Much like breakfast, Blackmon's triple a treat for Rox

CHICAGO -- Charlie Blackmon’s Saturday began with black coffee and a glazed donut. “Classic. I’m not very exotic when it comes to my breakfast foods,” he quipped.

It was brought to him by Rockies rookies on their annual breakfast excursion -- game uniform, all but spikes -- during trips to Wrigley Field. The trip was funded by Blackmon. At the register in the crowded shop, the barista smiled at shortstop Alan Trejo, who delivered the money, and gave a discount.

It was a senior discount, according to the receipt.

Before you assume, there was no message. It had nothing to do with Blackmon being 36. Just, as Trejo put it, a barista being nice.

And Blackmon, struggling of late, was quite spry in driving in the go-ahead run with a ninth-inning triple in the Rockies’ 3-1 victory over the Cubs.

Through July, Blackmon was batting .271 with a .791 OPS, solid numbers even if they weren’t up to his past All-Star standard. His 16 home runs were three more than he had all of last season. But since Aug. 1, he has hit .219 with a .521 OPS and no homers. The triple was just his fourth extra-base hit in that span.

Blackmon believes his recent downturn has had more than its share of poor luck, like a first-inning foul that “looked like it was going to be 10 rows back in the stands, and the wind blows it back.” He won’t blame a hamstring issue that forced him from one game in August and cost him the next, since he has kept playing regularly.

The game-winning at-bat finished happily, but also highlighted Blackmon’s main concern. The winning triple came on a 2-2 cutter from Adbert Alzolay, but Blackmon lamented missing a poorly located 2-0 fastball.

“I’m running into some good pitches here and there, and I’m trying to limit my mistakes,” Blackmon said. “And I haven’t been capitalizing on pitchers’ mistakes lately.

“I would like to be really competitive this last month and get some good results.”

Saturday was similar to much of the season for the Rockies, whose struggles on the road -- where they are 23-48 -- are a big reason why they are 63-82, last in the National League West. They scratched out one run on just three hits in seven innings against Cubs rookie Hayden Wesneski in yet another struggling performance against a pitcher they had never seen. Yonathan Daza, who doubled in the first inning, stands alone on the Rockies’ “Who’s hot?” list, at 7-for-16 on the road trip.

“We got some good pitches to hit and didn’t hit them. We fouled them off or took them,” manager Bud Black said.

Yet the Rockies have split the first four games of the road trip, going 1-1 against both the White Sox and the Cubs, with Sunday’s final game pending. Daza and Trejo, both receiving regular playing time as they try to forge future roles, made the offensive difference in Wednesday’s victory over the White Sox. But it helps to have a veteran still deliver when it counts.

“One of the great things I like about this team is the camaraderie and the unselfishness of guys pulling for each other,” Black said. “The group pulls harder for Charlie because of what he means to the guys and the example that he sets every day about how to be a pro at this job. So the guys were really fired up.”

Blackmon is pulling for players receiving their chance. He cited righty reliever Justin Lawrence as an example. Instead of bouncing between the Rockies and Triple-A, Lawrence is, in Blackmon’s view, “more confident, and you see the results.”

The end of this struggling Rockies season eventually bends toward 2023, for which Blackmon has a player option worth $10 million plus incentives based on plate appearances from 2018-22. Blackmon said he hasn’t “officially” told the team he’ll exercise the option, but he clearly likes the club.

Blackmon has rotated between designated hitter and right field. Two potential power hitting rookies, corner infielder-DH Elehuris Montero and first baseman-right fielder Michael Toglia are trying to lay the groundwork for roster challenges next year. Veteran first baseman C.J. Cron also is signed and will need DH days.

Turning back to the clock, even if only as far back as the first four months of this year, is Blackmon’s best route to maintaining a role.

“I don't like to think that far ahead,” Blackmon said. “I like to look and see like, ‘Wow, this guy is continuing to get better.’ He’ll help us in the future. But I don't like to play the game of where I'm going to fit in.

“I’m trying to get a hit today. Tomorrow, I’m trying to get a hit.”