Rock Solid Recap: The show must go on

The human side of me is very sad to see Ubaldo Jimenez go. The sight of him embracing his teammates and saying his goodbyes admittedly choked me up. It was tough to watch. That's a real moment between real people that you know love and respect each other. It's emotional.

The baseball side of me understands the situation. I understand the Rockies made a move they 100% believe will make them better. I know they didn't make this move for the hell of it, to prove a point, to hurt Ubadlo or to annoy the fanbase. They made a business decision intended to put this team back in contention. I understand all of that, and I accept it for what it is.

The baseball side always wins out. I'm a fan of the Colorado Rockies first and foremost. As much as I love the players that come and go, some more willingly than others, none of them are bigger than the team I love. Even Todd Helton.

So I say goodbye to a class act in Ubaldo Jimenez. At the same time, I welcome Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Joe Gardner and Matt McBride to the organization. Hopefully we grow to love one or two of them as much as we did Ubaldo.

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Rock Solid Recap: Hammel punches back against Padres

That was Jim Tracy's headline quote in the postgame describing Jason Hammel's impressive outing and victory over the San Diego Padres.

Rockies 3, Padres 2 (boxscore)

Apparently Hammel had a sitdown talk with some coaches after his last start and the gameplan for Friday night was to pitch inside more. It appeared to work, although I'd be lying if I said I paid real close attention to his location in comparison to previous starts. I just know he was throwing the ball with some zip, and was able to overcome the small doses of traffic he dealt with. I'm encouraged by that even if it was against a sorry offense in a very pitcher-friendly park.

Hammel's line: 6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB 5 K

The important thing for Hammel now is to make this start his foundation for rebuilding his season that crumbled around the last month or so. A home date with the Philadelphia Phillies next week will make that a difficult task, though a good start there could go a long towards rehabbing everyone's confidence in him, including his own.

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Lineup Card: 7-29-11 Rockies @ Padres

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you every night game and some afternoon games.

Links

Wednesday's Recap!: Aaron Cooks is alive... and the Dodgers stink

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (49-56)

1. LF Eric Young
2. CF Dexter Fowler
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. RF Seth Smith
6. 2B Mark Ellis
7. 3B Ian Stewart
8. C  Chris Iannetta
9. P   Jason Hammel

Be good tonight Jason Hammel. Every time you're not good I feel sad because Rockies fans that don't like you are justified in their anger. I don't like that because they hated you even when you were good, and it makes them feel smart that they always thought you sucked, which you didn't. 

So be good!

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Rock Solid Recap: Aaron Cook is alive... and the Dodgers stink

That would be the simplest way to recap Wednesday's win, but I'll go a little further.

Rockies 3, Dodgers 1 (boxscore)

I'll never argue with a win under any circumstances,.and I'll give credit to Aaron Cook where it's due. He threw ball well, got about a dozen groundouts and didn't kill himself with the base on balls. That's how the gameplan has always been drawn up for Aaron. When executed (especially against punch less offense) he succeeds and sometimes even dominates like this one.

Breaking: The Rockies have extended pitcher Aaron Cook's contract through the year 2018.

Only kidding. Dan O'Dowd hasn't gone that far off the deep end yet. And if he was really smart, I think about the sixth inning he should have sent out a mass email to every other GM letting them know what was going on and emphasizing his asking price for Aaron was still pay for his airfare and we'll call it even.

Three more positives

1. Troy Tulowitzki: A three hit night for Troy. Two of those with two outs and RISP. Productive at-bats to be sure, but more so encouraging to me because he wasn't afraid to work a count and was actually seemed focused on going back up the middle. Good to see.

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Lineup Card: 7-27-11 Rockies @ Dodgers

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you every night game and some afternoon games.

Links

• Yesterday's Lackluster Recrap: No words, just pictures
• Rockies Woman: Three-ring outfield
• Purple Row: Wednesday's Pebble Report (Encouraging news on Tyler Matzek)

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (48-56)

1. LF Eric Young
2. CF Dexter Fowler 
3. SS Troy Tulowitzki
4. RF Seth Smith
5. 1B Ty Wigginton
6. 3B Ian Stewart
7. 2B Mark Ellis
8. C   Eliezer Alfonzo
9. P   Aaron Cook

This lineup is destined for another picture-filled recrap. 

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Lackluster Recrap: No words, just pictures

Dodgers 3, Rockies 2 (boxscore)

Lineup Card: 7-26-11 Rockies @ Dodgers

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you every night game and some afternoon games.

Links

• Yesterday's Lackluster Recrap: At least we aren't the Dodgers. Oh, wait...
• Blake Street Bulletin: Lollygaggers!
• Blake Street Bulletin: Jim Tracy is not helping Ian Stewart
• Purple Row: Tuesday Pebble Report
• Rockies Woman: Not-So-Jolly-Rogers

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (48-55)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 3B Jonathan Herrera
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. LF Ty Wigginton
6. 2B Mark Ellis
7. RF Ryan Spilborghs
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P   Jhoulys Chacin

Short of Jhoulys Chacin throwing a 10-inning shutout, is there a good reason to believe the Rockies will beat Clayton Kershaw tonight? I can't think of one.

