Lineup Card: Rockies vs D-Backs

Three keys for tonight.

1.  Ubaldo needs to be Ubaldo

I get the sense the offense is going through a scratch and claw phase right now where nothing will come easy.  That leaves Ubaldo with little margin for error.

2.  Better ABs from Dexter Fowler

For the offense to scratch, claw, or attain any type of success, they're going to need more from the top.  I didn't like the poor swings from Dex in hitter's counts last night.  I hope that's cleaned up this evening and he's willing to take a walk when the pitcher is willing to give one.

3.  Rested Bullpen

Two full days off for everyone but Matt Reynolds.  If needed, these guys have to come in and shut the door.

Rockies Lineup (82-68)

1. 2B  Herrera
2. CF  Fowler
3. RF  Gonzalez
4. SS  Tulowitzki
5. 3B  Mora
6. 1B  Helton
7. LF  Spilborghs
8. C    Olivo
9. P    Jimenez

Diamondbacks Lineup (60-91)

1. SS  Drew
2. CF  Young
3. 2B  Johnson
4. 1B  LaRoche
5. 3B  Reynolds
6. C    Montero
7. LF  Allen
8. RF  Parra
9. P    Lopez

Rock Solid Recrap: Snakes Make Awful Pets

Because there's always a chance they will jump up and bite you on the ass if you're not paying attention.

D-Backs 3, Rockies 1

For about 7 innings on Tuesday night, the Rockies looked like a team that wasn't paying attention.

It looked like the team we saw far too often during the every month not named September.

The urgency appeared to be missing. The confidence we saw in LA Friday and Saturday was definitely missing. Plate discipline never made an appearance. That surely wasn't aided by an inconsistent strike zone, but that's also a hat tip to Joe Saunders for being around the plate all night.

The only thing that wasn't missing was bad Rockies base running. But that's only because they didn't have actual base runners very often.

So yeah... bad night at the yard. Bad night at the yard in Arizona. Bad results from all over the baseball world unless you're still holding on to Wild Card hopes. Bad Bad Bad.

I did like what I saw from Jorge De La Rosa though. He did his job. He kept a good offense down. He chewed up seven innings. He deserved a much better result in terms of the W, but overall everyone should be thrilled with his performance.

Generally when a pitcher only makes two mistakes in seven innings (like DLR tonight) things will work out, but that's not so much the case when the mistakes come on back-to-back hitters and your offense never shows up to support you.

And that really wraps up tonight's game. I could go in depth on specific ABs and openly ask why Dexter Fowler continues to put bad swings on pitcher's pitches in hitter's counts, but it's late and I don't want to throw another pen behind my desk. I'll just leave it alone and look ahead to...

Tomorrow

Ubaldo Jimenez vs Rodrigo Lopez

The term "must win" seems to be fitting in this spot.