Rock Solid Recap: Mr. Late Night Wins The Afternoon

Rockies 8, Marlins 4

Winning Player: Seth Smith

2-for-3, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R

Not bad for a fill-in, eh?

How good is life when you can lose an All-Star like Brad Hawpe and not miss a beat offensively?  What a luxury. The Rockies will be relying heavily on Smith, and why not? He can handle it, and about 25 teams would be estatic to pencil him in on a regular basis.

Not only will the Rockies rely on Smith, they'll also rely on Ryan Spilborghs. Again... why not? He's as good as they come for a reserve outfielder. Also, the more ABs they each get now the better chace they'll be clicking offensively come the summer time.

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Running Thoughts: De La Rosa vs. Volstad

The emotions of the Keli McGregor memorial service give way to baseball now.  The Rockies host their expansion brothers in the rubber match of a big three game series before getting deep into division play.

If you haven't heard, Colorado placed Brad Hawpe on the 15 Day DL this morning and recalled Eric Young Jr. I was thinking (kinda hoping) they might recall veteran Jay Payton, but the Rockies likely looking forward to having a speed guy off the bench in late innings.

Seth Smith will start in LF this afternoon and hit 5th.  Miguel Olivo catches once again.  Everything else is the usual.

Big game today.  I'm always big on taking that final game of the series just because there's always something significant about it.  You're either avoiding a sweep, trying to win a series, or trying to get a sweep.  Let's get one today!

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Looking Ahead: Rubber Match

Jorge De La Rosa vs. Chris Volstad

A similar matchup to Smith vs. Nolasco, only De La Rosa is a more refined, more talented, better equipped to handle power right-handed hitters version of a left-hander than Smith is at this point. DLR can get swings and misses when he's ahead or behind in the count, and he can change speeds effectively enough to keep them off balance.

Volstad is a power right-handed arm like Nolasco, but he's not nearly as talented or effective. He's capable of having a Nolasco type day, but I don't one will come at the expense of the Rockies. That's more likely to happen to a Houston or San Diego.

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