Rock Solid Recap: That Guy Beat Us

Padres 5, Rockies 4 (14)

You know, the guy you can't let beat you?

He beat us.

The Rockies spent 13 innings dodging stray bullets from lesser Padres on Saturday night. They just couldn't dodge the one fired by San Diego's best only sharpshooter.

It proved to be fatal.

Adrian Gonzalez hooked a double past Brad Hawpe, plating David Eckstein, and giving San Diego a 5-4 victory.

It was a frustarting night as the Rockies, aside from a 4-run fourth, pitched a very good ballgame. Jason Hammel bookended that one bad inning with six brilliant ones. Betancourt, Morales, Daley, Flores and Belisle held things in check from 8-12. Manny Corpas even had a good inning in the 13th, and didn't collapse in the 14th either.

It was just one bloop from David Eckstein, and then the expected heroics from Gonzalez followed.

The offense was horrid. It wasn't poor execution with RISP (1-for-4) this time, it was the lousy 1-for-23 Carlois Gonzalez, Dexter Fowler, Todd Helton and Troy Tulowitzki combined to hit for. Because of that, both of Brad Hawpe's opposite field homers were solo shots.

Chris Iannetta also had a solo HR, but failed to come through with runners at 1st and 2nd in the 14th.

Official Scorer

Losing Player: Dexter Fowler (0-1)

0-for-6 with three strikeouts from your two-hitter is awful production. Just look at how important that Eckstein hit in front Gonzalez was. It changed the entrie complexion of the inning and the game instantly. Fowler is giving away too many of his ABs. He needs to realize that any time he reaches, he's putting the team in position to strike quickly. That's his offensive function.

Rubber Match

I'm not calling tomorrow's game a must win, but the Rockies really need to come out and establish better play within the division. That's always what gets them behind 8-ball early in seasons and leaves them scrambling in the summer months.

I also think it's important to win Ubaldo's starts. So that's two reasons I'm rating this game a little higher than you would a normal April 11th game.