Rock Solid Recap: Rockies offense lashes out violently

Jim Tracy: "Coors Field will be a bad place for opponents to come." (Denver Post)

For one game anyway, that's no Tracy horseshit.

Rockies 12, Diamondbacks 4 (boxscore)

-- Despite the offensive breakthrough, which was fantastic, the biggest storyline of the afternoon is the soreness in Jorge De La Rosa's elbow. No word at this time what the exact problem is there. All we can do is cross our fingers and hope to hear encouraging news, because that would be a very difficult setback to overcome even for a team's that playing consistently good baseball, which the Rockies are not.

-- I said after Sunday's game that the Rockies offense struggles to create runs. They do, but there's no need to create runs when you're stringing together quality at-bats and putting good swings on baseballs. That's what the Rockies started doing in the 4th inning, and it continued right on through until the end.

-- Carlos Gonzalez started the offense with a solo home run in the 4th. He also finished the offense with a two-run homer in the 7th. In between he drew a walk that loaded the bases and delivered an RBI groundout. That's a beautiful game from your three-hole hitter.

-- Other offensive heroes: Dexter Fowler (two hits, triple, two walks, two runs, two RBI), Seth Smith (home run, double, one run, two RBI), Jose Lopez (two hits), and Chris Iannetta (two hits, walk, two runs).

Damn that Dexter Fowler line was a good one. And I shouldn't forget about Troy Tulowitzki's bases loaded walk. That was a pivotal time in the game, so for Tulo to show that type of patience, and also confidence in the hitters behind him, is good to see.

-- Hats off to Greg Reynolds for his good relief this afternoon. Never easy being forced into duty due to injury, but he gave the Rockies exactly what they needed. Now it seems likely the Rockies will need him to make at least one start this weekend and potentially more depending on De La Rosa and Aaron Cook.

-- Role change: Rafael Betancourt pitched a 1-2-3 7th inning. It appears Matt Lindstrom was due to pitch the 8th, but the Rockies plated five in their half of the seventh so we got Matt Daley instead. Could be a temporary deal, but with how well Lindstrom has thrown, I wouldn't just hand the 8th inning back to Raffy once he figures it out.

-- Overlooked play: Really excellent play by Chris Iannetta fielding the wild pitch ricochet and firing a perfect strike to third to nail Melvin Mora. Definitely some luck involved there, but Iannetta made a nice play. That shut down a potential rally when the Rockies lead was still only 5-3. Big play.

-- That concludes the Game 1 recap. Game 2 recap to come later assuming the weather holds off.