Rock Solid Recap: One great outing and one big swing

The wonderful thing about great pitching and great defense? It affords a struggling offense the opportunity to slowly get itself back on track, while still winning baseball games. That's where the Rockies stand right now. They are pitching the hell out of the ball day in and day out, and the defense has been legit.

I mean seriously, what the hell has gotten into Seth Smith? He was a decent defender in previous years. He has been outstanding in 2011. Ryan Spilborghs can't even in the game as a defensive replacement anymore.

Watch Smith's running grab

Anyway, you still need the one or two big hits (or a couple breaks) every night to make that pitching and defense stand up. The Rockies didn't get it last night. They did get it tonight.

Rockies 4, Pirates 1 (boxscore)

And they got it off the bat of Chris Iannetta, who thankfully decided to offer at a 3-1 pitch from Paul Maholm that was begging to be hit a long ways.

Watch Iannetta's three-run bomb

What has frustrated so many Rockies fans with Iannetta has been his unwillingness to let it fly. Too much patience. Sure the walks are great from your #8 hitter. They mean something when you can turn your lineup over. I get that. But Iannetta isn't your typical #8. He's not Ronny Cedeno or Jamey Carroll. He's a masher. He's an extra basehit machine when he's going.

So it was nice to see him open up in that spot. It was a game-changer, and ultimately a game-winner. Now hopefully he allows himself to be a game-changer more often.

-- Is it just me or was Jason Hammel at his very best tonight? It seemed like he made every pitch he needed to make when his back was against the wall. He racked up three big double plays. The only guy that beat him was Andrew McCutchen, and in case you haven't heard, Andrew McCutchen beats everybody.

Yeah, that sounds pretty good. And so what if Hammel needs his defense to play well? There's no shame in that. Just keep backing him with your best defense, Mr. Tracy, and Jason Hammel will keep giving you quality starts. That's a guarantee from Townie.

-- The Rockies have turned 30 double plays and only hit into 12. Good stat, Jimmy Armstrong.

-- I wonder if people realize they aren't nervous about Huston Street. They're actually nervous because it's the ninth inning of a close game and every baseball fan with a pulse gets nervous in that situation regardless of who's pitching.

Well, aside from Yankees fans since 1996 and Dodgers fans from 2002-2004.

By the way, Huston is 10-for-10 now in save opportunities and rolling right along.

-- Rafael Betancourt is rolling now too. It just takes him a while, ya know?

-- Come on MLB.com... no highlights of Helton's defense tonight? Give me a break, would ya?

-- Good to see Carlos Gonzalez leave a dent in the wall with that opposite field double. Wow. He scalded that one. And then he left a dent in the sidewall with his toe later on. That wasn't as good to see. Please stop doing that to yourself!

-- I heard Pablo Sandoval is out 4-to-6 weeks with a broken bone in his wrist. Better bring back the Sad Panda.

But we do hate to hear about injuries to anyone, even a Giant. So hopefully he's able to come back at full strength in late June... of 2014.

Lineup Card: 4-30-11 Rockies vs Pirates

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Yesterday's Recrap: Bats Cold. Fans Cold. It's Too Cold.

Colorado Rockies (16-8)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. LF Carlos Gonzalez
6. 3B Jose Lopez
7. RF Seth Smith
8. C  Chris Iannetta
9. P  Jason Hammel

Welcome back to the three-hole, Todd Helton. Sounds like it may be your new home for at least a few days. 

Pittsburgh Pirates (12-14)

1. CF Andrew McCutchen
2. LF Jose Tabata
3. RF Garrett Jones
4. 2B Neil Walker
5. 1B Lyle Overbay
6. C  Chris Snyder
7. 3B Pedro Alvarez
8. SS Ronny Cedeno
9. P   Paul Maholm

Rock Solid Recrap: Bats Cold. Fans Cold. It's Too Cold.

It's always frustrating to drop winnable games against inferior competition. Even more frustrating when the reason is an ice cold offense, and when the fans in attendance are sitting in uncomfortably cold and snowy conditions.

Friday was one of those nights for the Rockies and their fans.

Cold. And frustrating.

Pirates 3, Rockies 0 (boxscore)

It was cold for the Pirates too, and cold for pitcher Kevin Correia. But he handled the cold just fine, throwing strikes and keeping Colorado off balance with his usual assortment of not very special pitches.

Correia located. He located well. But he doesn't throw overly hard. That should play into the Rockies hands, especially in the cold, where power pitchers are death, and especially at home. But for whatever reason, they couldn't catch on to his patterns or catch up to his low 90s fastball.

It wasn't until the 7th inning when Todd Helton lined out to the wall and Seth Smith singled that they had two good swings in an inning. Of course that was after he hit 100 pitches.

It's weird to see the offense struggling collectively as it is now. I mean sure, we've seen this offense struggle many times before. But with Carlos Gonzalez mired in his funk. With Troy Tulowitzki failing to gain traction. And now with Fowler and Herrera cooling off at the top, the offense has nowhere to turn for a spark.

I don't expect it to stay this way for long though. Someone will break through. And then one or two more will follow. It's just tough to see that light at the end of the tunnel after the past 7-10 days of bleh.

But just imagine how panicked we'd be if the record was 8-16, not 16-8. Wouldn't this blog be fun then?

No?

-- Jhoulys Chacin pitched plenty good. He gave up a pair of solo homers and then a third run in the 7th. Most nights that's going to leave him in line for a victory.

-- The Hell?

I don't know. It was just a weird, cold and bad night at Coors Field. Sounds like tonight could be even colder. Hopefully it doesn't get any weirder or uglier on the field.

Lineup Card: Rockies vs. Pirates 4-29-11

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

The Rockies have recalled Utility player Alfredo Amazaga from Triple A, optioned pitcher Clayton Mortensen, who did a fantastic job in his eight innings, back to Triple A, and designated Alan Johnson for assignment to make room on the 40-man for Amazaga. Got all that?

Fortunately, Ty Wigginton has avoided the disabled list. Whether or not that lasts I don't know, but things seem to be improving enough that it's not necessary.

