I can't think of one single pleasant memory of a Rockies game at Wrigley Field. Actually, I can't think of a pleasant Wrigley Field pertaining to anything. Nothing good ever seems to happen there.
Cubs 4, Rockies 2
That was a dreadful performance by the Rockies offense and their manager tonight.
The pitching -- the guys who weren't exhausted -- did a fine job. Aaron Cook seems to be in a good rhythm right now. I hate to say he's "back" or what not. He's just pitching well, which is refreshing to see.
Rafael Betancourt had a dominant inning of work. Thumbs up to that.
Matt Belisle was untouchable for two innings. Unfortunately, Jim Tracy, who appeared unprepared by not having Esmil Rogers warming up sooner as the Rockies were batting, decided to push him for a third inning -- on Belisle's third consecutive day pitching.
That's what we call playing with fire. Fire burns. Jim Tracy got burned.
Not only did it not make sense in terms of winning the game, but come on Jim, you can't overwork these guys to that crazy of an extent. We need Belisle, and now, if you want to keep him healthy, you can't use him again until the weekend. He needs a break.
Would Rogers have been better? Who knows. But I don't think anyone would have questioned going to him in the 11th inning. It just made sense.
I liked Troy Renck's tweet on this after the game.
Belisle is an easy target, but game was lost when the Rockies squandered two bases-loaded scoring opportunities
Yeah, thanks Troy. I think even the dumbest of baseball fan realizes Matt Belisle wasn't at fault. You don't need to tweet us and let us know. Just make sure you pass that along to the Mark Kiszlas and Woody Paiges out there. They're the dopes most likely to pile on Belisle.
Losing Player: Ian Stewart
ROUGH night for Ian. 0-for-5, 2 K, GIDP, 8 (EIGHT) men LOB. A snowman in the LOB column. That's pretty brutal. One good AB from Ian would have changed the whole game, but hey, he's been pretty solid overall. Just a bad... extra bad night.
I was actually pretty displeased with the offense as a whole. It just felt like a throwaway game. Like they even didn't gaze at the Randy Wells scouting report. He would have walked 3-4 guys if they had showed the proper patience. Instead, they treated him like a Halladay or Lincecum by swinging in the counts.
Wells really could have been out of there a couple innings sooner, which would have put the Rockies deeper in a very suspect Cubs bullpen by the 11th.
Do we throw Don Baylor under the bus? Not yet... but it's always fair to question a gameplan when you see so many ugly swings/approaches against an average pitcher.
Let's hope to see a better plan tomorrow and get out of Wrigley with a split. That wouldn't be awful at all.
1 comments:
I think it's fair to say that was one of the most frustrating games in a season of frustrating games. Barmes, Stewart, Tulo just firing away at pitches down and away, the Ump's horrible strike zone, the Cubs in general. Just frustrating. Win the goddamn game when you get the chance. Jim Tracy can't bat for Stew or Barmes in those bases loaded situations. All I wanted to see was some situational hitting. Too much to ask for from the Rockies again last night.
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