Sunday, May 13, 2012

Rock Solid Recrap: Well That Weekend Sucked

Dodgers 11, Rockies 5 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: What is there to say at this point? Unlike at home where the Rockies showed a little pride and resilience in the face of adversity, they have simply folded up like lawn chairs on this road trip. It's painful to watch and completely unacceptable to those of us on the outside looking in, but it's par for the course over the past three seasons under the Tracy regime. He simply has no control over the steering wheel and watches on helplessly as they run off the road.

Turning Point: The Rockies were leading 4-2. Matt Kemp had just left the game after tweaking his ailing hamstring. And then Carlos Gonzalez stepped in and hit a rocket to left center field.


If Matt Kemp is still in the game, Gwynn is still in left field and that ball gets down safely. If that ball gets down safely, the Rockies are threatening to add on some more insurance. If the Rockies score even one run, it changes things quite a bit. Maybe not enough for them to ultimately win, but certainly enough to change the flow of the game.

But it didn't get down.

And then things got ugly.

Alex White's Line: 4 1/3 IP, 6 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 1 K, 76 pitches (40 strikes)

White was given a 3-0 lead right out of the gate and immediately gave one back in the 1st and 2nd innings. After the Rockies added the fourth run, White started the bottom of the 5th by allowing a single to Justin Sellers. That was followed by a Ted Lilly sacrifice bunt. Innocent enough. Of course White would walk the next two, turning an innocent situation into potential disaster.

And then disaster officially strikes in the form of a Bobby Abreu (took Kemp's spot in the order) bases clearing double, which gave Los Angeles their first lead and ended White's afternoon.

Breakdown of a breakdown: The single you can live with. Heck, you can even live with the double because he was beat by a professional hitter there. You just can't live with those walks. Walks turn into runs so fast in the game of baseball. And as we know, the margin for allowed runs on the road is minimal for Colorado. 

Overall, not even close to the follow up outing we were looking for from Alex. And for a guy who supposedly pounds the strike zone, his inability to do so on the road and with a lead is very concerning and even more so annoying.  

By the way, Matt Reynolds would relieve White and immediately issue a walk of his own. A.J. Ellis then clobbered a three-run homer to cap the six-run inning.

Screengrabs of the Game
Two "I got its" equal "no one has it".
This guy has all the answers?
I think it's time to change the questions.
Highlight of the Afternoon: The Rockies had a few highlights today. Most of them were early on, of course, and the one that stands out the most is the following play by Chris Nelson that saved a run at a time when we were clinging to hope.


What's Next: It's on to San Francisco for a quick two-game series to conclude this dreadful west coast swing. The pitching matchup for the opener on Monday will feature Christian Friedrich (1-0, 1.50) against 2011 All-star Ryan Vogelsong (1-2, 2.94). Should be an interesting matchup... or at least interesting to see how Friedrich follows up on his glowing big league debut.

First pitch will be 8:15 MT.

Final Thoughts: Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful moms out there — including and especially mine. Enjoy your day!

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

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