With a final score of 12-11 you might have to do a double-take to notice the game was actually played at PetCo and not at Coors.
Today’s slugfest proved the Rockies either don’t read the Denver Post, or at least they didn’t get the memo from Dan O’Dowd. In yet another article going over the Coors field altitude issue, there is a statement about hitting home runs:
O’Dowd wants a more fundamentally sound offensive team that uses speed and the hit-and-run play, and doesn’t rely on home runs. He believes it will translate to better performances on the road.
Well, that “better performance” turned out to rely on the long ball as nine of the 11 Rockies runs came via the home run.
There was the Alex White three-run shot in the top of the 2nd. He has homered in his last two outings and both were with authority.
Then there was a two-run shot from Matt McBride, his first career home run.
Finally, a slumping Josh Rutledge, who was o for his last 24, stepped up in the eighth with bases loaded and took the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for his first career grand slam.
In-between the long balls there were bad plays, bad pitching and bad managing.
- White threw the ball over LeMahieu and into center field on a sacrifice bunt, trying to get the runner at second. The very next play said runner scored.
- Cabrera scored on a steal of third because Pacheco threw the ball wide of Nelson.
- Ottavino defined meltdown as he gave up seven earned runs in the fifth, lasting only 2/3 of an inning.
- Tracy didn’t take advantage of runners on first and second with no outs in the 9th. Instead of playing “small ball”, like O’Dowd said the team would be doing, he sent up heavy hitters Rosario and Giambi in pinch-hit situations. Both struck out swinging, followed by Blackmon striking out.
You have to bunt those runners over in the ninth.Then all you need is a sac fly,ball in play to right side etc.With expanded rosters,and MFL Tracy’s love of batting pitchers in situations that scream PINCH HITTER,finding someone to bunt in that situation should have been easy.The idea of playing small ball at Coors,when the situation and personnal warrant it,has been a theme on this site allyear long.If BIBGM O’Dowd really wants that kind of offense,than MFL Tracy is not… Read more »
Does anyone know the Rockies’ record in games in which they hit a grand slam?
I’m thinking 0-2 but there may have been a couple more.
I was at a game early in the season when Hernandez hit a grand slam. I went to half a dozen games this year and astonishingly the Rox won all of them.
That is 6 games more than I will attend next year if there are not significant changes in management.
I lucked out with a 3-1 record with wins in Denver, Pittsburgh, and Houston and a loss in Pittsburgh (that traditional doubleheader).
Here you go, Miketober. Couldn’t find a list of these so I had to dig around:
Loss 13-9 ATL Cuddyear
Win 13-5 HOU Cuddyear
Loss 6-3 NYM Helton
Loss 10-8 OAK Helton
Win 18-9 NYM Hernandez
Loss 9-5 SD Gonzalez
Win 9-1 SD Fowler
Loss 12-11 SD Rutledge
So Rox ar 3-5 in games with a grand slam. Anyone feel free to correct any errors or missings in this.
Great work Bob!
What is it with the Padres and GS’s??? They hit one off of us this series as well…
Awesome Bob! This is yet another measure of how poor the pitching and defense has been this year. I would bet the league average is well above .500 in games with a GS.
My summary: Rockies Sunday baseball.
Rec this article from Teri Frei at the DP. http://www.denverpost.com/frei/ci_21559437/rockies-excuses-cause-high-anxiety
That was a good article, thanks for the link. DOD has polluted the pitching talent pool for as long as he remains GM (which I hope is less than a month). He made a good trade in the Ian Stewart for Colvin deal. Everything else has been a relative failure, just like the season. So O’Dowd has to create excuses and try and protect his office. I would hope the owners see through the excuses and make sweeping changes just… Read more »
After reading and hearing all the feedback about this article and all the excuses the Rox management makes about the altitude, I’ve actually come to feel sorry for these sad sacks at 20th and Blake. I can’t help think that this organization isn’t the laughingstock of all of baseball. For years we heard that it was impossible for a team to win consistently in the oppressive heat of Texas. And for years that was the case until Nolan Ryan and… Read more »
I think the Rox management need to step outside their offices for a while and take a look at the Nuggets, Avalanche, and Broncos. Are they affected at the Mile High altitude? Definnitely not. The Frei article talks about how it takes longer to recover and how much harder it is to have a good night’s sleep. Huh? Ask those Denver pros not a Rockie player that question. Why do the Olympians train in Springs? So they can become better… Read more »
RMH, I like the hyperbaric chamber for batting practice. Michael Jackson had one of those. It was supposed to make him live to 120. Maybe it’s available on ebay now?