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Lackluster Recrap: At least we aren't the Dodgers. Oh, wait...

I can't even make Dodgers jokes anymore. That's how abysmal things have gotten in this miserable, depressing, atrocious 2011 season. If they sweep this series, which I wouldn't want to bet money against, they will pass the Rockies in the standings. Even if that doesn't happen, just the beating they gave the Rockies tonight is disheartening enough.

Make this **** stop.

Dodgers 8, Rockies 5 (boxscore)

I seriously had no idea what I was going to write about tonight. Then I saw this tweet from David Martin over at @RockiesReview.

Writing about the #Rockies is an easy job...copy. paste. repeat.

Here's what I'm going to do. Instead of copying and pasting my own past rantings, I'll just copy and paste a link directly to David's recap of Monday's game. He always tells it like it is, and this article is no different as he breaks down Troy Tulowitzki's continued struggles in clutch situations.

Enjoy that. But before you go there, check out the positives I found in Monday's loss. Alright, so I really had to stretch for these, but I did find three this time!

Three positives

1. The Rockies scored first: It all happened with two outs in the 2nd. Chris Iannetta rolled a single up the middle. Juan Nicasio then singled sharply down the right field line, moving Iannetta to third. And then Dexter Fowler plated the run with his own single. 1-0 Rockies.

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Lineup Card: 7-25-11 Rockies @ Dodgers

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you every night game and some afternoon games.

Links

Yesterday's Lackluster Recrap: Another Sunday no show

Roster Move

Esmil Rogers recalled from Triple A, Eric Stults designated for assignment.

This is why I don't like speculating on injuries. I would have never figured Rogers would be back before August when he was shutdown again in June. September maybe, certainly not August. Hat tip to him for getting back fairly quickly, but let's also hope he's truly 100% and ready to go. Not only do the Rockies desperately need an arm, but above that, they need to get a fair assessment of him heading into 2012.

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (48-54)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Mark Ellis
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. RF Seth Smith
6. LF Ty Wigginton
7. 3B Ian Stewart
8. C  Chris Iannetta
9. P   Juan Nicasio

I'm at the point where I seriously look forward to Nicasio outings more than anything else with this team because he actually gives me hope for the future. We don't have enough of those guys around here. I bet Dodgers fans feel the same way about their starter tonight Rubby De La Rosa. 

Los Angeles Dodgers (45-56)

1. SS Rafael Furcal
2. 3B Aaron Miles
3. RF Andre Ethier
4. CF Matt Kemp
5. LF Juan Rivera
6. 1B James Loney
7. C  Dioner Navarro
8. 2B Eugenio Velez
9. P   Rubby De La Rosa

Lackluster Recrap: Another Sunday no show

It's becoming increasingly difficult to sit through Colorado Rockies baseball games, let alone write about them. Especially on Sundays, when the team finds new ways to embarrass themselves and discourage the fanbase. 

It's ridiculous. And you can't really blame Jim Tracy's lineup on this mess we witnessed today. Ubaldo Jimenez was on the mound, and the only regular not playing was Mark Ellis.

This team just flat out disappoints time and time again. There's no sense of urgency whatsoever. There's no pride to improve fundamentally. Instead, we watch players - like Seth Smith - continue to regress in every phase of the game. Smith's defensive effort in recent weeks has been shameful. And his offensive performance has sunk right along with it.

With Carlos Gonalez and Charlie Blackmon hurt, there's no place else to turn here. But he's proven again he won't be an every day player. He deserved the opportunity. He didn't get consistent enough playing time for a while in that role, but honestly, I don't think it mattered. He's not cut out for it. He's a solid hitter that's best used late in ballgames.

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Lineup Card: 7-24-11 Rockies @ Diamondbacks

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you every night game and some afternoon games. 

Links

Yesterday's Lackluster Recrap: Hammel's struggles continue

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (48-53)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. RF Seth Smith
6. 3B Ty Wigginton
7. LF Ryan Spilborghs
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P   Ubaldo Jimenez

Read more »

Lackluster Recrap: Hammel's struggles continue

D-Backs 12, Rockies 3 (boxscore)

Let's keep this short and sweet tonight.

Wish I could tell you what was wrong with Jason Hammel. Some people think he's distracted and disengaged. I wouldn't be surprised if he was hurting. Either the back injury that knocked him out a handful of starts ago, or something that developed because he pitched through that. Maybe it's a dead arm, or maybe he's just regressed to being a fringe rotation guy.

I don't know, but whatever it is is coming at the worst time. With Aaron Cook struggling. With Juan Nicasio learning on the fly. With Ubaldo and Jhoulys trading off being good, the Rockies need Hammel to ascend to and sustain being a dependable middle of the rotation guy. Instead, he's bouncing back and forth between decent outings and ugly outings.

