Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Rock Solid Recrap: Say good-bye to May

As I tweeted during the game, the Dodgers might be wise to print May 32nd everywhere they possibly can on Wednesday. Just the sight of the word could having the Rockies sucking their thumb in the fetal position. Which is almost where I was watching Tuesday's disaster.

Katie Martinez of Blake Street Buzz had a beautiful description of this game without even breaking down any specifics.

Envision the Dodgers logo. Now add arms, legs, angry eyes, and a mocking mouth. And give it a baseball bat to hold.

Got it?

Now picture the Colorado Rockies logo, also with arms and legs, but with eyes stretched wide in fear and a mouth gaping open in disbelief.

Got it?

Finally, animate the images. Let the Dodgers hit the Rockies repeatedly with the bat until the Rockies logo is raising its arms to fend off the blows while rolling impotently on the ground and crying.

Bingo.

Dodgers 8, Rockies 2 (boxscore)

Some quick thoughts.

-- Clayton Mortensen is good enough when he throws strikes and attacks the zone. When he walks four in four innings, obviously that won't be good enough. Nothing surprising about that. I still like him and think he deserves a role on the team. That will change quickly if the walks continue piling up.

-- Bickering on Twitter over who should have been in the outfield with Ryan Spilborghs and Seth Smith battling groin strains. Ty Wigginton got the assignment in RIGHT field, while Carlos Gonzalez stayed cozy in left, Fowler in center, Eric Young at second and Jonathan Herrera seat belted to the bench. You'll never guess how it all worked out. (Watch)

Personally, I think it's a toss up between Wigginton and Young. Both are not outfielders. Not even close. But what can you do when one has to be out there?

Where I'm annoyed is this whole Gonzalez MUST play left field every day nonsense. It needs to become more flexible. As in, it's time for Gonzalez to make some starts in CF or RF immediately. It's what's best for the team. And it's probably blocking Charlie Blackmon's path to big leagues. That definitely isn't making the team better.

-- By the way, Ty Wigginton has an eight game hitting streak.

-- Chris Nelson created a run with some aggressive and smart baserunning. He doubled, stole third without a throw (something I thought only Rockies opponents could do), and then read a popfly perfectly and was able to tag and score when Jamey Carroll caught the ball running away from the infield. It didn't make a difference in this game, but having the ability to steal a run like that will benefit them sooner or later.

-- On to June we go. I don't expect anything magical to happen, but here's hoping the change on the calendar allows some relaxation from a mental standpoint. That's the first step to finding that success again.

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