What’s a bigger obstacle: Playing 81 games in Coors. Playing 30 games vs the Red Sox and Yankees? If the Os and Rays can compete in the AL East, I think the Rockies have no excuses. The franchise has been mismanaged since the WS in 07. Organization has put their faith in the wrong players and management. No accountability in personnel decisions: drafts, comings, goings, extensions, callups, noncallups. I’d love to say I can count the screwups on 1 hand…… Read more »
Have the Rockies really hit 8 grand slams this year? Seems like a high number. Something is wrong with the list especially when Bob says Helton hit one in a 6-3 loss to the Mets. If he did we must have scored more than 3 runs. Frei’s commentary today hit the nail on the head. I felt the exact same way on Sunday after reading the DP piece in which DoD and others ran out all their “it’s hard” excuses.… Read more »
perhaps he has the Walk-Off games mixed in?
I believe the 6-3 game with a Helton slam is probably a typo because the Mets won that game 6-5 on April 19. Helton hit a pinch hit slam to tie the game at 4 – 4 in the bottom of the eighth.
I do remember the announcers saying they had seven grand slams this year and that was before the Rutledge slam mad it 8 for the year.
Thanks, Bob, for accounting for my typo. I do have it written down as 6-5 on my notepad.
I’m going to throw this out there…..
Thinking about the measures O’Dowd and the ownership is willing to go with the 4 man rotation, the excuse making, the personnel protection, the crash and burn of the team since 2010 (especially the pitching)…does any out there besides me yet believe that the double standard humidor-gate conspiracy could really have legs?
Prog, I hadn’t thought about that. Setting aside for the moment the idea that the honest God-fearing men in charge of the Rockies would pull a stunt like that … the stats would tell the story. I imagine it would be humidor balls for both teams now instead of the old conspiracy favorite of humidor balls when the opponent is hitting and dry balls when the Rockies are hitting. And I haven’t tried to break the stats down like that.… Read more »
I’m not sure how a humidor works but my guess if it does work like this: Pre 2010 it would be on full go so that the humidor balls are REALLY soft and the non humidor are really hard. Rockies pitchers all win 10+ games, offense is strong including Ian Stewart and Chris Iannetta cranking HRs. Spilborghs even having half decent years. 2010: humidor is turned down and as Ag said both teams use those. Rox pitchers look worse and… Read more »
Not sure i buy “humiGate”…i think that it is like anything, mentally the pitchers are getting the beatdown…it’s been said several times, we have a starting five that wouldn’t be in the top 3 on most teams in the league. On any given night we can expect either a pitching meltdown, a hitting dry spell or a fielding flubup. The Humidor was around with the team when we had a legit pitching staff and serious hitting. To blame the hit-fest… Read more »
I’m not blaming the struggles on the humidor. What I am saying is that 07 and 09 may have only happened because they cheated. Who knows.
I don’t buy that Giants propaganda!!!
I don’t buy it. I think the Rockies just caught lightning in a bottle. Remember in 2007 they weren’t that good until the final month. And in 2009 they got a poor start but turned it on in June during a long road trip to StL and Mil. 2009 was unique in that they had a winning road record. The pitching held up and seemed to save their melt-downs for games when the Rox already had a 4 run lead… Read more »