Here's the line: 5 2/3 IP, 12 H (ick), 8 ER (career high), 4 BB, 7 K (not bad)

He actually rallied in the final 3+ innings to make the numbers look more respectable, but this was still a flat out ugly outing. He desperately needs a rebound next weekend in San Diego.

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Lineup Card: 7-23-11 Rockies @ Diamondbacks

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you every night game and some afternoon games.

Links

Yesterday's Recap: Back and forth we go

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (48-52)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Mark Ellis 
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. RF Seth Smith
6. 3B Ty Wigginton
7. LF Ryan Spilborghs
8. C  Eliezer Alfonzo
9. P   Jason Hammel

Read more »

Rock Solid Recap: Back and forth we go

The resilient version of the Colorado Rockies showed up on Friday night, coming from behind twice to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Rockies 8, D-Backs 4 (boxscore)

Aaron Cook was the beneficiary on the mound, picking up his first win since 1975 or so. But credit goes to him as well. Despite struggling early and seeming destined for another short and disappointing outing, Cook steadied himself on the mound and even contributed a pair of hits, a run and an RBI at the plate.

Good for him.

He's still pretty close to finished, but it's a feel good moment for a pitcher and person I respect a lot.

Offense

Guess who was the driving force of the offense again... Yes, Dexter Fowler. He is absolutely swinging the bat the best he has in his career. This just weeks after bottoming out, getting sent to AAA, and somehow bottoming out even more there. Seriously, the numbers he put up there the first three weeks were scary, but the Rockies showed faith, and Fowler's confidence is soaring since his return.

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Lineup Card: 7-22-11 Rockies @ Diamondbacks

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you every night game and some afternoon games.

Links

• Yesterday's Recrap: Rockies lays another egg on getaway day 
• Blake Street Bulletin: Are the Rockies a poorly run organization? 

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (47-52)

1. CF Dexter Fowler
2. 2B Mark Ellis 
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. RF Seth Smith
6. 3B Ty Wigginton
7. LF Ryan Spilborghs
8. C  Chris Iannetta
9. P  Aaron Cook

On the injury front: Carlos Gonzalez indeed hits the DL for the first time in his career. Called up to replace him will be Eric Young Jr., just in time to have lunch with Eric Young Sr.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Rockies lay another egg on getaway day

Just a wonderful game all the way with around with solid pitching, exceptional defense, and maybe not the most explosive offensive effort, but an exhilarating one thanks to Carlos Gonzalez's walk-off single.

Oh, sorry, that was the opening to Wednesday's Recap.

Different story for Thursday. What an absolutely miserable performance by a team that desperately needed to lock up a winning series and a winning home stand.

Braves 9, Rockies 6 (boxscore)

And it starts with Jhoulys Chacin. This isn't the first time I've gone into a series finale feeling good about the Rockies chances based solely on Chacin being the starting pitcher. It's also not the first time Chacin has let me down. The other time that stands out was a the one-game thing in Chicago, which was the final game of a three-game set in April.

He was terrible that day. He was terrible again here, walking SEVEN and allowing five earned runs over 4 2/3.

But as maddening as that is, I have to check myself before getting too annoyed. At 23, Chacin is still going through the normal ups and downs, ebbs and flows of your typical young pitcher. It's all a part of the process.

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Rock Solid Recap: A wonderful Wednesday winner

I have to be honest with you to start out. On the heels of what I wrote after both Monday and Tuesday's games, Wednesday night's victory may have been the most encouraging and enjoyable win since the two-game home sweep against San Francisco.

Just a wonderful game all the way with around with solid pitching, exceptional defense, and maybe not the most explosive offensive effort, but an exhilarating one thanks to Carlos Gonzalez's walk-off single.

Rockies 3, Braves 2 (boxscore)

Juan Nicasio

That was so damned impressive. Battling the same team that lit him up at Turner Field just two weeks ago, Nicasio came back with a better game plan or better execution of a similar game plan. It was tough to tell which it was because that last start didn't last long enough. Bottom line though, Nicasio stepped up and delivered another gem.

Final line: 7 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 4 K

The only real problem for Nicasio was his fielding error in the 6th, which was followed a double. This all with no one out. But thanks to a couple nice pitches and some really stellar from his infield, he was able to get safely to the dugout. He then finished STRONG with a 1-2-3, two strikeout 7th.

Watch highlights of Nicasio's start

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Lineup Card: 7-20-11 Rockies vs Brewers

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

We're back after two days in Iowa. Did you miss us?

Links

• Yesterday's Recap: No now the Rockies offense finally likes Ubaldo
• Monday's Recrap: State of the Rockies special
• Blake Street Bulletin: Time to sell

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (46-51)

1. LF Carlos Gonzalez
2. 2B Mark Ellis
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. RF Seth Smith 
6. C   Eliezer Alfonzo
7. 3B Ian Stewart
8. CF Dexter Fowler
9. P   Juan Nicascio

Jim Tracy won't bat Chris Iannetta higher than 7th, but Eliezer Alfonzo can hit 6th? Our manager is so freaking weird.

