Rockies 1, Mets 0 (boxscore)
For some reason Citi Field in New York has become a nice home away from home for the Colorado Rockies (eight straight wins there over the past two seasons). And if you're asking for my best guess as to what that reason is... I'll say it's probably because the Mets play there, and the Mets are kind of a mess.
But hey, I'm not giving back any of those wins. I just wish they could stay longer.
Winning Players: The Bullpen 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 K
With 150 friends and family members in attendance on Wednesday night to see Adam Ottavino's scheduled piggyback outing, manager Jim Tracy elected to push him back until Thursday, which was kind of a dick move if you ask me. I mean, yes, this is professional baseball. There are no promises and you just have do your job when you're told and hopefully do it to the best of your abilities. That said, the Rockies have been dipping their toes in some Little League waters with his pitching system, so why not just pitch the guy when you said you would so he can have that night in front of his family.
That bugged me more than it should have, but it worked out well for the Rockies on Thursday as Ottavino was able to give them a couple scoreless innings out of the bullpen. He was followed by Rex Brothers, who also tossed two scoreless innings and ended up getting the win (8-2). Then it was Will Harris (he's turning out to be a nice find, huh?) with an overpowering 8th inning in the setup role to Matt Belisle, who earned the save in place of the resting Rafael Betancourt.
Amazing work by the bullpen the entire series.
Turning Point: The Mets have a lot of things that look and feel out of place. Among the most noticeable would be their decision to play Jordany Valdespin, an infielder by trade, playing center field in Thursday's game. That misguided strategy led directly to the only run of the game as Valdespin misplayed Tyler Colvin's flyball leading off the 8th into a triple. One batter later, Chris Nelson rolled one through the infield for the game winner.
Tyler Chatwood's Line: 3 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 65 pitches (36 strikes)
Not a lot to add to the line other than he was lucky it didn't implode on him. The work remains in progress.
Collin McHugh's Line: 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 9 K, 100 pitches (63 strikes)
That's one helluva major league debut for McHugh. If only we could get the Rockies to allow their young pitchers to reach 100 pitches every now and then, we might see something similar.
What's Next: Or maybe it's Who's Next?!
The Cubs. Wrigley Field. 12:20. Drew Pomeranz (1-7, 4.87) vs Jeff Samardzija (8-11, 4.17). Let's make it six in a row!
Final Thoughts: Good news: The Rockies are returning to a 5-man rotation. Bad news: The Rockies are keeping the 75-pitch limit.
It's a compromise I can deal with, I guess, since it'll save some of the wear and tear of constantly pitching on short rest. But come on already, let some of these guys work deep in games and develop some survival skills at this level.
More Rockies thoughts await you if you follow me on Twitter: @Townie813 & @HeavenHelton
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