Rock Solid Recap: Thank You Cody Ross

And Bruce Bochy. Can't believe the Giants didn't have a better, more comfortable outfielder (in that ballpark) available to play the 9th inning.

The Rockies desperately needed a break. I didn't think that break was going to come on a Carlos Gonzalez broken bat. Neither did Cody Ross. But given the way Carlos Gonzalez has played in the month of August, maybe we both should have known better.

Ross misread the bat shattering contact as a blooper into short right field. The ball continued sailing, Ross turned tail and started chasing, Dexter Fowler scored easily from first, Gonzalez slid safely into third, the relay throw bounced feebly past Pablo Sandoval into the camera well, Rockies take the lead and hold on to a 2-1 victory.

Mercy.

Rockies 2, Giants 1

Gonzalez heroics (and luck) aside, the win and game ball belong to Jorge De La Rosa. He wasn't very efficient early, but he pushed his way through the first four innings, settled in nicely, and gave his club seven innings of one run baseball.

That's why De La Rosa is going to make a lot of money in the off-season.

Rafael Betancourt is credited the official win after a 1-2-3 8th. Nice to see that clean and efficient inning from Raffy.

Huston Street, working for the third straight day yet again, needed a little help from the San Francisco atmosphere on a long drive hit by Aubrey Huff, needed a little help from a diving Jonathan Herrera, and needed a little luck on a line drive come backer off the bat of Buster Posey, but the bottom line is, Huston Street pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to earn his 13th save.

Besides, he was owed a little good luck after some of the tough breaks he had experienced lately.

Another thing we can't overlook is how important Dexter Fowler's walk was leading off the 9th inning. Down in the count 1-2, Fowler spit on some pitcher's pitches by Sanchez that Rockies batters couldn't resist all night. Great approach and patience, with a game-changing result.

Tomorrow

Esmil Rogers vs. Madison Bumgarner

This has to be a big offensive game for the Rockies. Rogers has struggled lately. Huston Street is a little gassed. The bullpen as a whole is tired. Best way to remedy such problems are to score early, score often, and score a couple more late.