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Rock Solid Recap: So now the offense finally likes Ubaldo

Rockies 12, Braves 3 (boxscore)

If Dan O'Dowd had known a few trade rumors would make the Rockies offense appreciate and support Ubaldo Jimenez more, he probably would have floated his name out there around last season's deadline.

For like 20-25 starts dating back to that time, the Rockies weren't there for him. The last two starts... 24 runs.

Yeah, now you care. You hear a few scouts are in the crowd, and now you want to be his friend again. Figures.

But seriously, a kick ass performance by the offense. They attacked a young pitcher that has been on a roll, shook him up, worked him over and never let him get off the mat. A relentless effort that I honestly expected to see happen a lot more often this season. Maybe not to the point of 12 runs night after night, but they let so many pitchers off the hook that they could have eaten alive.

Breaking: Not only were there scouts in attendance for Ubaldo's start tonight, I heard they were writing things down on paper. What could this development mean??

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Rock Solid State of the Rockies Recrap Special

Braves 7, Rockies 4 (boxscore)

Did I bother to go back and watch Monday night's game? Nah. I looked over the boxscore and saw a couple highlights and that was enough for me.

I saw Todd Helton lose Ty Wigginton's throw in the sun, leading to those two unearned runs. I saw Freddie Freeman hit another home run. I saw Craig Kimbrel mow them down in the ninth. Anything else worth mentioning? A baserunning error maybe? A passed ball? Lousy RISP?

Instead of going into further detail on this one, here's my quick overview of the Colorado Rockies in 2011.

If you thought they had it turned around after two games vs. Milwaukee, then you really weren't thinking. Hope is a nice thing to have, but this team hasn't given any reason for legitimate hope since they left Citi Field in New York with a four-game sweep. I don't know that they've had even one great week since then, let alone a sustained stretch of excellence.

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Sunday Recrap #13: Enough is enough... no?

I realize it's just one day out of the week. I understand it's a little fluky that it's played out the way it has, but thirteen straight Sunday losses? Are you serious, bro?

That's embarrassing. There's no reason this team can't come out and finish a series stronger than this. They can't finish a sweep. They can't win a rubber match. They can't steal three out of four. More often than not, they just come out flat on Sundays.

Today was no exception to that. Three errors. 1-for-11 with RISP. Aaron Cook loading the bases every inning it seemed. So much sloppiness, so little reason to believe in this team. It's maddening.

Brewers 4, Rockies 3 (boxscore)

Aaron Cook: Still done. Unfortunately, still no realistic option to replace him. So expect to see him on the mound again Friday in Arizona.

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Rock Solid Recrap: A night of frustration, fail and fury

Brewers 8, Rockies 7 (boxscore)

Where do we begin?

Frustration: The ninth inning. The same destructive pattern that always seems to get Huston Street got him again. Not the one where he gives up a lead-off single. He responds well to that pressure. It's the pattern where he retires the first two batters easily, walks the third hitter, and then allows a painful home run.

Happened in Florida and Pittsburgh last season. Happened once or twice this season. That's how he gets burned. But I'd much rather have this happen once every six weeks than watch what's happening in Chicago, St. Louis, Minnesota, Baltimore, so on and so forth. And it's not like walking Prince Fielder there is a bad idea there either, so it is what it is. Weeks beat him. Tough loss.

Also, I know I promised I wouldn't go over the top to defend players because it's backfired on me so much in the past, but this has to be said about Huston Street.

If he hasn't won fans over by now. If he hasn't earned their respect as the best closer the Rockies have had in 20 years (which he is by a significant margin), then he never will. For a guy like me that has lived through Jose Jimenez, Brian Fuentes, Darren Holmes, the list goes on, it's difficult to grasp why he's not more appreciated or respected. It disappoints me to a degree, but I understand fans need a lightning rod. Closer is always the best position to find one.

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Lineup Card: 7-16-11 Rockies vs Brewers

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Links

Yesterday's Recap: One step forward: Nicasio shuts down Brewers

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (45-48)

1. LF Carlos Gonzalez
2. 2B Mark Ellis
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. RF Seth Smith
6. 3B Ian Stewart
7. CF Dexter Fowler
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P    Jhoulys Chacin

Carlos Gonzalez makes his return tonight. Coming out of the break I thought Ian Stewart and Ryan Spilborghs were going to battle for the playing time once that happened, but the return of Dexter Fowler threw that one off. Fowler stays in center, which eliminated Spilborghs. So it actually comes down to Stewart and Ty Wigginton, and for tonight Stewart has earned that nod.

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Rock Solid Recap: One step forward: Nicasio shuts down Brewers

Rockies 4, Brewers 0 (boxscore)

This was a fun game for several reasons.

First and foremost, the Rockies picked up another win out of the All-Star break. That was good.

It was nice seeing them play a really good, clean, complete game. Those games have been few and far between.

And it was extra cool seeing who the big contributors were.

