Friday, June 24, 2011

Rock Solid Recap: New York is becoming a second home

Alright, I don't mean to get too carried away. I'm just happy to get one win out of this series. If they could find a way to squeeze out another... wow.

Rockies 4, Yankees 2 (boxscore)

Jason Giambi: New York certainly isn't a second home to Jason Giambi. He still has an apartment there. He spent the prime of his career there. It's definitely a special place for him for several personal and professional reasons. And it had to be made even more special by the reception he received tonight.

Hats off to the Yankees fans for showing their love. EVEN after Jason unloaded on an A.J. Burnett cookie for a long home run in the 2nd.


Giambi would add a pair of singles and a walk later, and even scored what ended up being the game-winning run on Ty Wigginton's groundout in the 4th. Great night for the Giambino.

Good enough Ubaldo: He started off very shaky, never really had good command the whole way through, but Ubaldo Jimenez had enough to keep a very talented offense at bay for seven innings.


The final line: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB (too many), 7 K (one an inning) and 119 pitches (one more than his previous season high).

Velocity was mid-90s consistently. In fact, pitch 119 hit 95 on the gun. So yes, the velocity is still down. It would be wonderful if he could get it all back because he needs it on nights when his other pitches aren't working. Because of that I can see why a lot of people are concerned about the MPH. I can also see why other's aren't. I guess we'll just have to see where it all leads on Wednesday against the White Sox.

Troy Tulowitzki: I saw someone tweet Tulowitzki can't handle the bright lights or big stage after he grounded out with the bases loaded. I dunno, homering in all five games he's played in New York tells me a different story on that. No doubt his swing has been all over the place lately. No doubt he's blown some opportunities, but he's fine.


Chris Iannetta: Three walks and one strikeout looking. That's a very complete Chris Iannetta type game.

Bullpen: Wonderful job by both Matt Reynolds and Huston Street to make the 4-2 lead hold up. Each allowed one baserunner. Each recorded three outs. Each allowed zero to score. I like my bullpen.


Overall: Good win. Very happy to see them play a complete nine innings of baseball without any silliness. Well, unless you count that rare four strikeout inning as silly. Some would. But still, it's not easy to go into Yankee Stadium and play a team stacked with that much talent backed with that much history. It sounds lame to say, but that can be a source of intimidation. Well handled by the guys.

Lineup Card: 6-24-11 Rockies @ Yankees

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
Lineups

Colorado Rockies (37-37)
  1. CF Carlos Gonzalez
  2. 2B Chris Nelson
  3. 1B Todd Helton
  4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
  5. DH Jason Giambi
  6. RF Seth Smith
  7. 3B Ty Wigginton
  8. LF Charlie Blackmon
  9. C   Chris Iannetta
SP Ubaldo Jimenez

Honestly, if the Rockies exit New York with a winning record I would be thrilled beyond words. If they end up not getting swept, I'd actually be satisfied. The only pitching matchup I feel decent about is tonight's with Ubaldo vs. Burnett, and we all know how shaky that could be. So yeah, let's just avoid the disaster weekend here. Sorry if that's not optimistic enough.