The Rockies are officially above the .500 mark for the year! This game was lost by the Astros, with four fielding errors, as much as it won by the Rockies. In a game that featured a towering home run, and some excellent hitting to go around, there was much to appreciate about this retooled team.
Jeremy Guthrie was on the mound for Opening Day and all we’ve heard from the team, after picking him up, is how he is being brought in to eat up innings. And he for sure did not disappoint! He went seven innings, only allowing three runs on four hits. His ball look great at times, with good movement, while staying low in the zone. When he did make a mistake he was punished for it with back to back home runs from Lee and Bogusevic in the fourth. Lee’s towering shot left the stadium in a hurry. Guthrie quickly shook it off and got back to work, only allowing two more to reach until he left the game at the end of the seventh.
The Rockies bats didn’t fail them today, as every one of the starters made it to first at least once. The third inning was especially active, featuring the following:
- Scutaro Single
- Dex sacrifice bunt moving Scutaro to 3rd and Dex reaching 2nd on a throwing error
- Tulo sacrifice fly, scoring Scutaro
- Helton double, scoring Dex
- Cuddyer single, scoring Helton
- Cuddyer stealing second
- Hernandez single, Cuddyer to third
The key moments came late in the game as the entered the 8th, tied 3-3. Eric Young stole second and then, on a “wildish” pitch he started for third. Half way there he looked to be caught in a hot-box, but an errant throw to 2nd allowed him to round third and head home, scoring the go ahead run. Rex Brothers came into the game in the 8th and was absolutely filthy, striking out two. Then came the top of the 9th and Tulo wasted no time getting his first home run of the season, sending a ball up to the “3rd rail” where the Astro’s train lives in left field.
With the Rockies up 5 – 3 in the ninth, Rafael Betancourt came into his first save situation of the season. His stuff wasn’t anywhere near Brothers, but he did get the job done with some drama. After quickly (can that word be used to describe anything Betancourt does?) getting two outs, Rafael gave up a double to Travis Buck and then walked Jason Castro. With the winning run at the plate and fans hearts in stop-mode, Betancourt proceeded to strike out Matt Downs for the third out, putting a stamp on a successful opening day and giving the Rockies their first season win!
We had a nice chat session during the game. You can read a transcript of it below. There are also a ton of cool pictures from RWO’rs at the game: Bob in WV and RockyMountainHigh who ended up finding each other at the game. Those are below as well as pre-game info.
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============== PRE GAME WRITE-UP ==============
The last question needing to be answered coming into today was, “Who will be at the Hot Corner?” That question has finally been answered as it has been announced that Chris Nelson will start at third in the Rockies season opener in Houston.
Some interesting things to note about Opening Day, Astros and all things Rockies:
- Colorado is 10-9 all-time on Opening Day going 6-6 all-time on the road
- Last time the Rockies played Houston (9-25-11), they set a record for runs, hits (25, of which Pacheco had 4) and RBI’s in 19-3 victory, equaling largest margin of home defeat in Houston history (Thanks Cowboy for this stat)
- Helton has notched at least one hit in 12-straight Opening Day games. Streak is also the longest streak among active MLB players. (Thanks Alanna for this stat)
- Helton’s streak of 15-straight Opening Day starts for the same team is the longest active streak among MLB players. (Thanks Alanna for this stat)
- Opening day is often a family affair. Jamie Moyer will have his wife and seven of his eight kids in Houston today and tomorrow. Troy Tulowitzki flew out his father Ken for tonight’s game. (Thanks Troy for this Stat)
- Jeremy Guthrie is 2-1 with a 3.72 ERA (19 1/3 innings, 8 earned runs) in his three previous opening day starts, all for the Orioles. (Thanks Troy for this Stat)
- The team will be wearing new road uniforms. The pinstripes are gone. They will feature a gray top and pants. The pants have purple piping. In the lockers yesterday, the purple jerseys were also present. (Thanks Troy for this Stat)
- Astros will have Wandy Rodriguez on the mound, a player the Rockies claimed off of Waivers last August, but the deal was never finalized.
