Rock Solid Recap: 35 up, 35 down

Back to .500. Good. If they stay at .500 come July 1st I can finally look at the standings with interest.

See, for me there are two rules when it comes to looking at the standings and watching the scoreboard.

1) It has to be July.

Why July? Because it's usually just past the halfway point and the finish line is finally closer than the starting line. To get worked up about it before that point is a waste of energy for me.

2) The Rockies have to be over .500.

Because how many times has a team under .500 realistically contended for anything? Be over .500 and you're almost always in a position to matter.

So that's how that breaks down.

Rockies 5, Tigers 4 (boxscore)

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Lineup Card: 6-18-11 Rockies vs Tigers

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 recap: No offense to the Detroit Tigers... but
• Denver Post: Dante Bichette Jr. agrees to contract with Yankees
• Rockies Review: Rockies show who they can be at the plate
• Rockies Woman: Put the Tigers back in the cage

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (34-35)

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

Seth Smtih. Bench. Lefty pitcher. You know the drill.

Big start for Ubaldo Jimenez. Tough opposing lineup, though they are going more with defense than offense this evening. But the Rockies really need this game ahead of facing Justin Verlander tomorrow. So an overpowering performance would definitely be welcomed here. 

Detroit Tigers (38-32)

1. CF Austin Jackson
2. 3B Don Kelly
3. RF Brennan Boesch
4. 1B Miguel Cabrera
5. C  Victor Martinez
6. LF Andy Dirks
7. SS Jhonny Peralta
8. 2B Ryan Raburn
9. P   Phil Coke

Rock Solid Recap: No offense to the Detroit Tigers... but

Beating up on them and Jim Leyland was a helluva lot of fun on Friday night.

I admit it, I still haven't forgetton Leyland's quitting on the Rockies after the 1999 season. Forgiven? Sure. I mean, it's his life, so it's not really an unforgivable thing, but certainly not forgotten. That means it will always be a little extra satisfying when the Rockies clean his clock, which is exactly what they did here.

Rockies 13, Tigers 6 (boxscore)

The Rockies rookies led the assault.

Charlie Blackmon: 4-for-4, two runs and two RBI. He's not providing a lot of power, but damn, he's getting the bat on the ball consistently and he's finding himself on base multiple times each game. That's helping the Rockies extend their lineup. For the first two months the offense was basicially limited to 2-5 in the order. Now with Blackmon hitting well at seven, it's opening things up for guys like Ty Wigginton and Chris Iannetta to see better pitches be factors.

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