Weiss likes Rox position at one-quarter mark

KANSAS CITY -- The Rockies nudged past the quarter pole at 23-18 after Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Royals and manager Walt Weiss gives his club high marks for what it accomplished in the opening one-fourth of the season.

"Looking at the first quarter of the season, I feel like we're in pretty good position," Weiss said. "We've had three guys out of our starting rotation at times and we've still got two out now [Brett Anderson and Tyler Chatwood both on the DL]. We lost a batting champion [outfielder Michael Cuddyer] and [catcher Wilin] Rosario has been out a few weeks. Our guys have done a nice job of dealing with the injuries."

The Rockies had won nine of 11 before dropping four of five entering Wednesday's road trip finale. During that downturn, Colorado ran into some pitching aces and the offense bogged down. As the second quarter of the season unfolds, Weiss hopes to see his club win some low-scoring games when the Rockies run into stout pitching opponents.

That puts the burden on Colorado's pitching and defense to bail out the offense at times.

"We've run into some front-line pitchers who have been at the top of their game," Weiss said. "But sometimes, you've got to win 2-1 or 3-2. You've got to go through those type of guys to win a division."