In the second game of the Rockies vs Mets doubleheader, the Rockies entered the field having only 4 errors as a team, which was tied for the fourth best record in the majors. When they left the game they were sitting at seven. If the game ended with a loss, that would have been the main focus for fans and media alike.
And yet it was the errors committed by the Mets that led to the Rockies first WALK OFF of 2013.
The Mets also committed three errors, bringing their total to 11, which is tied for third worst in the majors. The play was so bad, by both teams, that of the combined 17 runs on 24 hits, only 12 runs were considered earned, thanks to the six combined errors on the night.
It was one specific error that gave the Rockies hope, and another that gave them the game.
With the Mets up 8-6 in the bottom of the eighth, Michael Cuddyer hit a routine grounder to Ruben Tejada. Rutledge and Gonzalez were both off with the hit since there were two outs, but it looked like it wouldn’t matter. That is until the ball completely airmailed itself past Justin Turner, giving Cuddyer the bag and allowing two unearned to cross home.
That brought the score to 8-8, which is how it would stay until the bottom of the 10th.
The turning point, and most important error of the night, was made by none other than David Wright. Wright had gone 70 games without an error. Seventy games was the longest streak in the majors by an active player, and Wright looked to continue his good fortune well past Tuesday. But, with CarGo at first and, ironically, Cuddyer swinging the bat, Wright couldn’t stop a ball in his area code and Cuddyer ended up on base without earning it for the second time in as many at bats. Cargo smartly went first to third on the error, and almost tried to steal home after the ball was bobbled. He smartly went back to third.
And then it was Pacheco time…
Jordan Pacheco stepped up to the plate, laced the second pitch thrown his way into right, and the party started just like that…
ROX WALK OFF BABY!
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E | |
| NYM | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 3 |
| COL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 3 |
[poll id=”59″]
If i’d told you coming into the season that the Rockies would have the third best record in the majors after two weeks, you’d think i was crazy! Well, they got it now: BRAVES: 12 – 1 A’S: 11-4 ROCKIES: 10-4 You know, i have been know to keep my purple colored glasses next to my laptop, so each of my comments can be swayed that way – but this next statement is VERY purple colored, but it feels right… Read more »
Damnit,these guys may make me pay extra and get Root on my satellite despite my plan to wait and give them time to flounder.These games are just too amazing to not start seeing every thing thru a purple haze.Do we get double tacos? And for all the management haters,at least Monfort and DOD are good at shoveling snow!
Go Gary! Got ROOT!
Jare, you should be happy they are 10-4 with the 3rd best record. That is a great way to start the season. 2nd best start in club history. Based on previous years they are headed to the playoffs??? I agree some pitching has been not so good but some has been good. Overall? Good enough to let the offense win the games. My measuring stick is the end of the Atlanta series but getting to the end of the month… Read more »
Nice win. Concern: our pitchers need to learn to bunt. Escalona got one down and made it look easy, but the others?… Edgmer needs to lead bunting practice.
Agreed-hurt us in the first series against Mil….If i recall it would have certainly aided for us to win that game…
Very impressed with the game 2 win. Even though people have brought up some Weiss managing mistakes already, I thought last night in game 2 was his worst. Leaving Francis in as long as he did really hurt the Rox, I thought he should have pulled him at 5-2. Always easy to second guess though after the fact. Rox seem to enjoy playing the game so far this year, which I think is making the difference. Right now offensively this… Read more »
I for one am not going to be concerned about the three errors last night or the seven total for the year. Both teams had three errors yesterday as they played in miserable conditions. I do question WW’s decision in that second game to PH Tulo. Why go righty-righty? Why use up a pinch hitter for a guy that was 4-5 this year with runners in scoring position? Tulo is a Southern California guy who is not used to that… Read more »
Completely agree… Plus, don’t forget the fact that he got hit in the elbow the game before, so he was less than 100 percent. We’ve seen him many times fail in high-pressure situations, but I think yesterday was different. He wasn’t hundred percent, cold-weather… Everything you said more.
I thought I was the only one complaining about bringing Tulo in….he does not hit when it counts. Helton does.
