Rock Solid Recap: Helton Owns The Night

We've seen it a couple hundred times before, but that doesn't make it any less special (or thrilling) when Todd Helton takes over a baseball game and wills his Rockies to a hard fought victory.

Rockies 5, Braves 4

The 8th inning AB was vintage Todd Helton. It's the type of AB every hitting coach dreams all of his hitters could pull off, but only a select few in the game have the patience and the ability to do.

Lefty reliever Jonny Venters (who made his ML debut during Ubaldo's no-hitter) threw everything he had at Todd (literally -- Helton was brushed back by a high-and-tight fastball that actually result in a foul ball), but Helton stood his ground and waited for the one pitch he could deliver.

Helton's Game-winning hit (Highlight)

Simple as that... for Todd that is.

By the way, Todd had three other hits in the game. Those three all came against Tim Hudson, whom he is now 9-for-13 against lifetime. Talk about a great hitter raising his game against a great pitcher.

Oh... and some defense from The Toddfather as well... (Seriously MLB.com, no highlight of that?)

Enjoy some Tulo (Highlight) and EY Jr. (Highlight) instead.

Jason Hammel

Another tough luck ND for Hammel. That's better than a tough loss, of course, but this guy deserves to have another 4-5 wins on his total.  Oh well, like I seem to say every time he throws, his teammates appreciate the quality work he's giving the team.  That's all that matters.  And the team W of course.

Huston Street

I'm ashamed of the people at Coors Field that booed this man. Come on people, he's not perfect, but there are only two closers (Brian Wilson & Heath Bell) in the NL that I would definitely rather have than Street. For the most part of save chances are spotless, especially when not pitching on fumes.

He's still the best option the Rockies have. And without him and Franklin Morales (seriously) holding down 9th innings last season, the Rockies don't make the playoffs. Credit has to go where it's due, Huston Street is solid in his role.

Note To Braves Fans

Stop whining about the CarGo call. Remember this? We're even now. Shut up and deal with it.

Tomorrow

Jorge De La Rosa vs Derek Lowe

Let's see another well played baseball game with the timing hitting included. Those are my favorites.

Lineup Card: Rockies vs Braves

The retiring Bobby Cox makes his final trip to Colorado as manager of the Atlanta Braves.  I don't have his exact record (specifically at Coors Field/Mile High) against the Rockies at my disposal, but I would be left to guess it's a pretty dominating number for Bobby.

That history includes a Divisional playoff series back in 1995.  In that particular series, Cox managed several perfect circles around the overwhelmed and overmatched skipper at the time.  You know man well... he now poses as the overwhelmed and overmatched hitting coach of the Rockies.

Anyhoo...We got lineups.

Rockies Lineup (63-60)

1. 2B  Young
2. CF  Fowler
3. LF  Gonzalez
4. SS  Tulowitzki
5. 1B  Helton
6. RF  Smith
7. 3B  Stewart
8. C    Iannetta
9. P    Hammel

Braves Lineup (73-51)

1. 2B  Infante
2. RF  Heyward
3. 3B  Prado
4. 1B  Lee
5. C    McCann
6. LF  Hinske
7. SS  Gonzalez
8. CF  Ankiel
9. P     Hudson

Weekend In Review

In case you missed my Recaps over the weekend...

Friday -- Rock Solid Recrap: Stuck In Traffic

Saturday -- Rock Solid Recrap: Still Can't Count To 18

Sunday -- Rock Solid Recap: Meet Your New #2

Rock Solid Recap: Meet Your New #2

All due respect to Jason Hammel (whom I've admired and supported since his arrival to Denver last April), the Rockies number two in 2011 will be the young man you saw on the mound yesterday afternoon.

Rockies 1, D-Backs 0

I haven't gone back to watch every pitch that was thrown by Jhoulys Chacin. I don't think I need to (though it might be fun to hear the commentaters describe the brilliance) to understand how good he was. The condensed version tells the story well enough.

The kid was dealing. The kid was missing bats. The kid was in control from pitch #1 to pitch #100. The kid put the baseball team on his back and carried them to victory.

I don't care what the standings say, to come through with that type of dominant outing as his team struggles to piece together anything resembling good baseball, speaks volumes to the ability and the mindset he has. Can't say enough about it.

Between Chacin and Esmil Rogers (very good on Friday), fans suddenly have two new legitimate reasons to watch Rockies games. Not that most of us need a reason to watch, but those who do should definitely be paying attention to these kids.

Huston Street

Sucks!

Oh, right, he's had more 1-2-3 saves in a Rockies uniform than anything close to a disaster. He's still by far the best option for the ninth inning, and I actually applaud and congratulate Jim Tracy for sticking with his guy in this spot. He'll be fine.

Just don't run him into the ground! Make him your main closer, but don't be afraid to go another direction when he's thrown 2-3 days in a row, or thrown a high of pitchers on a single day. Be smart about it.

Dexter Fowler

Is a really good outfielder. Almost too good for his own good.

Careful out there.

The Offense

Still blows. Move along.

Tomorrow

Speaking of Jason Hammel, he'll be taking on Tim Hudson at Coors Field.  Could a 2-game winning streak be on the horizon?  Could the Rockies score more than 0 or 1?  So many questions, with so many likely depressing answers.

Come on back to Coors Field with us.