The Padres and the Rockies turned back the clock and played a typical low scoring affair with the Rockies winning 2-1. The first six innings both teams forgot to bring their bats to the game. Jorge De la Rosa had a quality start throwing up zeroes along with two hits and two bases on balls on 92 pitches. The last two innings DLR started to get into deep counts more frequently setting the stage for seventh inning drama show.
The ROOT announcers did their best to get the rally started when they pointed out that Dale Thayer, the Padres flame thrower, had yet to give up a run this year. Chris Nelson worked out a walk to lead off the seventh inning. When Yorvit Torrealba came to the plate to lay down a bunt, all reserves in the Rockies dugout got their bats out getting warmed up. Particpants in a show of power were Todd Helton, Reid Brignac, Carlos Gonzalez, Wilin Rosario, and Jon Herrera. After Torrealba laid down a perfect bunt, Walt Weiss walked up and down the dugout to see who he wants up at the plate. He remembered that San Diego accepted Helton’s senior discount request by moving the fences in 12 feet. He selected Helton who only clobbered the ball that just cleared right fielder Chris Denorfia’s mitt, giving the Rockies a lead they did not relinquish.
The bullpen, other than a big hiccup by Rafael Betancourt, shut down the Padres’ unproductive lineup. Wilton Lopez and Matt Belisle sat down the Friars in order in the 7th and 8th inning. Betancourt issued a very rare back to back walks to the first two batters of the 9th. Jose Guzman had a sacrifice bunt to move two runners up into scoring positions. Jedd Gyorko followed with a sacrifice fly to Cuddyer, but Cuddyer kept the runner on second base right there. Nick Hundley fanned to end the game, giving the Rockies a 2-1 victory.
Colorado improved their record to 8-4, 5-4 on the road and 3-0 at home. They have a ten-game home stand starting tomorrow night versus the New York Mets, a four-game series. It appears that the Rockies will miss the Mets’ hottest starter, Matt Harvey. ROOT reported that Harvey was pushed back a day to pitch on Friday. The Diamondbacks and the Braves are up next after the Mets as part of a 20 game streak with no off days.
The Mets game today in Minneapolis was postponed early – so Harvey isn’t due up until Friday. I watched yesterday’s Mets/Twins game, and Harvey is the real deal. Big strong kid that throws hard. Simple, compact, repeatble delivery. I can see him and Zach Wheeler anchoring that rotation for years to come. They’re not an awful team – I’m convinced the NL East is the best division in baseball this year (AL and NL).
sdcarp, you’re right — the Mets have some good young pitching talent. (Note, Rockies management: Zach Wheeler came over for Carlos Beltran. You can be smart by trading veterans who won’t be playing for you when you get competitive again!). But they’re kind of the Rockies of the East, having started out against: San Diego Miami Philadelphia Minnesota 3 of the 4 worst teams in baseball, and one in serious decline. Guys like John Buck and Lucas Duda and Daniel… Read more »
Agree – they have lots of work to do. They drafted OFer (HS kid) from Cheyenne #1 last year (I believe his name is Nimmo). I’ve read they’ll be big players in the FA market this offseason.
Regarding the Rox/Padres – the Rox did a great thing. They came in after being swept, regrouped, and took advantage of a down team. No Chase Headley, essentially no Carlos Quentin, Grandal serving his suspension, etc. But you still have to be able to do it – and they did. Weather looks horrific for the entire Mets series. Management should be proactive, start tomorrow at Noon, and try to play 2 the old-fashioned way.
I take credit for reverse-jinxing DLR by saying that he hasn’t come close to his pre-injury form yet. 7 strikeouts today is very promising (obligatory mention of the quality of the opposition, of course). I didn’t see this one — how hard was he throwing today?
Fastballs were 91-92 and breaking balls in the high 70s or low 80s. Today he let go of being tentative with sliders and threw a lot of them. Still working on location a little bit. Some flashes of the old self, but still a ways to go to become consistent.
Thanks RMH. That’s some real progress .. we’ll have to see how DLR fares against non-Padres competition.
I thought Helton was done. Guess not. Just barely a homer, but a homer none the less. And we’ll take it.
Agreed, we’ll take it. If the fence had not been moved? Long fly out. Maybe, just maybe, this kicked Wilton Lopez into the right frame of mind. He was definitely psyched. I’m glad.
How often do you see the Rox win a game 2-1 with only 3 hits and the opposition with only 2 hits regardless of who the opponent is. Very solid series Rox, way to bounce back after being manhandled by SF. Hopefully they can dominate at home these next 10 games, would love to see them win 8, but I will take 7. I guess 6 too, but give me more. LOL Great to see Helton step up at the… Read more »
Ten game homestand with sucky weather,but good to very good opposition.D-Backs[first]Braves[all world],Mets[above .500].6-4 homestand would be very good.
OK, the Rox are 8-4 after 12. Isn’t that the same as them winning all four series 2-1? I know they won’t keep this .666 winning pct. up all season and win 108 games, but my point is that they’ve built themselves a little bit of equity. Now with this 10 game home stand (weather permitting) coming up, a 6-4 record seems reasonable. Anything above that is icing. So, build equity at home, hold serve on road. We’ll see how… Read more »
If Leo Durocher had had that mind set with the Say Hey Kid in ’51, they may not have ripped off that run at the Bums that year. It’s too easy to want to move players around like chess pieces. Rutledge has given many indications that he’ll snap out of this little funk & so as long as he continues to play good D he should come out of it. Remember last Friday when the Post’s Saunders was ready to… Read more »
Got to give Rutledge 2 more weeks imo. Give him plenty of playing time and see where he stands come May 1st. So far defense has been steady, but need to improve with the bat. If he continues to struggle come May 1st, maybe the solution to the Arenado/Nelson dilemna that we all are talking about is to send Rutledge to AAA and call up Arenado. Put Arenado at 3rd and move Nelson to 2B. Nelson has played there before… Read more »
I do not believe Nelson is the answer to anything he is just a place holder. I think baby Rutledge will be fine. Doesn’t look good for tonight’s game it has been snowing since 6:00 a.m.
I’m at work here in Denver about four linear miles from Coors. Not one snowflake yet as of noon.
Rutledge would be three only weak link in the lineup after we bring up Arenado. The league has adjusted to him and he has to learn to adjust back. Arenado will probably have the same pattern unless he plays like Mike Trout.
Weird. It is snowing hard at my house but only for the last hour or so. I’ve been on multiple conference calls and people from the north side are saying they already have a couple of inches of snow.
Has it started snowing in Denver RMH?
Glendale its been snowing pretty good for 2 hours. No stick on roads though.
According to the Yahoo MLB page, Rox game has been postponed. Just checked Rockies official website and nothing there yet though.
The pic of Coors covered in snow says it all. LOL a double header tomorrow. I guess they are hoping the forecast is wrong?