Rock Solid Recap: Satisfaction

To quote one of my favorite people on Twitter...

@Townie813 That is without question the most satisfying #Rockies victory of the season. For so damn many reasons.

Amen to that.

Rockies 10, Giants 9 (10) 

I have to start by giving Jason Hammel credit for attempting to pitch through his dead arm. It may not have been the smartest thing for him to do, or for the Rockies to allow him to do, but they almost had no choice in the matter. His performance was lacking, his guts were not.

The last 48+ hours have been a nightmare for Esmil Rogers. I don't know what has gone wrong there. It may be a confidence issue. Possibly a mechanical issue. Whatever the case, there's no reason to be concerned about his long-term outlook, but it doesn't look like he'll be a positive factor the final week. Disappointing, but understandable for a young guy.

Huston Street has been located. He was found alive and well in the Rockies bullpen tonight. He then went on to pitch two scoreless innings and found himself in the win column.

The Rockies offense was sensational tonight.

The usual suspects were involved...

• Troy Tulowitzki: 4 hits, 2 doubles, home run, 5 RBI, walk-off hit. (webgem)
• Carlos Gonzalez: 3 hits, 3 runs, scored the game-winner.  (webgem)

Had to squeeze those webgems in there somewhere.

And the veteran role players were involved as well...

• Jay Payton: 2 hits, triple, run 
• Melvin Mora: 2 hits, double, triple, 2 RBI.

In the span of four hitters in the 5th inning, those four men tripled, tripled, homered and then tripled, in four consecutive plate appearances. If anything deserves a "That Was Awesome" chant, that inning was it.

I even have praise for Jim Tracy tonight. Real praise, as I thought he managed almost every situation appropriately. Unfortunately he didn't get what he needed from Rogers again, but all the other buttons pushed made sense.

Now I have some fake praise. Warming up Franklin Morales in the bottom of 10th was his best strategic move of the season. Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki looked out there, saw that, and made damn sure we never saw an 11th inning. Excellent piece of managing right there.

Tomorrow

Jorge De La Rosa vs Matt Cain

The Rockies will attempt to keep their fading playoff hopes alive... or at the very least play a roll in keeping the Giants from getting there themselves. I'd much prefer the former, but would learn to savor the latter.