Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Rock Solid Recrap: If You Like Offense, Look Away Right Now

Braves 1, Rockies 0 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: Well, the first thing would probably be the Rockies going hitless against Mike Minor until Jordan Pacheco's single leading off the 7th inning. That's obviously a discouraging occurrence for an offense. The second thing would be only adding one more hit after the first hit. Of course they did draw six walks in the game, which is on the plus side, but they couldn't put enough of those together to create one or two measly runs.

On the flip side, Colorado's pitching staff would combine to allow seven walks, which is a disturbing number.  Amazingly, Atlanta only turned that into one run because they also struggled to come up with hits (only four). So basically this was a slow, ugly, and at times difficult to watch baseball game, and the end result didn't make it worthwhile.

Turning Point: As unappealing as it was, this was still an evenly played game throughout. The only play that separated them was Josh Rutledge's 4th inning throwing error as he attempted to turn a rally-killing double play. Rutledge's throw sailed wide of Jordan Pacheco and ended up hitting the fencing in front of the first base dugout. This allowed Chipper Jones to stroll home with the lone run.


Worth mentioning that was Freddie Freeman with the big league takeout slide at second. Sometimes those make all the difference in a tightly contested game.

Alex White's Line: 4 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 0 K, 71 pitches (32 strikes)

That ball-strike ratio is embarrassing. I will argue forever the four-man rotation/pitch count that is now strictly a pitch count is doing no good for the Rockies young pitchers, but it's also past time for Alex White to start throwing strikes consistently. You can't trust a pitcher in any type of role if they aren't throwing strikes. That goes for any level of play.

Bullpen's Line: 4 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K

Ho-hum. The bullpen holds it down again.

Highlight of the Night: Here's a special baseball player making a special defensive play.


What's Next: One more game in Atlanta on Thursday and it's an early one with first pitch scheduled for 12:10 local time. That means 10:10 in the mountains, so call in sick or get out of bed early if you want to see more of this series! Or better yet, do it to see Jhoulys Chacin (2-4, 4.85) against Tim Hudson (13-5, 3.76) because that's not a half bad matchup.

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

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