Like Juan Nicasio. The rookie (can't call him kid) is still looking to establish some consistency from start-to-start, but he's at least proven he can work deep into games in two of his last third starts and still have hitters fooled and off-balance. That eases my concerns about him struggling to progress beyond a 5-6 inning pitcher now or in the future.

His next start will be a big test though. It'll be the first time he faces an opponent a second time. And it's the opponent (Atlanta) that knocked him out in the third inning. It'll be very interested to see what the refined gameplan is and how he executes it.

Dexter Fowler was also a contributor in his return to Colorado. His lead-off double batting right-handed was the first of five for the Rockies, so it set a nice tone for the night. He then moved to third on a grounder to short, which was a near disaster because he should have never attempted to advance. But it worked, and one wild pitch later Nicasio had an early lead to work with.

Later in the game, Fowler would walk and score another run. Moving down to #2 in the order. Mark Ellis doubled twice and scored twice himself. That's wonderful production from the top of the order that just wasn't there before Dexter went down.

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Lineup Card: 7-15-11 Rockies vs Brewers

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Links

Yesterday's Recap: How did the Rockies spend their All-Star break?

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (44-48)

1. CF DEXTER FOWLER
2. 2B Mark Ellis
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. LF Ty Wigginton
6. RF Ryan Spilborghs
7. 3B Ian Stewart
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P   Juan Nicasio

More roster shakeups! We're averaging about one a day since May 1st I believe. That's not a good thing.

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Rock Solid Recap: How did the Rockies spend their break?

Apparently they spent it relearning how to hit. How about a season high 20 knocks -- 11 coming off Yovani Gallardo -- in a dominating home win over the Brewers.

Rockies 12, Brewers 3 (boxscore)

I admit the offensive outburst caught me off guard, but I don't think anyone could be more shocked than Ubaldo Jimenez. This just doesn't happen for him. If only he could reallocate some of those runs to previous and future starts where the Rockies left or will leave him with no room to work.

But let's give Ubaldo his credit, too. He chipped in delivering a run scoring single in the 2nd. That was very big, especially on the heels of the Yovani Gallardo RBI double against him. And he really earned the win on the mound pitching six solid innings against a strong Brewers offense.

His line: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Read more »

Lineup Card: 7-14-11 Rockies vs Brewers

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

It's funny how fast three days go when the season is in motion, and how slow they seem to go when you take a break. And that's even with a Home Run Derby and All-Star Game in the middle. It felt like forever, but we're back!

Links

• Player Rankings: First Half

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (43-48)

1. CF Ryan Spilborghs
2. 2B Mark Ellis
3. 1B  Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. RF Seth Smith
6. LF Ty Wigginton
7. 3B Ian Stewart
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P   Ubaldo Jimenez

No real break for Ubaldo Jimenez, who starts on regular rest after winning his 4th game on Saturday.

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Players Rankings: First half

Just a quick glance at the guidelines...

Everything is taken into consideration -- offense, defense, pitching, clutchness, baserunning, consistency, awareness, intelligence, and in this case, performance will be weighed against expecations.

I'm looking back at the entire first half of the season (xx games). I figure I need to draw a line somewhere with all of the recent roster shuffling, so it'll be any player has five played in at least five games for the Rockies this season.

Let's get to this one...

1. Todd Helton
2. Troy Tulowitzki
3. Jhoulys Chacin
4. Carlos Gonzalez
5. Matt Belisle

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Rock Solid Recrap: The story is getting old

Make that 12 straight Sunday losses for the Colorado Rockies and 5 straight failures to complete a sweep.

Bad timing? Lack of killer instinct? Lack of talent? All three?

Probably all three.

Nationals 2, Rockies 0 (boxscore)

Five hits for the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. Five singles to be exact. Which means five total bases, and only one runner advanced as far as second base all day. Don't get me wrong, Jordan Zimmerman is one of the great up-and-coming starting pitchers in the National League, but this was a pathetic showing by an underachieving offense.

But it's the same old story, especially on the road. No sense dwelling on it any further or wasting your time with repetitive words.

Three positives

1. Jhoulys Chacin: Whew. He looked healthy, strong and really effective. My biggest concern was the health, because duh, that's where it all starts. And he sure didn't look right the last two starts with that forearm issue. Hopefully that's behind him and he's ready to come out of the gates in the second half dominating and settling for no-decisions instead of stupid undeserved losses.

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Rock Solid Recap: A taste of 2010

That's how good Ubaldo Jimenez was in the Rockies second straight win over the Washington Nationals on Saturday night.

Rockies 2, Nationals 1 (boxscore)

Especially the way it started with U retiring the first 12 Nationals in perfect order. Three of those outs came via the strikeout. Seven came on harmless groundballs. When Ubaldo ran into a little trouble in the 5th, he got another groundball, and a fine double play started by the returning Troy Tulowitzki and turned over beautifully by Mark Ellis.

The only thing that kept Jimenez from challenging for a possible shutout was the boneheaded play in center field by Ryan Spilborghs. Spilly's decision to half dive, half fall down turned an Ian Desmond single into a triple leading off the sixth. The Rockies would trade Desmond's run for an out.

