, allowing eight hits and four runs. Daniel Mengden, who was the A’s best starter in May, has made several starts for Triple-A Nashville and could be promoted as he’s recovered from earlier issues he had with a sprained foot, which landed him on the disabled list in June.

The A’s have hit 98 home runs in 59 road contests after Davis and Chapman connected on Sunday. The A’s have won 35 road contests, the second best total in MLB (Boston, 37).