Colorado Rockies (16-7)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. LF Carlos Gonzalez
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 1B Todd Helton
6. RF Seth Smith
7. 3B Jose Lopez
8. C  Chris Iannetta
9. P   Jhoulys Chacin

Pittsburgh Pirates (11-14)

1. CF Andrew McCutchen
2. LF Jose Tabata
3. RF Garrett Jones
4. 2B Neil Walker
5. 1B Lyle Overbay
6. C  Chris Snyder
7. 3B Pedro Alvarez
8. SS Ronny Cedeno
9. P   Kevin Correia

Lineup Card: 4-27-11 Rockies @ Cubs

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Yesterday's Recap: Todd (expletive) Helton

Colorado Rockies (16-7)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. LF Carlos Gonzalez
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 1B Todd Helton
6. RF Seth Smith
7. 3B Jose Lopez
8. C   Jose Morales
9. P   Jhoulys Chacin

Chicago Cubs (10-13)

1. RF Kosuke Fukudome
2. SS Starlin Castro
3. 2B Jeff Baker
4. 3B Aramis Ramirez
5. 1B Carlos Pena
6. CF Marlon Byrd
7. LF Tyler Colvin
8. C   Koyie Hill
9. P   Casey Coleman

Rock Solid Recap: Todd (expletive) Helton

And Jorge De La Rosa, too. Co-MVPs for tonight's win.

Rockies 4, Cubs 3 (boxscore)

-- We'll start with Todd Helton, because he is after all, Todd ****ing Helton.

Helton delivered his first multi-HR game since August 7th, 2007, and his 27th multi-HR game of his borderline Hall of Fame career. I hate having to phrase it that way but that's where he is right now.

Watch home run #1

Watch home run #2

Both homers were solo shots, and both came off a lefty in James Russell. Granted Mr. Russell is, as one Cubs fan noted on Twitter, possibly the worst pitcher to ever make three consecutive starts in the Majors. From what I've seen I can't form an argument against that.

The first was definitely aided by the wind blowing out towards right. No problem with that. I think the second one to straight away center leaves pretty much any ballpark save for Petco and Minute Maid in Houston. That ball was struck with some serious authority. That was a vintage Todd Helton year 2000 swing.

And he had another decent swing that he felt he just missed based on his reaction. So needless to say he's feeling pretty comfortable.

Will Todd get another start in the three-hole based on Tuesday's results? I'm going to say no to Wednesday, but I'm sure next time Jim Tracy needs a guy there, Helton will be the choice. It's really nice being able to say that and know it's not wishful thinking.

-- Jorge De La Rosa had a really good plan of action against the Cubs tonight with the wind blowing out. Credit Bob Apodaca as well. They knew they were facing a strictly right-handed lineup in less than favorable pitching conditions, but it's also a very undisciplined lineup. De La Rosa was able to take advantage, striking out nine, walking NONE and allowing one earned run over seven innings.

Very impressive outing that improves Jorge to 4-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.61.

-- Ty Wigginton also provided another key hit on the road. His 4th inning solo homer put the Rockies ahead for good. He also doubled, singled and stole a base to round out his impressive game.

Watch Wiggy's blast

-- Damn, Jose Lopez has hit the ball hard and given good at-bats dating back to Sunday against Josh Johnson. All that has gotten him is an 0-for-11. The game really isn't fair sometimes.

-- Rafael Betancourt and Huston Street. You know the drill.

-- No sense settling for a series win in Chicago. Let's hope the Rockies can finish strong here, finish off the sweep, and go home with TWO winning road trips to start the season.

Lineup Card: 4-26-11 Rockies @ Cubs

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Yesterday's Recap: Rockies defeat weather and Cubbies

Colorado Rockies (15-7)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 3B Jose Lopez
6. LF Ty Wigginton
7. RF Ryan Spilborghs
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P   Jorge De La Rosa

Carlos Gonzalez gets a much needed night off while Ryan Spilborghs and Ty Wigginton get some much needed ABs. And did we ever honestly think we'd see Todd Helton hit third again, even if only for one day? He's definitely earned it. 

Chicago Cubs (10-12)

1. SS Starlin Castro
2. 2B Darwin Barney
3. CF Marlon Byrd
4. 3B Aramis Ramirez
5. 1B Jeff Baker
6. C  Geovany Soto
7. LF Alfonso Soriano
8. RF Reed Johnson
9. P   James Russell

Rock Solid Recap: Rockies defeat weather and Cubbies

In the hours leading up to Monday night's game at Wrigley Field, I was certain there would be a delay or two at best, with no baseball likely. But despite the rain that had been falling most of the afternoon into the early evening, the game started on time, with a window opening up just enough to fit in the full nine innings.

That left us with two completely different teams battling on less than ideal field conditions. One of them very good defensively. The other being the Chicago Cubs.

I think you already know how this ends before I type another word.

Rockies 5 (0 errors), Cubs 3 (4 errors) (boxscore)

-- Unfortunately for Chicago's future All-Star Starlin Castro, the baseball kept finding him when the field was probably in its worst condition, the baseball was its slickest, and his self doubt was highest. That was in the top of the second inning, when Castro committed three consecutive errors.

The first came on a routine grounder off the bat of Troy Tulowitzki. I'm putting that one all on Castro, creating a little self doubt after a rough weekend with the glove.

The second was a Jose Lopez chopper that he could never grip. Wet baseball.

The third was the most devastating. Chris Iannetta pulled one deep in the hole at short. Castro attempted to cut down the lead runner at second, his throw sailed way wide of the bag, allowing two runs to score and Iannetta to move all the way to third. Tough play and wet baseball means you can't try to do something spectacular.

The fourth error belonged to pitcher Matt Garza, who airmailed a Jonathan Herrera sacrifice bunt attempt into the Rockies bullpen. That led to the decisive runs crossing the plate.

That left Garza with the unusual looking line of 6 IP, 3 H, 5 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 7 K and 1 Loss

As you can see, the honest truth is the Rockies didn't do a whole lot offensively. But they never once shot themselves in the foot in the field, and they made all four Cubs errors count against them. So credit goes all around once again. Especially to the gloves. That's really quite an accomplishment to play error free tonight.