From there, Jimenez finished up strongly.

His line: 8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K

The one walk certainly stands out as a positive. He had great movement again, but he was doing a better job commanding the zone and avoiding hitter's courts. It should also be noted that Jimenez was touching 97 on the gun as late as the seventh. All those concerned about velocity should feel good about that.

Read more »

Lineup Card: 7-9-11 Rockies @ Nationals

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Links

Yesterday's recap: Return of the Rock Solid Recap

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (42-47)

1. CF Ryan Spilborghs
2. 2B Mark Ellis 
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. RF Seth Smith
6. LF Ty Wigginton
7. 3B Ian Stewart
8. C  Chris Iannetta
9. P   Ubaldo Jimenez

Tulowitzki back, Gonzalez back out as his wrist is still pretty sore. He won't play tonight and he's unlikely again for tomorrow. Hopefully the rest will allow him to be healthy when the All-Star break concludes.

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Return of the Rock Solid Recap

Every now and the Rock Solid Recap goes on a vacation. For example, the entire second half of last September, it was all Recrap all the time. But it's always nice when the Recap makes it triumphant return!

Welcome back Recap!

Welcome back Rockies!

Rockies 3, Nationals 2 (boxscore)

Let's get right into the three positives

1. Jason Hammel: A huge, HUGE bounce back effort from Hammel. I admit I was getting a little concerned there might be a lingering back problem or something else that was bothering him. And maybe there was. But this performance helped suppress those worries, and should help to inflate Hammel's confidence. If he'd lost any that is.

Line: 6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

2. Jonathan Herrera: The professional pain in the ass is back to being just that. Herrera reached base three times (two hits, one walk) and was the catalyst in Colorado's three-run fourth inning (the only inning they scored in). He also had a solid night in the field.

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Lineup Card: 7-8-11 Rockies @ Nationals

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Links

Yesterday's recap: Rockies dismantled, pantsed and swept by Braves

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (41-47)

1. CF Carlos Gonzalez
2. SS Jonathan Herrera
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. LF Ty Wigginton
5. 2B Mark Ellis
6. RF Cole Garner
7. 3B Ian Stewart
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P   Jason Hammel

Tonight would be a wonderful night for Jason Hammel to get back on track, don't you think?

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Rock Solid Recrap: Rockies dismantled, pantsed and swept by Braves

Braves 6, Rockies 3 (boxscore)

Now see, that's how you take care of business and finish off a sweep. You think the Atlanta Braves cared that the Rockies are short-handed and hurting? No chance. That's a talented, driven, ruthless and scary good baseball team they've put together there. Damn good team.

It's a good lineup. Don't care how much they've struggled to this point, the process of coming together has already begun. They will score runs. The rotation speaks for itself. And the back end of the bullpen is shutdown quality.

But like I said, I'm most impressed with how they took care of business on the field. They took charge of every game, stepped on the Rockies throat and never once let them up. Rockies could learn from that... if they ever get healthy again.

Juan Nicasio

The good and the bad. We've documentated after every start that there's going to be a lot of both. Today was a perfect example. Two good innings, then the wheels just fall off. Learning how to navigate his way through those tough innings is always a difficult hurdle in any pitcher's development. Just look at Ubaldo, Hammel, De La Rosa - all of those guys struggled to get past the killer inning. Once they did, they realized their varying levels of potential.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Cooked

Braves 9, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

Aaron Cook 

Terrible first inning. Bounce back second inning. Relapse third inning. Settles down in the fourth and fifth. Runs into trouble and exits immediately in the sixth. That's how you sum up Aaron Cook's start tonight, which feels pretty close to the pattern he's used since his return from the DL.

Maybe I should compliment his consistency. Or maybe I should add my name to the list of folks who are ready to cut ties with Cookie. It feels like the right thing to do, but the Rockies are in a tough predicament. I don't just mean from a loyalty standpoint. In fact, that's never seemed like an issue for them.

Financially and logistically it's tough to just let him go. I mean yes, chances are Cook won't be able to rehab his value to the point they can move him without taking a big hit, but it's not like the Rockies have another pitcher or two beating down the door to the Majors. They don't. They have Clayton Mortensen, Greg Reynolds and maybe Esmil Rogers. If there's no real clear upgrade to make, sticking with Cook might not be their worst option.

That said, it's possible he's gone tomorrow. It's possible he's gone during the AS break. It's possible he's here all season. I don't know what they're going to do, but I can see why they have and possibly could continue to give him chances. It might not help them, but it might be a "risk" worth taking if he figures something (anything) out.

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Lineup Card: 7-6-11 Rockies @ Braves

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Links

• Yesterday's recap: Chacin gives Braves free pass to victory
• Rockies Review: Rockies getting burned by May excuses
• Blake Street Bulletin: All-Time Rockies HR Derby Team

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (41-45)

1. LF Charlie Blackmon
2. SS Jonathan Herrera
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. LF Ty Wigginton
5. RF Seth Smith
6. 2B Mark Ellis
7. 3B Ian Stewart
8. C   Matt Pagnozzi
9. P   Aaron Cook

But they aren't bringing Ian Stewart up to play, he's just there for bench depth. WRONG. One more shot, Ian? What are you going to do with it?