- Guthrie has gone 5+ innings in 46 consecutive starts…3rd best streak for active pitchers behind CC and Verlander! (Thanks Marc for this stat)
Some of the Players are fired up on twitter:
DEX: What time is it? GAMETIME! All the dogs in the house? *commence barking, growling noises, followed by some intense screaming GoRockies!!!
He also tweeted this picture from where “they” were eating breakfast with the following tweet, “We in Houston @thebreakfastklub this place is packed!!! Line around the corner, let y’all know how it is!” Now sure who “we” is, but they look like they will be eating in style…
Jeremy Guthrie, an avid tweeter as well as MASSIVE shoe collector, tweeted the following from Houston:
Shoutout to the city of Houston, never seen so much Sneaker Swagg in a mall in my life! Jordans for daaays. Haha
He also gave his prediction for the World Series yesterday:
Enjoyed watching a ton of baseball today, excited for tomorrow. Anyone else feeling
@Rockies vs@Orioles world series in 2012?!?!
And CarGo even posted something for the fans:
Good morning baseball fans, the day is finally here
#Rockies#openingday in Houston. I feel on my best condition physically and mentally to begin the road to#Rocktober. That is the most important thing, stay healthy.
So, here is what the line-up looks like today for OPENING DAY!!!
2B Scutaro
CF Fowler
LF Carlos Gonzalez
SS Tulowitzki
1B Todd Helton
RF Michael Cuddyer
C Ramon Hernandez
3B Chris Nelson
P Jeremy Guthrie
I don’t have confirmation on the exact order, but it is my best guess until I see it in print…
============= POST-GAME POLL =============
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Just received an ESPN alert that the Astros placed their SS Jed Lowrie on the DL with a bad ankle. A bad team just got worse. Go Rox!
yeah, just saw that as well…bummer for them, great for us…
Called the Scutaro Fowler filp flop in the order back when Scuts was acquired and for once I have to agree with J Tracy’s creativity – some would call it tinkering!
Guthrie beats my prediction of Purple/Orange World Series – yep I am feeling it too…
Seems that you’ve got quite an extensive list of sources for your information, Jared. Perhaps, a weekly Rox roundup TV show in your future??
You know steve, I have thought about doing a weekly “podcast/live stream” thing on the site to Talk Rox…i’d love to have a few of you guys link up with me and we could stream it and make it available offline…i think it would be a lot of fun…i was a DJ for several years and miss that “on-air” feeling, so this is the perfect way to capture it. I’ve pictured having it on Monday’s to cover the “week that… Read more »
Do I remember an earlier posting that indicated that you are currently in the Phillipines?? Even if that’s not the case…for you to pull off what you continue to do, it’s amazing.
As for me…I have a “face that was made for radio”. Add in a slight case of technophobia, and I’ll just agree to meet you on a sunny day at Coors. (Which side of the section are you sitting on?)”
Rox are 1-0…build on the momentum!
Yeah, i’m in the Philippines for work for another week – i love coming here this time of year because the offices are closed for the holidays and I can really get down and dirty with all of the computers and networking issues they might be having…it is very productive, but since i’m at the office all day and night (there is a room to sleep) i have time to work on the site as well… I’m thinking of setting… Read more »
Today is taking forever!! Ready for Rockies baseball!!!
My wife and I are in Houston for opening day & weekend. Can’t wait for the players to take the field. Go Rox!
Just saw a bit of Alanna Rizzo on MLB Network and she seems very comfortable in her new digs. And may I add she looks stunningly HOT!! She will be missed. I see alot of good things for her in the future. She definitely is an up-and-comer in the business. Good luck to her.
I am soooooo pumped for tonight!!! Go Rockies!!!! Today has dragged!
Looks like i did have the line-up correct…+1 for me 🙂
If you refresh this page periodically you will see pics from the game…i have several RWO’rs “on site” 🙂
Can you believe that as of a few hours ago there were still tickets for sale in Houston? Not sure if it eventually sold out, but they were talking about it on the radio this afternoon, that it hadn’t sold out!
Worst Record ever moving to AL no superstars I feel for our friends in Houston I understand staying at home.
ah, but they have a chance to watch the Rockies, so i’m still wondering why it didn’t sell out 🙂
Awesome. Will we have chat?