-- Esmil Rogers had another rough beginning to his outing on Monday, but unlike the last time against San Francisco, he was able to rebound for another 4+ innings of solid work. That was a huge bounce back that had to restore a lot of his confidence and the team's confidence in him. I know mine was wavering quite a bit when he served up the 0-2 home run to Darwin Barney (1st career).

So credit goes to Esmil for hanging tough and showing a lot of mental toughness in the face of doubt, poor performance and really crappy weather. Says a lot for him. Maybe even qualifies as a step forward.

-- I didn't see the Rockies feed but I hope Matt Lindstrom was player of the game. His inning and two-thirds were awesome. He only needed 18 pitches to get five big outs, including getting Rogers out of the 6th inning jam by retiring Castro and then blowing away Jeff Baker. By far the biggest outs of the game.

-- Rafael Betancourt and Huston Street did their jobs once again. You have to really like how the Rockies are able to shorten games to 6-7 innings with Lindstrom, Betancourt and Street throwing so well. Takes a little pressure away from the offense. Yes, you still want them to add on, but there's not that overwhelming doom and gloom feeling if they don't.

At least for right now.

Lineup Card: 4-25-11 Rockies @ Cubs

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Yesterday's Recrap: Marlins walk into winner's circle

Keep an eye on tonight's weather on Wrigley Field Cam.

Colorado Rockies (14-7)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. LF Carlos Gonzalez
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 1B Todd Helton
6. RF Seth Smith
7. 3B Jose Lopez
8. C  Chris Iannetta
9. P   Esmil Rogers

Chicago Cubs (10-11)

1. RF Kosuke Fukudome
2. 2B Darwin Barney
3. SS Starlin Castro
4. 3B Jeff Baker
5. 1B Carlos Pena
6. CF Marlon Byrd
7. LF Alfonso Soriano
8. C   Geovany Soto
9. P   Matt Garza

Rock Solid Recrap: Marlins walk into winner's circle

Well, the Rockies did a solid job of limiting the Marlins to three hits today. Unfortunately, they walked five, which led to two of those hits equaling six runs -- a three-run 5th inning triple by Omar Infante, and a monster three-run home run by Mike Stanton in the 8th.

And to rub salt in the would, both big hits came with two outs.

Marlins 6, Rockies 3 (boxscore)

-- How would I describe Ubaldo Jimenez's performance?

It was encouraging that aside from the triple by Omar Infante, the Marlins had zero good swings against him. His fastball was overpowering when located, and his movement was very good. But it was discouraging to see him lose his command so quickly in the 5th, walking the 6-7-8 hitters starting off the inning.

That's when you want to see your pitcher to challenge hitters and hopefully get quick outs. Instead he killed his pitch count, left himself exposed to that one back-breaking hit, and that's exactly was Infante delivered. I'm sure fatigue played more a part in that than anything. So once that arm strength builds up he should be in line for a string of excellent starts.

Overall there's much more positive than negative. But when you're matched up with a guy like Josh Johnson, you have to be close to flawless.

-- Yeah, I would agree the Rockies had too many long stretches without hits this week, but the at-bats really weren't terrible. Sure, there are a couple guys that look lost, but it's not at the point where they are giving away at-bat after at-bat, inning after inning. They're drawing walks. Extending pitch counts. Giving themselves a chance for success.

Even Carlos Gonzalez took noticeable steps towards improving his approach this afternoon. Dexter Fowler and Jonathan Herrera continued their production at the top. And surprisingly, I thought Jose Lopez had good at-bats. Nothing to show for them, but he exhibited signs of life.

-- By the way, Tim Lincecum and Josh Johnson are really good pitchers. Anibal Sanchez already had a no-hitter and a one-hitter prior to his outing Saturday. It's not like they're struggling against ham-n-eggers. Sometimes you just tip your cap to brilliant pitching.

-- Clayton Mortensen had a flawless two inning relief appearance. He's up to eight scoreless innings of relief now in his two appearances. And he works really fast. He no more than catches that return from throw from the catcher and he's back on the hill into his delivery. I really like what I've seen so far, and I imagine he stands a good chance of sticking around a bit.

-- Poor Matt Belisle made six excellent pitches to Gaby Sanchez Unfortunately, and ridiculously, four of them were called balls by the maddeningly inconsistent Dale Scott (Pitch chart). Thanks to Andrew Fisher of Purple Row for posting that.

Belisle then made a couple bad pitches to Mike Stanton. The second one resulting in the long, game-deciding homer.

-- No doubt this loss leaves a bad taste in your mouth, kinda like the Sunday loss in Atlanta last April. But overall there's no real reason to feel bad about how that team played. It's just a matter of the Marlins, who by the way are now 13-7, maximizing their opportunities and pitching very well.

-- On to Chicago.

Lineup Card: 4-24-11 Rockies @ Marlins

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Yesterday's Recrap: Rockies win again on road with simple formula

Colorado Rockies (14-6)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. LF Carlos Gonzalez
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 1B Jason Giambi
6. RF Seth Smith
7. 3B Jose Lopez
8. C  Jose Morales
9. P   Ubaldo Jimenez

Florida Marlins (12-7)

1. CF Chris Coghlan
2. 2B Omar Infante
3. SS Hanley Ramirez
4. 1B Gaby Sanchez
5. RF Mike Stanton
6. C   John Buck
7. LF Emilio Bonifacio
8. 3B Donnie Murphy
9. P   Josh Johnson

Rock Solid Recap: Rockies win again on road with simple formula

Execution + Good Pitching = Winning

I'm not talking about Charlie Sheen's definition of winning. I mean actually winning. Succeeding. Combining terrific effort with great results. That type of winning.

Rockies 3, Marlins 1 (boxscore)

Execution

It boiled down to two at-bats for the Rockies on Saturday night. Both of those at-bats resulted in outs, but both were very productive outs.

After Todd Helton led off the sixth with a double, Seth Smith immediately followed with a double of his own. However, Helton was unable to score on Smith's double because he's not exactly Dexter Fowler and because Marlins left fielder Emilio Bonifacio, while completely lost on the play, managed to confuse Helton enough to not stray too far from the base.

So that set up 2nd and 3rd with no outs for Ty Wigginton. The guy I've applauded in the past for his clutch two out hits in Pittsburgh and Wednesday at Coors Field against Matt Cain. This time it wasn't a clutch two out hit, but a well struck flyball to right center field. It was plenty deep enough to score Helton, and also positioned well enough to allow Smith to take third. That's a big 90 feet to get with less than two outs.

Watch Wigginton's sacrifice fly

Jose Morales was walked intentionally which brought up Jason Hammel. Immediately the thought of the squeeze comes into play, and without any hesitation, Jim Tracy called for it and Jason Hammel executed it.

Watch Hammel's suicide squeeze

Looking back at it Hammel may have squared around a bit early. I'm a little surprised Vazquez didn't step off, but with a slider away called, he probably figured it would be a difficult pitch to get down fair. So credit Hammel again for bunting a tough pitch.

Good Pitching

But where Hammel makes his money is pitching, and tonight he earned his paycheck.

6 2/3, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 109 pitches (67 strikes).

Again, it wasn't an outing where Hammel wowed you with stuff. He dealt with his fair share of traffic and wasn't exactly efficient closing out innings, but when the big pitch was needed, he made it. When the Rockies finally jumped ahead, he put that big zero on the board. It was an excellent outing and a very well deserved second win for Jason.

His ERA now sits at a healthy 3.80.

Huston Street, Rafael Betancourt and Matt Lindstrom took over and retired the final seven Marlins in order without a single Rockies fan having to break a sweat. That's always much appreciated by this fan.

Sign of the Night

Oh look, it's everybody's favorite Denver sports tweeter @cheryltweedy.

Seriously, even if that wasn't her, that sign would make the blog. Creative and hilarious.

Lineup Card: 4-23-11 Rockies @ Marlins

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Yesterday's Recrap: Blame me for one-hit wonder

Colorado Rockies (13-6)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. LF Carlos Gonzalez
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 1B Todd Helton
6. RF Seth Smith
7. 3B Ty Wigginton
8. C   Jose Morales
9. P   Jason Hammel

Florida Marlins (12-6)

1. CF Chris Coghlan
2. 2B Omar Infante
3. SS Hanley Ramirez
4. 1B Gaby Sanchez
5. 3B Greg Dobbs
6. RF Mike Stanton
7. C   John Buck
8. LF Emilio Bonifacio
9. P   Javier Vazquez

Rock Solid Recrap: Blame me for the one-hit wonder

The Rockies were doomed from the start on Friday night. 

Why? 

Because I wrote this when I posted the Lineup Card prior to the game:

There's your best possible Rockies lineup on display for I believe the first time this season. And when you look at where Chacin is right now, that includes the pitcher's spot.

So let that be a lesson to me. Just shut up.

Marlins 4, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

At first this looked like it could be the Rockies night. After Dexter Fowler walked leading off and moved to second on a passed ball, Jonathan Herrera moved him to third with a ground out to the right side. After Carlos Gonzalez struck out again, Troy Tulowitzki hit a routine grounder that third baseman Emilio Bonifacio fielded cleanly, but threw low and Gaby Sanchez couldn't handle it.

Gift run.

But all of that good feeling was quickly washed away when Chris Coghlan pulled Jhoulys Chacin's second pitch into the right field bleachers.

And then went further away when Chacin couldn't make a play on an Anibal Sanchez suicide squeeze in the 2nd. It would have been a terrific play, and he had time to make it, but the scoop toss straight from his glove short-hopped Iannetta and he couldn't handle it.

That right there was all the breathing room Sanchez would need. As you've probably seen or heard, Sanchez only allowed one hit on the evening. That being a broken bat grounder just past the reach of Omar Infante at second leading off the ninth.

Tip your cap to Anibal. He was a special kind of good. And his resume looks pretty good right now with one no-hitter and two one-hitters.

On the other side, Jhoulys Chacin was not sharp at all, but color me not the least bit surprised or worried. All pitchers are going to struggle, and often times they struggle the most when they have extra rest between starts. That's the situation Chacin was facing Friday, having not thrown in an entire week. There's something to keeping a schedule, routine and rhythm for pitchers. That's why Jim Tracy has been conscious of it in the past.

I expect much better from Chacin on Wednesday afternoon in Chicago.

I expect much better overall play Saturday in Florida.

And I expect Dante Bichette to never be invited to throw batting practice rounds again.

On second thought, don't blame me for the one-hitter. Blame it on Dante!

Lineup Card: 4-22-11 Rockies @ Marlins

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Colorado Rockies (13-5)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. LF Carlos Gonzalez 
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 1B Todd Helton
6. RF Seth Smith
7. 3B Ty Wigginton
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P    Jhoulys Chacin

There's your best possible Rockies lineup on display for I believe the first time this season. And when you look at where Chacin is right now, that includes the pitcher's spot. 

Florida Marlins (11-6)

1. CF Chris Coghlan
2. 2B Omar Infante
3. SS Hanley Ramirez
4. 1B Gaby Sanchez
5. RF Mike Stanton
6. C   John Buck
7. LF Scott Cousins
8. 3B Emilio Bonifacio
9. P   Anibal Sanchez

Rockies Player Rankings: 4-21-11

Welcome to the first installment of my Rockies player rankings in 2011. I think I did about 4 or 5 of these last year at various points in the season. Usually on off days when there's little else to talk about. I plan on doing it a little more often this year. Every 18-20 games or so. 

Everything is taken into consideration -- offense, defense, pitching, clutchness, baserunning, consistency, awareness, intelligence. No stats involved. Just my personal evaluation and opinions.

This first list will include all 28 players that have taken an at-bat or thrown a pitch for the Rockies this season. As we move along, players that haven't been with the big club during the most recent period of time will likely be excluded.

For the record. This was an extremely difficult list to make for all the right reasons. I remember at times last year ranking the top 3-4 and then struggling to find another guy playing well. Right now several Rockies are playing well, and deciding who belongs where has been difficult.

Alright, enough of the intro... without any further ado...

