Colorado Rockies Red-Hot Offense

Only 35 games into the 2014 season, the Colorado Rockies have established themselves as the premier offense in Major League Baseball. The Rockies currently have a team batting average of .307. If they keep their average above .300, they would be the first team to do so since the Boston Red Sox hit .302 in 1950.

Colorado's season peaked Tuesday night as it pounded out 21 hits in its 12-1 victory over the Texas Rangers. That win came just a day after the Rockies had 13 hits in an 8-2 win over the Rangers. So far this season, the Rockies have at least 10 hits in 21 games. That's 60 percent of their games.

In Tuesday's game, all eight position starters collected at least one hit and one player went 5-for-5 at the plate. To give you an idea of how loaded their lineup is, here is a look at who did NOT have the five-hit performance.

• Troy Tulowitzki: The slugger went 3-for-4, raising his batting average to .421, by far the highest in the Majors. Of course, the last player to finish the season with a batting average over .400 was Ted Williams, who hit .406 in 1941 for the Boston Red Sox.
• Charlie Blackmon: A 2-for-6 day at the plate actually brought down Blackmon's average. In only his fourth season in the Majors, he is batting .358, which is third in the Majors and second in the NL.
• Justin Morneau: The 2006 AL MVP went 2-for-5, raising his batting average to .336, which is ninth in the Majors and fifth in the NL.
• Nolan Arenado: While he is batting "only" .314 (21st in the MLB/13th in the NL), his 1-for-3 performance extended his hitting streak to 26 games.
• Michael Cuddyer: After finishing last season with the second-highest batting average in the Majors and highest in the NL (.331), Cuddyer batted .317 in the first 16 games of the season before being placed on the disabled list with a hamstring injury. He did not play Tuesday.
• Jordan Pacheco: In 2012, Pacheco hit .309 (14th in the MLB/5th in the NL). Last season, he split time with the Rockies, where he hit .239, and their AAA team, where he hit .315. By going 2-for-4 Tuesday, Pacheco is batting .273 this season.

Instead, it was Carlos Gonzalez that went 5-for-5 Tuesday against the Rangers. In his best season, 2010, Gonzalez had the second-highest batting average in the Majors and led the NL (.336). That season, he also hit 34 home runs. Since then, he has hit .295, .303 and .302. However, his average has dropped off this year - the 5-for-5 performance brought him up to a .279 average.

Amazingly, it wasn't the best outing by a Rockies player this season. Blackmon went 6-for-6 against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 4.

A side note on Tuesday's game: Brandon Barnes went 2-for-2 as a pinch hitter. How does this happen? He pinch hit for pitcher Chris Martin in the sixth inning, hitting a one-out single to right field. Seven of Colorado's next eight batters reached base, bringing up Barnes again. This time, with two outs, he hit an infield single to extend the inning.

Barnes is the first pinch hitter to go 2-for-2 since the St. Louis Cardinals' Allen Craig did it against the Chicago Cubs in the seventh inning of a game on July 21, 2011. According to Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index, the feat has only happened 29 times since 1914.

Former Arkansas player Eric Hinske accomplished the feat for the Atlanta Braves on April 19, 2011. He went 2-for-2 with a two-run home run and RBI-double as a pinch hitter for pitcher Jonny Venters in the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers.