Three games after taking an overhand right on the chin from Philadelphia, the Rockies are still standing looking no worse for the wear.
How. I don't honestly know. Don't really care either, just happy to see them finally fight back on the road and show some of that resilience that has made them unbeatable at home.
The Padres, on the other hand, are clearly reeling right now. You can see the frustration in their faces. You can see the pressure they're feeling in their feeble attempts to create emotion and scoring opportunities. It's a team that is searching for answers and hearing crickets in response.
That's the good news.
The bad news... San Diego has lost 10 in row... and the Rockies still need to be five games better than them over the next three weeks to force a tiebreaker. That may not seem like much, but the fact remains it has only been accomplished one time in the past 15 years.
So my best advice is still try to not to get too caught up in the big picture. It's better looking than it was even just 24 hours ago, but it's still not pretty. Just hope the Rockies can keep sticking and moving and avoiding that next punch in the mouth.
-- Jorge De La Rosa was a battler today. He didn't have great stuff or great command, but he got outs when he needed. Often times two outs at a time.
Unfortunately that also applied when he was batting.
But the bottom line is he hung tough and picked up a W.
-- It's amazing how much the lineup has stabilized since the release of Brad Hawpe and the placement of Ian Stewart on the DL. Melvin Mora has stepped in to a regular role and provided the Rockies with excellent defense and a consistent, often clutch, approach at the plate.
Today it was more clutch (highlight) than consistent, but I'll take that sort of 1-for-5 every day of the week.
-- Carlos Gonzalez (3 hits, 2 steals), Troy Tulowitzki (bomb), Ryan Spilborghs (happy birthday, 2 hits) and Miguel Olivo (2 hits), also provided solid production in a hard fought win.
-- Huston Street is locked in. Bunt single aside, he breezed through three dangerous left-handed hitters en route to save #15.
Tomorrow
The Reds are coming to town and still have a lot to play for. A division title, better position in the playoffs, and maybe above all that, keeping a playoff build Rockies team from making another crazy run.
I'm expecting a four game bloodbath that could closely resemble that Phillies one game mini-series we saw on Thursday.
Ubaldo Jimenez vs Aaron Harang