1. Troy Tulowitzki
2. Jhoulys Chacin
3. Seth Smith
4. Chris Iannetta
5. Huston Street
6. Jonathan Herrera
7. Jorge De La Rosa
8. Todd Helton
9. Dexter Fowler
10. Matt Lindstrom
11. Matt Belisle
12. Ty Wigginton
13. Matt Reynolds
14. Rafael Betancourt
15. Carlos Gonzalez
16. Jason Hammel
17. Jose Morales
18. Greg Reynolds
19. Franklin Morales
20. Clayton Mortensen
21. Jose Lopez
22. Ryan Spilborghs
23. Jason Giambi
24. Ubaldo Jimenez
25. Esmil Rogers
26. Felipe Paulino
27. Ian Stewart
28. Alan Johnson

Rock Solid Recap: No Sweep For You, Champ

The Rockies may have dropped their first series of the season to San Francisco, but they sure as hell weren't going to be swept.

Rockies 10, Giants 2 (boxscore)

-- The offense really provided a great lift, scoring just as many runs today (6) against Cain as they did in his four starts against them last season.

Obviously Cain wasn't at his very best, but I didn't really think he was bad either. The Rockies offense just took it to him. They did what made them successful on the road trip, and that's maximize their scoring opportunities. A pair of four run innings certainly bears that out.

-- The biggest swing came from Ty Wigginton. His three-run second inning homer, which was also his 1,000th career hit, was the big hit the Rockies can never seem to find against Cain. Wigginton also had the two-out, three-run double in Pittsburgh which is a big hit the Rockies can rarely find on the road.

What I'm saying: Mr. Wigginton has been a fantastic addition even if the average doesn't overwhelm you.

Watch Wigginton's three-run homer

-- Nice job by Jorge De La Rosa to minimize the Giants first inning damage today. They did score one, but it looked like it could be a three-peat of the last two games. He put an end to that, and then pitched aggressively and effectively with a nice lead.

His final line: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. That's as Rock Solid as it gets.

-- It could be time for Seth Smith to shed the Mr. Late Night nickname. It's a fun one to be sure, but he's a starter now, and he's hitting at all hours of the day.

Watch Smitty do work

-- Really impressed with the at-bats Jose Morales takes. Working counts. Driving pitches the other way. Looks like he may strike out quite a bit, but doesn't do so without putting up a decent fight. Really nice guy to have as a backup.

Watch Jose's RBI double

-- Carlos Gonzalez looked pretty lost against lefties Dan Runzler and Jeremy Affeldt late in the game. He was bailing on some pitches and just looked really uncomfortable. His reactions after both at-bats tell you he's fighting it mentally. Hopefully he finds a good answer to his problem during the off day.

-- Troy Tulowitzki had a very professional day at the plate. Three hits, three runs scored. Didn't look like he was thinking about hitting that 100th career home run, just looking to find a way on base and help his team that way.

-- Ryan Spilborghs came through with the three-run homer the Rockies could have used last night down three. The home run extended the lead from 7-2 to 10-2. Oh well, like I tweeted when it happened, he needed it more than the team did. Hopefully it'll jump start him on a hot streak.

Watch Spilly find the Rockies bullpen

-- And we'll just call it a day with this wonderful screencap courtesy CSN Bay Area.

Lineup Card: 4-20-11 Rockies vs Giants

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Colorado Rockies (12-5)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. LF Carlos Gonzalez
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 1B Todd Helton
6. RF Seth Smith
7. 3B Ty Wigginton
8. C   Jose Morales
9. P   Jorge De La Rosa

San Francisco Giants (10-7)

1. CF Aaron Rowand
2. 2B Freddy Sanchez
3. 1B Aubrey Huff
4. C   Buster Posey
5. RF Cody Ross
6. LF Pat Burrell
7. SS Miguel Tejada
8. 3B Mark Derosa
9. P   Matt Cain

Rock Solid Recrap: Giants four-run first does in Rockies

Allowing your opponent to score first isn't necessarily a death blow to your chances of winning. We saw that in New York when the Mets scored first in all four games and the Rockies managed to win all four games.

However, allowing your opponent to jump out to 5-0 and 4-0 leads in the first inning on back-to-back nights really is pretty close to a death blow. Especially when your opponent is featuring talented starters like Tim Lincecum and Jonathan Sanchez.

That's the position the Rockies have found themselves in the past two nights, and because of that have now dropped the first two in this overhyped April series.

Giants 6, Rockies 3 (boxscore)

-- Ubaldo Jimenez came out of the gates rusty tonight, which was to be expected. By the time he got his command and velocity back closer to normal levels, it was already too late. The Giants had their four runs, which ultimately proved to be all they needed.

The question: Would the Rockies have been wise to have Ubaldo throw a rehab start?

My answer: Perhaps. But if he goes down to Tulsa or somewhere and throws six innings of two hit ball, it feels like you wasted a good outing. I really had no problem with the decision going in. That feeling didn't change based on this performance and result.

-- The best at-bats of the game once again belonged to Dexter Fowler. He doubled leading off the game against Jonathan Sanchez. A rocket that continued sailing over Nate Schierholtz's head in right. The Rockies would go six innings until their next hit, which was another Fowler double, driving in two. That big hit made possible by Jonathan Herrera drawing a nine pitch walk.

-- Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki were a combined 0-for-8 and are now 1-for-16 in the series. That explains a lot.

-- A lot of talk about Ryan Spilborghs on Twitter after his ugly 0-for-4 performance.

Among his poor at-bats tonight were a four pitch strikeout as the tying run in the 7th. He was way overmatched by former Rockie Ramon Ramirez that time. But I honestly disliked his first inning at-bat even more.

After Fowler's aforementioned double leading off, Spilborghs pulled a weak a grounder to third on a 2-1 fastball. No advancement of the runner. Didn't appear (though I can't read his mind) that he was planning on going the other way. Just a lousy approach and a lousy piece of hitting out of the two-spot.

I'm not going to base any thoughts on one night or one at-bat. My opinion on Spilborghs has always been consistent over the years. As a 5th outfielder that plays exclusively against lefties, he can help you. As a 4th outfielder that obviously has to take some starts and big at-bats against righties, you're doomed to nights like tonight.

