DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 07: A general view of Coors Field before the start of Game Three of the National League Division Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Colorado Rockies on October 7, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

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There is an old adage in baseball that says you can’t win the pennant in April but you can certainly lose one. This definitely rings true for the Colorado Rockies as they face a difficult schedule right out of the gate.

The Colorado Rockies season starts off on Thursday with a swing through the Sunshine State. A four-game series against the Miami Marlins is followed by a three-game set at the Tampa Bay Rays.

Even though the Marlins are one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball, the Rockies historically have never fared well against them in Florida. They are 36-66 all time in Miami, including 7-17 since 2012 when the Marlins moved into Marlins Park.

The Rockies then head to Tampa where they haven’t played a game since 2004 to face a Rays team that missed the playoffs last season despite winning 90 games.

Colorado then gets its lone day off in the first 20 days of season before the 2018 division champions Dodgers and Braves come to Coors Field.

Then a West Coast trip to San Francisco and San Diego finishes a 12-games-in-12-days grind before heading back home to face a Bryce Harper-led Phillies series followed by a Bryce Harper-less Nationals series.

The brutal five-week stretch finally concludes with three games at another division champion Milwaukee and four more at Atlanta.

In total, the Rockies will play their first 33 games in 36 days, 16 of which against teams who won 90+ games in 2018 and 20 games on the road.

On Saturday night’s AT&T SportsNet broadcast, Drew Goodman described the first month of the season like this:

“That’s like when NFL schedule comes out, your first seven games, six are against playoff teams from a year ago. The Rockies will have a rigorous April.”

The long, tiresome wait for regular season baseball is finally over but the Rockies better not start out sleepwalking. Otherwise they could find themselves playing catchup in the standings after a very difficult first month of the season.