Shout out to RMH and the others who were at the game. As I watched the end of game 2 snuggled in my bed I thought-god love the folks who are still there. When we won my first thought was “this is the type of game we usually lose”. Someone posted in the last couple of days that we need to learn how to win (I just remember reading it, dont’ remember when or who). In any case, I agreed… Read more »
I don’t see the Rockies ever being buyers. If they weren’t willing to be buyers following the 2007 WS appearance when would they ever?
I however would love if by the all-star break we were in position to win the division and we made an epic move like trading Arenado or Pomeranz for a medium term rental, again like David Price who will be expensive but is under control for a few more years.
You know that I’m adamant against using for pitchers. Trade for David Price and he has a 95 prevent chance of going on long term DL.
So, where do you draw the line for a “pitcher is too good to play for the Rockies”, because that’s essentially what you’re saying.
Not drawing a line. Rockies research on SP history proved that over 20 years. Look at what happened to Jason Hirsh, Ubaldo, Jason Jennings, Alex White, etc etc. Best strategy is develop own pitchers and trade them away before the injury bug strike.
I agree with the comments regarding pinch hitting Tulo for Brignac. That didn’t make sense to me at all. And, I agree that if you were going to pinch hit (which I wouldn’t have done), you’d go with Todd. Still, I’m really happy to see two more Ws.
There’s an interesting article on mlbtraderumors.com about which GMs placed a lot of waiver claims. The Rockies haven’t placed any, and the writer was quite surprised by that, given the number of pitchers flowing through waivers and our bad record last year. I’m also surprised that we haven’t picked up anyone.
We picked up Garland off waivers…we’ve also put a lot of players on waivers this season as well…
Garland was released by the Mariners per his contract allowing him to opt out if not on the 25 man roster. The Rockies signed Garland as a free agent and did not claim him off of waivers. They did however claim Brignac off of waivers from Tampa but it does not count as a waiver claim since they worked out a cash trade for Brignac. On a side note the Rockies lost Moscoso to the Royals on a waiver claim… Read more »
You know Bob, i was searching for Waiver information and i knew Garland wasn’t claimed off waivers (and even reported that when we picked him up), but then i read in a LOT of different places that he was picked up off of waivers (ESPN, Fox, Rant sports, the Associated Press!!! and the ever accurate Colorado Springs Gazette :-)) and thought that maybe I had it wrong… I should have trusted my instincts and went with my original article about… Read more »
It’s too risky to trade for pitchers with high price tags. If it works out great, but if it doesn’t work out then you just gave up 3-4 big time prospects for a fail. Price would be a very expensive(in terms of players) player to get. TB isn’t going to give him away. I say keep the hitting and try to develop your own pitching or use good 3-5 type guys to fill out a rotation. In terms of pinch… Read more »
Tonights game postponed. Rumor is it will not be made up as part of dh tomorrow. It was good that game was postponed without playing tomorrow. They can keep the rotation starters in their regular positions.
Off topic, but interesting tidbit of info about Ubaldo Jimenez from Buster Olney of ESPN:
Since July 8th of last year Ubaldo is 1-12 with an ERA of 7.27. His ERA is the highest in majors for pitchers with 50+ inn. since that timeframe. It’s kind of sad.
It is sad. I guess I’m glad he’s not here, but I also believe if he was properly rewarded for his 2010 season that his career may not have come to this.
It is sad what’s happened to Ubaldo. And no, I don’t think it has anything to do with Coors, any more than Lincecum’s downfall has anything to do with AT&T Park. Both guys were maximum effort, high velocity, high pitch count pitchers, and both of them have simply lost it. Lincecum last year: 5.18 ERA. This year: 5.63. Both guys are down about 3.5 mph from their peaks. This is what happens to a power pitcher who relies very heavily… Read more »
Some early advanced fielding stats (really small sample, about 12 games for most players — I mention this because to me it is the single most important improvement in this team so far): Tulo: prorated over 150 games, on fangraph’s UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating), he’s saving 28.7 runs over the average SS. That’s awesome, and probably won’t stick given his age, but that’s the Tulo of old. Rutledge: not such good news here: -17.1 runs/150 games. Sure, he’s learning 2B,… Read more »
Just a note on Arenado’s defense, he’s already committed 4 errors in the early going at CS.
I am curious where is Pacheco scoring defensively at 1st Base this year because he seems to have been doing really well, IMO based on the eye ball test.