I already forget who said it, but it was said that if not for his personality and popularity, Spilborghs is easily replacable. That's exactly the proper assessment. Without the personality and likeability, which I do appreciate, he's just another guy that makes his mark and then gets replaced by the next guy with equal or better talent.

Now, all of this said, I'm not starting a movement here to have Spilborghs released or anything like that. The topic was just a hot one tonight and I felt like blogging my two cents. Hopefully he finds some success in the coming days and makes the topic go away. If he doesn't, there are going to be some awkward and heated exchanges among Rockies fans. You can bet on that.

-- Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow are pretty intelligent but mostly annoying announcers for San Francisco. Unfortunately only the annoying part rubs off on the vast majority of Giants fans I've interacted with over the years. I said majority, not all. They do have good fans. I know a couple.

Rockies have bad fans. I've seen one or two of those as well.

-- Jorge De La Rosa vs. Matt Cain tomorrow. Let's find a place to put those broomhandles that Giants fans are sure to be carrying.

Lineup Card: 4-19-11 Rockies vs Giants

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Colorado Rockies (12-4)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. RF Ryan Spilborghs
3. LF Carlos Gonzalez
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 1B Todd Helton
6. 2B Jose Lopez
7. 3B Ty Wigginton
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P    Ubaldo Jimenez

Ubaldo's back, and to make room on the roster Ian Stewart has officially been optioned to Colorado Springs. It's not a surprise to anyone. Ian Stewart needs to collect some at-bats. For some reason Jim Tracy wasn't willing to give him consistent at-bats, despite Jose Lopez and Ty Wigginton not exactly swinging hot bats, but hey, we'll see what happens here. 

San Francisco Giants (9-7)

1. CF Aaron Rowand
2. 2B Freddy Sanchez
3. 1B Aubrey Huff
4. C   Buster Posey
5. 3B Pablo Sandoval
6. LF Pat Burrell
7. RF Nate Schierholtz
8. SS Mike Fontenot
9. P   Jonathan Sanchez

Rock Solid Recrap: Rockies play a stinker in opener with Giants

In the immortal words of Frank (@druidlove).

"Game stunk worse than a recrap."

He was at Coors Field for Monday's beatdown at the hands of the San Francisco Giants. I was still in Freeport, IL, yet I could smell the stench from here.

Giants 8, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

Let's start with the positives.

-- Clayton Mortensen threw six scoreless innings of relief. He allowed two hits, two walks, struck out only one, but induced eleven groundouts. This will not only serve as a positive in Monday's game, but a positive for the next 2-3 games as the core of the Rockies bullpen has been spared.

-- Tim Lincecum didn't throw a perfect game, no-hitter or a shutout.

And now the negatives.

-- Esmil Rogers entered Monday's game having gone 228 batters without allowing a home run. That was the longest active streak for any starting pitcher in the big leagues. Within eleven batters on Monday, he had allowed three.

Those included back-to-back two out homers in the first inning. Pat Burrell's was a devastating three-run shot that opened the deficit to 4-0. 1-0 to 4-0 in a four seconds. Nate Schierholtz followed that with a 467 foot bomb to the third deck. Freddy Sanchez then hit a two out solo home run in the second inning.

So again we have the same issue with Esmil. Inability to finish off hitters and innings in an authoritative manner. In past outings it may not have stood out as much because as I noted above, Esmil wasn't allowing home runs. But when some of those outs you can't get start landing in the those seats, or worse yet, coming around and scoring on a ball that landed in the seats, it stands out because the scoreboard lights up a lot faster.

It continues to be a work in progress with Esmil. He's in no danger of losing his starting spot at this point, nor should he be. But there needs to be an advancement in a positive direction in the next 4-6 weeks.

Whether it be Aaron Cook coming back, or the Rockies wanting to get a look at John Maine, or a guy like Greg Reynolds or Mortensen impressing someone in the front office enough to warrant an opportunity. The Rockies will look in another direction if they have to, because this team is built to win now, and they need to stay as strong as possible at all 25 spots.

-- The offense had a rough night. But honestly, when Lincecum is as good as he was on Monday, any offense would have a rough night. And as I've said several times, if your offense is going to have a bad night, there's no better night to have it then a night your pitching blows up. You'd hate to waste a brilliant outing or an offensive outburst, or both on two nights in a row.

That's how I cope with blowouts. Hopefully Tuesday brings much happier results and thoughts.

Lineup Card: 4-18-11 Rockies vs Giants

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Colorado Rockies (12-3)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. LF Carlos Gonzalez
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 1B Todd Helton
6. RF Ryan Spilborghs
7. 3B Jose Lopez
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P    Esmil Rogers

While Ian Stewart remains with the big club, he remains firmly planted on the bench. It will be interesting to see how Jose Lopez fares in this matchup. Just based on what I've seen it seems like one he'll be overmatched in.

The Rockies also optioned Alan Johnson back to Triple A (we knew that was coming) and elected to bring up Clayton Mortensen as insurance tonight with Matt Belisle unavailable. His stay will be a short with Ubaldo due back tomorrow... unless something happens tonight. 

Seth Smith (groin) remains day-to-day just like the rest of us. 

San Francisco Giants (8-7)

1. CF Aaron Rowand
2. 2B Freddy Sanchez
3. 1B Aubrey Huff
4. C  Buster Posey
5. 3B Pablo Sandoval
6. LF Pat Burrell
7. RF Nate Schierholtz
8. SS Miguel Tejada
9. P   Tim Lincecum

Rock Solid Recap: Rockies outlast Cubs in near four hour snoozer

If you've been trying to get a friend, relative, partner, what have you, to understand why you love the game of baseball, I hope they weren't watching today's mess at Coors Field. This was ugly. This set baseball in Denver back to 1997, when four hour games weren't all that unusual. But neither were 25-30 total runs. Today's game only featured 14.

It was as if Rafael Betancourt pitched every half inning for both teams... in slow motion.

It was like watching a Red Sox/Yankees doubleheader.