Yep, i’m setting it up in a few minutes!!!
chat is live! Refresh this page and jump in!
Cannot get on the chat on my Ipad…working on it.
Helton’s double is his 13th straight opening-day hit. Longest active streak in baseball. Love that!
Nice game by the Rox. Guthrie gives us 7, Brothers is filthy, Tulo hits a bomb darn near out of the freakin’ stadium, and Tracy’s dream is realized – 3 catchers!
Good game — man, I missed baseball.
Love the Brothers-Betancourt thing, even though Raffy had a little trouble tonight. That looks like the closest thing we’ve had to a 1-2 bullpen combo to close out games since, well, ever …
Yep … Brothers was looking good. VERY good. Overall not a bad game. It was great to see Guthrie go 7. I sure hope that is contagious.
Just back to my laptop after the game. General observation was that defense wins games, which was obvious tonight. Scoots was spot on with solid contact all night and plenty of long AB’s. Good to see that they exploited the Houston errors. Dex and Nelson disappointed. Guthrie pitched well, excluding a couple of pitchers to consecutive batters in the fourth. Nice stadium, not Coors, but nice. I’d like to add more but since I got up at 1:30am Colorado time,… Read more »
Bob, you rock! Thanks for sending me the pics from the game – finally got them updated for the site…get some sleep!
Can’t believe it! A Rockies game and nothing to bitch about,not even JT.Use of EYjr.was perfect even if both steals were a bit lucky.Loved the sac fly and opposite field hitting.Pitching solid and we’re in first place!The long bleak wait is finally over.GO ROX!
I approve of this message! (except for the part about being in first…the Dodgers are 2 – 0, so we are tied for second with the Snakes…but not after Moyer makes history tomorrow!)
No kidding. The Dodgers look tough. I know it’s early and a lot can happen but wow. I will admit that SD did everything in their power to help them but still.
I picked the Dodgers to finish 2nd in the West … hmmm
Hi everybody! Well, This game was so important in Venezuela that was picked up by National TV to be broadcasted. And well, the reason were Scutaro, CarGo, RHernandez, Raffy Betancourt for the Rockies and Altuve, Marwin Gonzalez (being his debut in MLB) for the Astros. Not as a Rockie but as a baseball fan I’ll give you a tip about Marwin Gonzalez. He joins a VIP list of venezuelans who played in the SS for their first time in their… Read more »
Cesar, I gotta say this is one of the best comments I’ve read on here – i love your insight that you bring to RWO and I know I’m not alone in hoping you will continue to give us excellent statements like, “the Rockies were helped by 4 “horrors” of Houston” and “Leader bat talking and teaching respect to Carlos Lee”…love it! I agree with everything you said and love that the game was on Venezuelan National TV – would… Read more »
Well, I still don’t believe the Rockies are a popular team in Venezuela. There’s a lot of Yankees, Red Sox and White Sox caps and t-shirts in here. But the local players are the ones that make a team popular. It was Johan Santana who made some venezuelans to use Mets Jerseys. Now, as I said, as CarGo is from my hometown, Maracaibo, and here Colorado has raised up some interest. In fact, I have seen Rockies Jerseys and Caps,… Read more »
Dude where did you come from? Excellent post!
I’m not sure what you mean by “It wasn’t pretty” in your headline, jaredean. I think it was beautiful. Good pitching with only a couple of mistakes, some timely hitting, good D, taking advantage of Houston’s errors, Helton’s streak. The 9th was a nail biter, but that seems to be in the Rockies’ character – turning every win into a dramatic escape. Go Rockies. DBacks beat the Giants. I wish there was some way they could play each other and… Read more »
Yeah, when I typed that I wasn’t thinking of us that wasn’t pretty but Houston that wasn’t pretty and we capitalized on it…after reading your comment I viewed it from the other perspective (about us not playing well) and that isn’t what I meant, so I changed it…I meant to say that the game wasn’t a defensive battle full of amazing plays, but one filled with errors and miscues – but they were, for the most part, on Houston’s side…… Read more »
If we keep turning their E’s into Rockie R’s, good things will happen.
you for sure earned a “thumb up” on that comment…not sure i like this specific rating system yet…i would rather it show individual totals for up and down instead of adding them together…
There is also an option for a star rating system…i’ll be incorporating that into game’s soon…very fun!