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Rock Solid Recrap: Chacin gives Braves free pass to victory

Braves 5, Rockies 3 (boxscore)

Jhoulys Chacin: "And another walk. Make that six."

Not exactly word for word what Drew Goodman said, but close enough. Six walks is too many folks. Unless you're Ubaldo Jimenez and you're not allowing hits. Unfortunately, Chacin wasn't that good tonight. And he found out the hard way that when you walk six, it allows something fluky like Derek Lowe ripping a double into the left field corner to not only be embarrassing, but something that completely changes the game.

Afterwards Chacin said he felt too strong coming into the game, which caused him to overthrow and miss his spots. I hope that's all it is. When you see a guy that was cruising along so easily for three months just suddenly lose it, and then you hear about the forearm... I'll take his word for it, but I'm still crossing my fingers.

Chris Iannetta: The best of both worlds. One time he goes up there, works a count and delivers the big RBI single.

Next time: 2nd and 3rd, one out. He ****ing stands there and looks at three strikes. Inexcusable. I don't care if strike three looked or was outside. Boohoo. They were all strikes the entire game. He should have known that and he should have been looking to drive a run in. Terrible is the only word I can think of to describe it.

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Lineup Card: 7-5-11 Rockies @ Braves

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Links

• Yesterday's recap: When it rains, it pours
• Vote Todd!

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (41-44)

1. CF Charlie Blackmon
2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. LF Ty Wigginton
5. RF Seth Smith
6. 2B Mark Ellis
7. 3B IAN STEWART
8. C  Chris Iannetta
9. P   Jhoulys Chacin

BREAKING: Lineup in turmoil!

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Rock Solid Recrap: When it rains, it pours

Literally and figuratively.

The Rockies need the All-Star break to start yesterday. Geez. First we heard word of Jhoulys Chacin's forearm tightness. Thankfully that has cleared up, making him available to start tomorrow night. But that still threw quite a wrench into the Rockies plans, forcing a wave of roster moves over the last four days.

Then the Carlos Gonzalez injury yesterday. Now Troy Tulowitzki leaves tonight with the quad tightness. I'm sure he'll be day-to-day, but we're talking about an injury he hasn't been able to completely shake for three years now. It's always lurking, waiting to slow him down at a bad time. That's kinda scary.

What else is scary? Jim Tracy's lineup card tomorrow. I assume we'll see Seth Smith make his first appearance hitting clean up. Unless I missed him hitting clean up before. Can't recall it. But it's not going to very pretty. At all.

Braves 4, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

Ubaldo Jimenez: Made two big mistakes -- the two-run homer to Freddie Freeman and the RBI double by Jason Heyward, which possibly would have been run down by Gonzalez, or caused him to bruise his other wrist.

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Lineup Card: 7-4-11 Rockies @ Braves

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you. 

Links

• Yesterday's recap: Sunday. Bloody Sundays. 
• Rockies Player Rankings: June

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (41-43)

1. LF Charlie Blackmon
2. 2B Mark Ellis
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. RF Seth Smith
6. 3B Ty Wigginton
7. CF Ryan Spilborghs
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P   Ubaldo Jimenez

Cole Garner has been recalled to play the reserve outfielder role while Carlos Gonzalez recovers from his wrist contusion. Clayton Mortensen was optioned to make room.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Sundays. Bloody Sundays.

You know the drill by now. Rockies have a chance to wrap up a series sweep. Rockies fall flat on their face in grand fashion. Happens every time.

Sunday may have taken the cake though. What a flat out miserable day in so many different ways. Most of which revovlve around usually dependable pitchers having their worst outings of the season. But there was so much more. So. Much. More.

Royals 16, Rockies 8 (boxscore)

Jason Hammel: I wonder if his back is still bothering him. He really hasn't looked like the same guy since leaving that start 2-3 weeks ago when if stiffened up on him. I'm not trying to make excuses for him, but something is amiss. I don't think he just went sour for no reason, but I could be way off on my speculation.

Either way, his outing was lousy. Hopefully he can bounce back in Washington.

Matt Belisle: This one came out of nowhere. Belisle allowed ONE run the entire month June. I even ranked him as the Rockies No. 1 player in June.He's not likely to repeat in July, but we must not overreact to one awful outing. As long as nothing is physically wrong, he's going to continue being a critical and effective part of the bullpen.

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Rockies Player Rankings: June

Just a reminder of the guidelines...

Everything is taken into consideration -- offense, defense, pitching, clutchness, baserunning, consistency, awareness, intelligence. My personal evaluation and opinions. Stats used only when I need to break a tie in my mind. No BABIP analysis, focus on Ultimate Zone Ratings, or anything like that.