It was like every college football game ever.

I think you get the point. It had no pace and was difficult to sit through.

Rockies 9, Cubs 5 (boxscore)

As we sift through the three hours, fourty-two minutes. As we sift through the 360 total pitches. As we sift through the 81 different plate appearances, it really comes down to one at-bat. The clutch two-out, two-run double from Dexter Fowler in the 8th.

After Ryan Spilborghs led off with an infield single and moved to third on Jose Lopez's "double" (really single/error), Jose Morales and Ty Wigginton failed to get a baseball in play. You couldn't help but be overcome by a sense of dread. Like the Cubs were once again going to wiggle out of trouble and find a way to steal this series away. That's when Dexter Fowler went to work.

Fowler's new found confidence was as apparent as ever as he calmly stood in there, worked the count to 2-2 and smacked his pitch into the right center field gap. Before with two strikes you could almost assume an out with Dexter. It didn't matter it was 0-2 or 3-2. He was overmatched. Because of that we rarely saw him feeling comfortable enough to even allow an at-bat to get 4-5 pitches deep.

Watch Dexter's game changer

That's not the Dexter Fowler we're seeing now. And I'm telling you, the work he's doing at the top along with Jonathan Herrera is giving this offense a dimension it hasn't had in the humidor era. They are creating runs out of nowhere and giving professional at-bats even with two outs and no one on base. They give nothing away.

Watch Herrera provide some insurance

If this keeps up, there's no good reason to worry about the offense going through extended slumps.

-- Not much you can say about Alan Johnson other than he was obviously overmatched. When you're overmatched and can't get ahead early in counts, you're going to have a rough go. Nothing against him at all. Just wasn't a good spot for him to have much success. I wish him well back at Colorado Springs.

-- Matt Belisle, Matt Reynolds, Rafael Betancourt and Huston Street. High fives for all of you!

Watch Huston Street close the door

-- The failed second inning hit-and-run was completely unnecessary. Ryan Dempster was searching for outs every which way and the silly decision allowed him to get off the deck. It wasn't Herrera's fault, because it was an impossible pitch to hit. It was just a bad call with Gonzalez and Tulowitzki waiting in the wings. One of those calls Jim Tracy makes every now and then to remind us he's the manager.

-- Seth Smith left the game with tweaked groin. Please be okay Seth!

Watch Smith homer in the first

-- Carlos Gonzalez contributed four hits. Imagine if he catches fire.

-- Is it too early to predict 3,000 hits for Starlin Castro... this season? He's 21. His talent is ridiculous.

-- Tim Lincecum and company coming to town tomorrow. I think business is about to pick up.

Lineup Card: 4-17-11 Rockies vs Cubs

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Colorado Rockies (11-3)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. LF Carlos Gonzalez
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 1B Todd Helton
6. RF Seth Smith
7. 3B Jose Lopez
8. C   Jose Morales
9. P   Alan Johnson

And Jim Tracy yanks Ian Stewart from the lineup again. Ridiculous. It's not like Jose Lopez or Ty Wigginton are lighting it up right now. Let Ian play. Let him string some ABs together. This is the same crap that put Iannetta in a funk last season. Awful management of the lineup. And I don't care what his career numbers are against Dempster. 

Chicago Cubs (7-7)

1. SS Starlin Castro 
2. 2B Darwin Barney
3. CF Marlon Byrd
4. 3B Aramis Ramirez
5. 1B Carlos Pena
6. LF Alfonso Soriano
7. RF Kosuke Fukudome
8. C   Geovany Soto
9. P    Ryan Dempster

Rock Solid Recrap: It was bound to happen

A loss.

A big, fat, stinky, smelly loss. To the Cubs. At home. That's almost as rare as the Rockies winning in New York. But hey, that's baseball.

Anyways, that loss is the Rockies first in the last eight days. The Mets could lose their sixth game in about 96 hours on Sunday. I'd say things are still going pretty well here.

Cubs 8, Rockies 3 (boxscore) 

-- 0-for-12 with RISP. That speaks for itself doesn't it?

The 5th inning was without question the most frustrating of the blown scoring chances. Fowler leads off with a double, moves to third on an error by Casey Coleman. Jonathan Herrera followed that up by swinging at a 2-0 pitch and tapping back to the mound. Definitely not Herrera's best at-bat or best approach. Especially with Coleman's iffy command. Herrera could have stretched that out and drawn a walk.

After Giambi was plunked on the first pitch, Troy Tulowitzki stepped in and took three straight out of the zone. Okay, so Coleman has missed on six out of seven pitches and thrown wildly on a pickoff attempt. He's possibly rattled or just proving to be a less than solid starting pitching option at this point.

Then came the moment that confirmed this wasn't the Rockies night. Tulowitzki offered at the 3-0 pitch and fouled out to first.

Rally dead on arrival.

-- Jason Hammel wasn't very sharp tonight, but again, he left the game only down 3-1. It wasn't pretty at any point, but he didn't kill the team in any way either. And the good news is he's going to get better as we go along. I have little doubt of that, and I'm sure it'll come at a time when the team needs it most.

-- Felipe Paulino hasn't been right since the groin injury in Pittsburgh. Tonight he was just plain wrong. Makes me wonder if the groin is still an issue and if a DL stint might in the works for him. Pure speculation. But justified speculation in my mind.

-- Chris Iannetta is still raking. For the second night in a row he provided the only real offensive highlight.

Watch Iannetta go yard

-- Troy Tulowitzki is baseball's best shortstop. How long before Chicago's Starlin Castro becomes his biggest challenger? In all honesty, I'm not so sure he isn't already. Helluva talent.

-- No sense dwelling any more on this one. Still a chance to win a series tomorrow, but it won't be easy with the unknown Alan Johnson on the mound. Then again, opponent Ryan Dempster has an 11.37 career ERA at Coors Field. I think we're looking at our first true slugfest of 2011.

