This something we haven't seen a lot of lately. A solid offensive performance, coupled with an outstanding pitching effort. AND the bullpen made it stand up. That's three phases of the game clicking at once. Plus they stole three more bases. I'm almost overwhelmed with positives.
Juan Nicasio: Well hot damn. Nicasio allowed a home run to the first batter of the game. Hit the second batter. Had lousy command early, which led me to believe this was going to be a short night at the office for him. Yet the kid absolutely owned this game for six innings once he got his feet under him.
Nine strikeouts. That ties a season high for Rockies starters. The breaking ball looked like a solid strikeout pitch at times. Great poise and confidence on display. This was a damn good 4th major league start for a 24-year-old.
Rex Brothers: You can stay forever. You're the goods.
Letting Brothers hit: Not a popular decision. Not one I would endorse very often, but given the limited options in the bullpen and a four run lead, it was fine. At some point you have to make an effort to save your bullpen, even at the risk of jeopardizing a game you're playing, to give you a chance later. This was one of those spots. It was actually calculated very well by Jim Tracy, and Rex Brothers made it work with a great 8th inning.
And yes, I'm sorry you don't get tacos. The win works just fine for me.
Chris Iannetta: He had a meet me halfway type of game. He walked once, which is fine, but he also unloaded once, practicially one-handing a three-run home run off Pat Neshak. That's some impressive power. Game-changing power. That's the phrase I always like to use with Chris, and we saw what it means.
The multi-hit club had four members on Tuesday.
1. Todd Helton: The legend lives on.
2. Troy Tulowitzki: Average up to .273 now.
3. Ty Wigginton: I thought the big man was running out of gas with all of these starts lately. I was wrong. He's on about an 8th wind right now. Even made a terrific play defensively that bailed the bullpen out of a tough spot. Good night for him.
4. Charlie Blackmon: The new golden boy. And rightfully so. Not only is he hitting, getting on base, driving in runs, but he's given the Rockies a legitimate running game with four steals in just over a week. That's double Dexter Fowler's total, which I'm sure you've heard a few times by now, and it puts him six off Carlos Gonzalez's team leading total in 58 less games.
Troy Tulowitzki and Chris Nelson also had steals in the game. It's nice to finally take advantage of opponents with some aggression, instead of watching their runners create opportunities on us on a nightly basis.
Overall: A very solid TEAM win. They're not at a point where they can rely on any one person to carry them, so TEAM has to remain important. TEAM wins. Everyone chips in and plays sound baseball.
0 comments:
Post a Comment