I'm looking back at the month of June here. Any player that stepped on the field in a Rockies uniform during the 30 day month will be ranked somewhere... (sorry, no Mark Ellis) even the players who are no longer in the Rockies organization or currently injured.

Also, coming up during the All-Star break I'll rank every Rockie from the first half of the season.

Let's get to this one...

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Lineup Card: 7-3-11 Rockies vs Royals

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

First things first, congratulations to Troy Tulowitzki on being named to the National League All-Star team. We still have a chance to vote Todd Helton in there as well and you'll get the link to that in a second.

Links

• Yesterday's recap: The honeymoon continues for Mark Ellis
• All-Star Final Vote: Vote Todd!

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (41-42)

1. CF Carlos Gonzalez
2. 2B Mark Ellis
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. RF Seth Smith
6. 3B Ty Wigginton
7. LF Charlie Blackmon
8. C   Matt Pagnozzi
9. P   Jason Hammel

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Rock Solid Recap: The honeymoon continues for Mark Ellis

We're getting a really good look at how dangerous the Colorado Rockies lineup can be with an effecitve hitter slotted into the #2 spot. Of course it's anything but a guarantee that Mark Ellis will continue being that effective hitter, but his first two games give us a lot of hope that he will be a measurable upgrade over those who played before him.

And I'm not just talking about this season. I'm talking about several seasons.

On Saturday, Ellis collected three more hits -- three more doubles to be exact -- making him 6-for-10 with five extra base hits and five runs knocked in through two games as a Rockie. Something tells me he's not going to miss the Oakland Coliseum. Or anything about Oakland for that matter, but especially that graveyard for hitters.

But I think the most important part here is that twice Carlos Gonzalez has been intentionally walked ahead of him, and twice Ellis made the Royals pay with an extra basehit. If Jim Tracy wants to continue hitting Gonzalez lead-off, which I can live with, he absolutely needs a respectable hitter to protect him. Ellis will start earning that respect with a couple more clutch knocks.

Watch Ellis come through

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Lineup Card: 7-2-11 Rockies vs Royals

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Links

• Yesterday's recap: Nothing beats fun at the old ballyard
• Blake Street Bulletin: Evaluating the Mark Ellis Trade (Logan's Take - Rich's Take)

Logan Burdine really summed the deal up with this perfect paragraph.

"To be honest, I really don’t care about his bat. I know, at the very least, he will produce at a comparable level to the group they had. In my mind, this deal meets two key sets of criteria for any trade. First of all, he improves the team, and, second, they didn’t surrender more value than Ellis is worth. The Rockies gave up a reliever that was without a place on the big club."

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (40-42)

1. CF Carlos Gonzalez
2. 2B Mark Ellis
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. RF Seth Smith
6. 3B Ty Wigginton
7. LF Charlie Blackmon
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P   Greg Reynolds

Get used to this lineup; we'll be seeing a lot of it over the next few weeks.

Kansas City Royals (33-49)

1. 2B Chris Getz
2. CF Melky Cabrera
3. LF Alex Gordon
4. RF Jeff Francoeur
5. 1B Eric Hosmer
6. C  Brayan Pena
7. 3B Mike Moustakas
8. SS Alcides Escobar
9. P   Kyle Davies

Still bad. 

Rock Solid Recap: Nothing beats fun at the old ballyard

And finally the Colorado Rockies and their fans got to have a little fun at the expense of the Kansas City Royals.

The Rockies haven't been involved in too many laughers this season. That goes both ways. Just about every day we're sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for that one little thing to go wrong, but praying the Rockies can either overcome it or flat out avoid it. I prefer night's like last night, where the game is essentially over from pitch one to pitch done.

Rockies 9, Royals 0 (boxscore)

Juan Nicasio: The main reason it was over early was this kid. Now, it would be easy to joke that he continued his dominance of the Texas League with this win over Kansas City, but I honestly don't care who he owned. It was all about the confidence and command he had over his entire arsenal. It was damned impressive.

Watch Nicasio deal

I think it was an encouraging glimpse into what Nicasio's future could look like if the secondary stuff becomes more consistent. Either way this was a masterpiece. Just leave it at that and wait patiently to see how he follows it up.

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Lineup Card: 7-1-11 Rockies vs Royals

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 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Links

• Yesterday's recrap: Rockies lose series to AL version of themselves
• Heaven & Helton: Thoughts on Todd Helton's 2000th game with Rockies
• Alanna Rizzo on Twitter: Two Rockies roster moves
• Purple Row: Know Your Foe: Kansas City Royals
• Purple Row: More on Mark Ellis

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (39-42)

1. CF Carlos Gonzalez
2. 2B Mark Ellis
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 3B Ty Wigginton
6. RF Seth Smith
7. LF Ryan Spilborghs
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P    Juan Nicasio

Welcome aboard Mark Ellis. He takes over officially at 2B batting second. I noted the team roster move above. Both Chris Nelson and Eric Young Jr. have been optioned to AAA to make room for now only Ellis, but for reliever Edgmer Escalona, who eases the bullpen load.

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