Rock Solid Recrap: Pitching Continues Circling The Drain

First are foremost, my thoughts are with the fan who was struck by Tyler Pastornicky's foul ball during tonight's game. That was a really, really scary incident. Hopefully the reports we hear continue to be positive. 

Braves 13, Rockies 9 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: There's a reason I listed flawed and frustrating ahead of fun when describing the Rockies the other day. The current starting rotation is flawed to the point of giving Colorado absolutely no chance 3 1/2 times out of five. Just a miserable, embarrassing mess. And we're already seeing the wear and tear that's taken on the bullpen leading to awful results in the later innings, almost to the point of total predictability.

Yes, everybody knew coming in that this possibility existed, but not to the point we've seen over the past 10 days. This is a quagmire. A total cesspool of incompetence on several levels.

Point at Bob Apodaca. Point at Dan O'Dowd. Point at Jim Tracy. Point at Esmil Rogers, Edgmer Escalona, Guillermo Moscoso, Jhoulys Chacin, Rex Brothers, Jeremy Guthrie's bike.

Point at everybody and everything. You won't be wrong. And assuming things continue as they are (or at least close to it), a lot of those names — player or otherwise — will soon be erased from the Rockies official roster.

They'll have no choice. You can't continue fielding a pitching staff that has 4-5 big league arms at best. You can't continue making excuses for those who field that roster, fail to provide depth, or fail to mold those fringe arms into usable talent.

To quote Jim Tracy... "You just can't."

Oh, and did I mention you can also point at the awful defense? How about four more errors tonight — Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez, Esmil Rogers and Tyler Colvin. That should keep their spot as the worst defensive team in baseball pretty secure.

Turning Point: The Rockies led 8-3 to begin the sixth (after leading 6-0 after two). Here's how that sixth started for Atlanta.

• Home run (Matt Diaz)
• Home run (Jason Heyward)
• Single (Tyler Pastornicky)
• Walk (Juan Francisco)
• Single (Michael Bourn)
• Single (Chipper Jones)
• RBI Groundout (Freddie Freeman)

Just like that, it's 8-8 and whole new miserable game.

Jamie Moyer's Line: 5 IP, 6 R (5 ER), 10 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 HR, 98 pitches (56 strikes)

If the Rockies were getting anything resembling consistently competent starting pitching from three of their five slots, Jamie Moyer would be considered among the more harmless #5 starters in baseball, which is exactly what he should be, a #5 starter... at best.

Unfortunately, the Rockies are being forced to rely on him as something more of a #2 or #3, and the results of that are mixed with a lean towards undesirable.

Nothing about this set up is ideal or likely to lead to a modicum of success.

Cesspool.

Esmil Rogers' Relief Line: 1 1/3 IP, 5 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 0 K, 43 pitches (20 strikes)

I'll give you a moment to remove the vomit from your shoes.

...

Screengrabs of the Game

Symbolic, I'd say.  

The same bangs all these years later. 

These graphics are always fun. (Fox Sports South)

Even at their advance age, that lineup would have scored at least eight runs tonight.

Highlight of the Night: Michael Cuddyer got the Rockies off to a good start again tonight with a first inning grand slam. So that was nice.

Watch Cuddy's Granny

What's Next: The nine-game homestand concludes on Sunday afternoon at 1:10 with the Rockies looking to avoid the sweep. Juan Nicasio will get the nod on the hill for Colorado while the Braves counter with right-hander Brandon Beachy (2-1, 1.38).

Final Thoughts: I'm tired. I'm cranky. And I just want a good starting effort from Juan Nicasio tomorrow because I don't want a 3-6 homestand.

More Rockies thoughts await you if you follow me on Twitter: @Townie813 & @HeavenHelton