Jaredean – is there a way to start a “NL West” thread and pin it to the top for ongoing season-long comments about the division? If so, it will be cool! In my opinion, the West is destined to be the ultimate black and blue division this year (although the NL East also tends to be trending in this direction). I’m not as high on the Giants as many because I’m not convinced Posey will come all the way back… Read more »
that is a great idea SD, i’ll put something together…i hesitate to make it just a single long NL WEST post because it would become VERY unwieldy with as many comments as it will get (although i relish the thought of one of the posts having over 1,000 comments!) i replaced the “hot stove” with “game day” on the front and am planning on taking away “around the league” and changing it to “Players” which will highlight single Rockies players,… Read more »
Excellent. The NL West just seems destined to be a bloody war this year. I just don’t see anyone pulling away. I’ll go so far as to say I don’t see anyone getting to 90 wins. So if that’s the case, the teams are going stay in the race for a long time simply by default.
Mike, you hit it. Simply a workmanlike, professionally executed victory. That’ll get it done. Next?
Hey all, thanks for the pictures! Always great seeing other junkies-er-fans of RWO and Rockies baseball!
I think what i like most was Guthrie going a full 7, then Brothers, then Bene to finish-just like clockwork!
Let’s go for #2 today!
A win is a win, but we’re going to need to do better thatn winning a kind of ugly game against a sub-par team. Guthrie appears to be the kind of unflappable pro who will do well at Coors. Glad to have this forum as an alternative to the trolls and kool-aid drinkers who inhabit the Rox mlb.com forums. Nice to hang out with real fans who think and are articulate.
Thanks Wyorox, we love it here…My one concern with Guthrie and Coors is he has never pitched there, so he doesn’t know what his pitches will do at elevation – lets hope they don’t get “elevated” into the stands…you are right, he does seem to be a bit more unflappable than most – giving up back 2 back jacks would cause someone like Morales, Rogers, Chacin to go into “survival mode” which basically means walking or hitting batters until pulled… Read more »
Did anyone else notice that in the 8th inn when EYjr reached 2nd with no outs Tracy wasn’t having Nelson bunting him to 3rd? I was going to mention it during the chat, but things got immediately hectic with the bad throw and EY scoring. I sure hope we don’t go through this again this year with JT refusing to use the sac bunt in obvious bunting situations.
Yes, I noticed it too!
Guthrie going 7 is huge. Probably, his giving up 3 earned runs per 7 innings is about what we can expect from him, which will be just fine if he can continue to give us 7 innings per outing and the team can hit this year. Given all of the Astros errors, I would have liked to have seen the Rockies score more runs, but I’m happy to put this game in the win column and move on to game… Read more »
In glancing at minor league boxscores, I noticed that Kyle Parker was taken out of the Modesto Nuts game in the second inning. The Modesto newspaper said that he was hit in the right hand by a pitch. Hopefully, he didn’t suffer an injury, and he”ll be OK.
yeah, sounded worse than Cuddy’s hand hit…you never want to read, “His hand was swollen and will be evaluated today.” If the whole hand swells that isn’t a good sign…
1. Welcome back, Cesar. Nice to hear from Venezuela again!
2. As we were watching the game, and specifically watching Tulo make a typically strong throw, my wife asked, “What’s the speed of his “fastball?” I’m sure he’s been on the gun numerous times…does anybody know how fast he throws?
Robba, i asked that question several times last year and nobody seemed to know…i even “texted my question to the booth” on several occasions last season because I was trying to prove to my buddy that he was in the 90’s…i think he is mid/upper 90’s when he really airs it out…that’s what it looks like to me…
Jaredean, when do you sleep? Isn’t it late Sat night in the PI?
sleep? sounds familiar…maybe if you hum a few bars…
Ok. I created a Gravatar so I can upload a picture.
Just testing!
ah, very cool! I like having pics to go with people – even those that use cartoon characters or shots of food 🙂