The Rockies went 0-6 on a June 23-29 jaunt to Kansas City and Detroit. They went 2-5 at Milwaukee and New York on July 7-13. The damage from those trips has been modest, however. The Rockies were seven games behind before the first pitch was thrown in Kansas City and nine back when they limped out of Detroit.

They arrived in Milwaukee seven games behind and were 8 1/2 behind after getting swept in three games by the Mets. But at some point, if only for their state of mind, the Rockies seemingly would need to avoid another road swoon.

"The fact is our road record is terrible," Herges said. "I don't know if there's been one successful road trip, which is atrocious. That being said, we are in it, so this trip, we have to figure out how to win on the road, period.

"It's 10 games. I'm not saying it's do or die, but it's critical that we show up and that we don't repeat what we've been doing on the road."

Hard as it might be to believe, the Rockies' recent history has been good in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Florida. The bigger picture, though, is far less rosy in these places.

The Rockies won two of three from the Reds at Great American Ball Park last year. But the Rockies are 4-12 there, with losses in 10 of the past 12 games. The Rockies swept a three-game series at Pittsburgh last year. That left them 11-17 at PNC Park.

And the Rockies won two of three at Florida last year after sweeping a three-game series there in 2006. That two-season turnaround came after losing the season series at Florida in eight of the previous nine years.