Lineup Card: Rockies vs. Cubs 4-16-11

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Colorado Rockies (11-2)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. 1B Jason Giambi
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. RF Seth Smith
6. LF Ty Wigginton
7. 3B  Ian Stewart
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P    Jason Hammel

Indeed Carlos Gonzalez gets the evening off. I figured he would after some of those at-bats last night. But I'm not sure how I feel good about this defensive alignment, at Coors Field, with Jason Hammel on the mound. He's a guy that has to rely on his defense. Many of his bad innings/outings are defensive issue related, so it'll be interesting. 

Chicago Cubs (6-7)

1. SS Starlin Castro
2. 2B Darwin Barney
3. CF Marlon Byrd
4. 3B Aramis Ramirez
5. 1B Carlos Pena
6. LF Alfonso Soriano
7. RF Kosuke Fukudome
8. C   Koyle Hill
9. P   Casey Coleman

Rock Solid Recap: Chacin takes charge

Rockies 5, Cubs 0 (boxscore)

On a night when the Colorado Rockies needed a strong starting pitching effort, Jhoulys Chacin went out and hurled the best game of his young career. His first career complete game shutout. The first of what I assume will be many.

Although the Cubs did put eight runners on base against Chacin, you never had the feeling they were truly threatening to mount a comeback, let alone score one run. He had that much of a strong command over his pitches and his poise. He was simply locked in physically and mentally.

Brilliance. Pure brilliance from pitch #1 until pitch #114 is how I'll describe it. Fun to watch. And it looked so effortless.

Watch highlights of Chacin's shutout

-- Chris Iannetta provided 80% of the Rockies offense with one swing and a little help from the Cubs defense.

Watch Iannetta's Little League Grand Slam

So many times in the past the Rockies have wasted such opportunities by not getting the baseball in play. Iannetta's bases clearing triple reinforces how important that is. Anything can happen when you put the ball in play. It's not always what you want, but it's proven fact that nothing good can happen when you're striking out.

Iannetta also had another very good game behind the plate. His overall game is at a level now that we all have to feel good about. The average isn't great (.219), but the OBP (.444) and SLG (.469) are stellar. Sustaining this production or anything close to it will be a challenge for Chris, but just seeing he's capable make me feel  optimistic that he's turned the corner and will hold steady.

-- I liked Jose Lopez a lot better when he was proving me wrong.

-- Todd Helton. Two more hits. Water still wet.

-- Wonder if Carlos Gonzalez is due for a day off. Looks like a guy that needs to clear his mind and maybe spend a day sitting next to Carney Lansford. Or hell, maybe he needs to be talking to Jonathan Herrera.

-- Troy Tulowitzki's home run drought will be at 50 hours at first pitch Saturday. Odds it doesn't get to 51?

Lineup Card: 4-15-11 Rockies vs Cubs

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

It's a good thing this game is being played in Colorado. Weather in the Chicago area has been windy, rain, cold and just plain brutal today.

Colorado Rockies (10-2)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. LF Carlos Gonzalez
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 1B Todd Helton
6. RF Seth Smith
7. 3B Jose Lopez
8. C  Chris Iannetta
9. P   Jhoulys Chacin

Chicago Cubs (6-6)

1. SS Starlin Castro (Special talent. Must keep him off the bases)
2. 2B Darwin Barney
3. CF Marlon Byrd
4. 3B Aramis Ramirez
5. 1B Carlos Pena
6. LF Alfonso Soriano
7. RF Tyler Colvin
8. C   Geovany Soto
9. P    Matt Garza

Video: Huston Street seeks Houston Street

Appreciate the folks at MLB for passing this video along of Rockies closer Huston Street visiting the MLB Fan Cave on 4th and Broadway in Manhattan. The video includes Huston asking onlookers for directions to Manhatten's Houston Street, which actually pronounced HOW-stan. Much confusion ensues in the short clip. 

Watch the video here

Rock Solid Recap: Boomsticks & Broomsticks

Rockies 9, Mets 4 (boxscore) 

Not in our wildest dreams could we have imagined the Colorado Rockies winning a series in Pittsburgh, following that up by not only winning that elusive series in New York, but sweeping an entire four game series in New York, including sweeping a doubleheader. That sh... stuff never happens! None of it.

But you know what? When Troy Tulowitzki isn't in the mood to lose. When Jonathan Herrera muscles up for his second career home run. When you get back-to-back solid starts from both Esmil Rogers and Greg Reynolds. When your closer can be awful in a save situation and you still don't blow the game.

When all of those things come together -- you may be a little bit lucky, but -- you're not going to lose.

-- Yes, I said Jonathan Herrera went yard. He turned on a Taylor Buchholz pitch and hit a three-run missile into the right field seats in the 6th inning. That came two batters after Brad Emaus failed to turn the easiest inning-ending double play of life with Jorge De La Rosa running. Dexter Fowler also had a clutch two-out, RBI single which set the table for Herrera.

Watch Herrera's rocket

The reactions of Troy Tulowitzki, Jim Tracy and the guys in the dugout are priceless.

-- Troy Tulowitzki completed his sweep of New York. He became the first player to homer in every game of a series at Citi Field. In case you forgot, this was a four game series.

Watch Tulo's 99th career homer

-- Jorge De La Rosa's day was an interesting one. He did not have much command of anything early on. He left several flat pitches right in the happy zone and New York's right-handed bats made him pay with some good swings, but never could deliver a knockout blow. They would regret that because Jorge collected himself in innings five, six and seven.

In the end his lined looked this: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 7 SO, 1 WP. 116 pitches.

Again, considering the way he started that's an excellent line. But on a normal day under normal circumstances I wonder how long Tracy would have stuck with him.

-- Good job by the bullpen -- Matt Reynolds, Rafael Betancourt and Felipe Paulino -- to eliminate any and all drama from the second game. We all needed that little late inning breather, but no one needed it more than Jim Tracy.

-- Todd Helton had three hits. Because he's a freaking brilliant hitter.

-- Carlos Gonzalez waits patiently for Dexter Fowler to catch a flyball in Game 2.

-- Well, the Rockies will be dragged kicking and screaming back to Coors Field for a homestand beginning with the Cubs on Friday. This would be an easy series to overlook coming off this roadie and looking ahead to the Giants coming in next week. Hopefully Colorado can maintain the focus necessary to take care of business.