The road has been rocky. Or to be more precise, Rockie.

With their 4-0 loss in Game 2 of Saturday’s seven-inning doubleheader against the Pirates at PNC Park, the Rockies fell to 3-22 away from Coors Field in 2021. They’ve been shut out 10 times in 53 games this season, all on the road. For a team that has historically struggled at the plate when coming down from the altitude of Denver, this year’s edition is struggling historically.

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On Saturday, the Rockies became the first team in MLB history to score three runs or fewer on six hits or fewer in 10 consecutive road games -- they had four hits in Game 1 and two in Game 2.

Meanwhile, Rockies starter Austin Gomber surrendered a home run to Adam Frazier on his first pitch of Game 2 and another solo shot to Ka’ai Tom in the fourth inning. With runners on first and second in the third inning, Rockies catcher Elias Díaz threw to third when Pittsburgh attempted a double steal. But the pitch was called ball four to load the bases and Díaz’s throw went into left field, enabling Frazier to score.

Pittsburgh scored a fourth run thanks to a Jacob Stallings triple followed by a bloop RBI single to right field by Will Craig against Robert Stephenson in the sixth.

Gomber fared better than his rotation mate, Jon Gray, who started Game 1, a 7-0 loss. Gray discussed the adjustment Rockies pitchers have to make when going from the altitude of Coors Field to sea level, where their pitches behave differently. After 14 scoreless innings Saturday, the very apparent “Coors hangover” effect on hitters was once again under the magnifying glass. 

From the club’s inaugural campaign in 1993 through 2020, the Rockies slashed .242/.307/.382 in road games. If a franchise that has featured Larry Walker, Todd Helton, Matt Holliday, Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos González, Nolan Arenado and other sluggers over the years has always had a hard time scoring away from Denver, how much worse is it for the current light-hitting lineup?

“We’re just not doing a good enough job right now as a group,” said Charlie Blackmon, who went 1-for-5 with a single in Game 1 and 0-for-2 with a walk in Game 2. “If you look top to bottom, we’re kind of in a lull with a lot of guys all at the wrong time, all at once here.”

The Rockies are not expected to contend for the postseason this year, and with Arenado in St. Louis, Colorado’s lineup has a number of young, unproven hitters. But when they have to grapple with seeing a breaking ball with several more inches of movement than when they played at home the day before, it makes a difficult task -- consistently hitting Major League pitching -- close to impossible. 

Blackmon has actually been more unlucky at the plate than anything -- he entered play Saturday hitting .237, but his Statcast expected batting average was 63 points higher. He said he isn’t critiquing his teammates’ plate appearances, rather opting for a lead-by-example approach.

“It’s good to figure out what you’re doing wrong and evaluate how we’re going to get better,” Blackmon said. “But I think my presence is better served keeping the right even-keel mindset going forward. I think it’s important for me to keep things in perspective. We’ve got a lot of baseball left to play.”

The Rockies have always faced unique challenges playing in the Mile High air of Denver. But as they set records no team wants to set, the wider baseball world is getting more of a glimpse into just how tough it is for this team to win on the road for the same reason. 

When the Rockies depart Denver for a road trip, it seems the only breaks they’re seeing are the ones on the baseball while swinging through a pitch. But somehow, this club has to press on.

“With our group of players, with the exception of a couple of guys, we’ve gotta keep teaching and keep coaching,” manager Bud Black said. “We’re trying to coach all these young guys up and encourage them to keep fighting and keep battling and keep learning. … In baseball, you better be able to turn the page quick.”

Rockies hitters will hope this is their season’s nadir. After all, where else do you go from here?

“We’ve got to go up, right?” Blackmon said.

They’ll need to in order to avoid another dubious distinction: The Rockies are on pace to go 10-71 on the road this season, which would set a new single-season record for road losses. The current mark is 65, belonging to the 1935 Boston Braves.