Rock Solid Recrap: One-run losses piling up

Brewers 3, Rockies 2 (boxscore)

For the third time on this road trip, the Colorado Rockies dropped a one-run decision.

They're now 6-10 in one-run decisions on the season, which is a better mark than I would have guessed, but still far from acceptable. Sometimes you do tip your cap to the competition in these games, as should be the case tonight with how well Shawn Marcum pitched. But when it follows a one-run loss like last night's, it tests your patience as a fan.

Also of concern is the Rockies 2-8 record in their last ten road games. It's not like they're getting run off the field on a nightly basis, or not putting up a fight. It's just a struggle to put nine whole innings together for this team. It's been that way for close to a month. Until that changes the frustrations will keep mounting.

-- Clayton Mortensen continued his excellent work with 6 2/3, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 BB and 5 K. Pretty similar to the outing of Jason Hammel last night: 6 2/3, 8 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 BB and 1 K. You'll take that against Milwaukee's excellent offense. Especially in their ballpark when they are very comfortable. Unfortunately, they were wasted outings.

-- Dexter Fowler was caught stealing again. It's sad. So much speed. So much raw athletic ability. Can't steal a base to save his life. At what point do the Rockies invest in someone to work with him? Or do they just let it go and give away outs on the bases and/or via the bunt?

-- Matt Daley has added new life to the bullpen. And by new life I mean he's actually getting people out. Six up, six down in his first two outings. All three via the strikeout tonight.

-- Felipe Paulino has been designated for assignment. Baseball rapture at its finest!

Sounds like Greg Reynolds will get the call in his place. Reynolds will start a game at some point this week. Probably Saturday, but his early arrival could make Tuesday a possibility. We'll see.

-- Jose Lopez has been a train wreck in the field this weekend. Not much better at the dish. He may be next on the DFA hitlist if he can't find traction real soon.

-- Not much else to say after this one since 96% of us didn't get to see it. Hope the Rockies pull it together and head back to Coors Field on a winning note Sunday afternoon. Maybe we'll even get a W from Ubaldo. Would seem fitting the way this week has gone.

Lineup Card: 5-21-11 Rockies @ 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 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you. 

Links

• Yesterday's Recrap: Reoccurring nightmare strikes again
• Rockies Woman: Pauli-NO MORE

Felipe Paulino is still on the roster. I guess Dan O'Dowd couldn't find a sucker. So Jim Tracy has to manage with a 23-man roster. Todd Helton doesn't seem to be available, and there's no way in Hell he'll want to use Paulino. Not even Jim Tracy can be that stubborn.

Lineup

Colorado Rockies (23-20)

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

Milwaukee Brewers (22-23)

1. 2B Rickie Weeks
2. RF Corey Hart 
3. LF Ryan Braun
4. 1B Prince Fielder
5. 3B Casey McGehee
6. SS Yuniesky Betancourt
7. C   Jonathan Lucroy
8. CF Carlos Gomez
9. P    Shawn Marcum

Rock Solid Recrap: Reoccurring nightmare strikes again

I'm not talking about the nightmare on Huston Street, although his recent string of home runs allowed is a growing concern to be sure. And I'm not talking about the scary thoughts that go through my mind between every Rafael Betancourt pitch. Believe me there's time for a lot of them.

(Both of those pitchers played their part in Friday's gut-wrenching and infuriating loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. There's no denying if they do their jobs, there's a much happier ending. But.)

I'm talking about Felipe Paulino. Very possibly the worst pitcher to wear a Rockies uniform in ten years. And here some people thought we traded that guy on Thursday. Nope. Paulino makes Franklin Morales look like Billy Wagner by comparison. Morales has major league stuff. Paulino has a straight fastball that begs to be hit 450 feet.

That's exactly what Prince Fielder did in the 14th inning. It was a moment everybody predicted would happen the second Paulino began warming up. It was his first official blown save of the season, and his fourth loss in the past three weeks. All of them have looked the same. He looked like a guy that couldn't get major league hitters out, and he didn't.

But as awful as he's been, you can't really get mad at the man himself. He's shown us who he is. We obviously don't like what we see because he's terrible and we want the Rockies to win every day. But for some reason, what we've seen for six weeks still hasn't sunk in with Jim Tracy and Dan O'Dowd. They're the ones who keep stubbornly sending a person to the mound who's not equipped to handle the job. They're the ones who come under fire for this.

Paulino = bad. O'Dowd & Tracy = clueless.

We're ****ed meter: Clueless management > Bad pitcher

And I'm putting that as kindly as I can.

If Felipe Paulino is still on this roster when I post the Lineup Card later today. So help me. I don't know what I'll write, but it probably won't be as kind as what I wrote here.

Brewers 7, Rockies 6 in 14 (boxscore)

-- Jason Hammel pitched a really nice game. He left in the 7th inning with a lead over Zack Greinke. What more can you honestly ask for? A home run? That's not really fair, but he hit one of those, too. Great game.

But it was pissed away. You have an improbable win handed to you on a silver platter and it's gone. Those are the losses that haunt you for weeks and months. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants continue winning one-run games like it's the easiest task in the world.

-- Jason Giambi hit another home run. It's an awesome stretch for him. Hope it continues.

-- Troy Tulowitzki lost his composure on a night when this team NEEDED his presence in the field and in the lineup. No Helton. No Cargo. Tulowitzki has to be the leader in that scenario. He can't lead from the clubhouse because he had to settle a pissing match with the home plate umpire. I'm deeply troubled by what happened here. He's supposed to set the tone and lead by example. If that's his leadership, it's no wonder this team gets frazzled so easily.