Phillies 7, Rockies 6 (boxscore)
Admittedly my attention was diverted as I spent most of the evening researching and writing about Troy Tulowitzki's groin, but I was 100% focused for the 9th inning.
Quite honestly, what more did one need to see to analyze the latest exhibition is losing baseball?
What Went Wrong: Right here I should be writing about Wilin Rosario, Chris Nelson and Dexter Fowler being the reasons the Rockies pulled off a thrilling road win tonight. Instead I'm writing about the same old crap as every night. The Rockies and Rafael Betancourt couldn't hold a 6-5 lead in the 9th. They were ONE out away from holding it. The first two batters in the inning were harmless outs, but that elusive 3rd (27th) out never came.
Ty Wigginton base hit... because of course Ty Wigginton would get a base hit.
Hunter Pence doubles into the corner. Wigginton was running on the pitch, so he scores easily to tie it.
Carlos Ruiz intentionally walked.
Shane Victorino follows with a groundball to Marco Scutaro at short. Marco hesitates as he contemplates running to second or throwing to first. The hesitation costs him, because Victorino is fast and he also hustles. That loads the bases.
Placido Polanco follows with another groundball to Scutaro. This one he flags down just behind second base. He again contemplates a flip to second, but D.J. LeMahieu was also en route to the baseball and had to duck out of the way. This causes Scutaro's throw to sail a little bit, but he's still on target to Todd Helton, who inexplicably is off the base and couldn't locate it in time to beat Polanco.
Rockies lose. Again.
Yes, all of that really happened. Even the part where Todd Helton was out of position (he says he expected the ball to get through the infield). It's scary, folks. Todd Helton is the one guy on the team you'd expect to never assume anything, to always pay attention to detail, yet he lapsed tonight and it happened at the worst possible time.
Needless to say, this season is wearing on everybody. Even the great Todd Helton. But unlike the man guiding the ship, Helton offered no excuses for his miscue. He should have been there. He knows he should have been there. He's probably not going to sleep well tonight because of it, but at least he owned up to it.
Hopefully a few other guys lose sleep tonight, too, because the game should have never made it to that point.
Alex White's Line: 3 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 75 pitches (Damn, Jim Tracy is good at this pitch limit thing), 43 strikes
The home run allowed was the first of the season for Michael Martinez. The zero strikeouts are a season low. Umm... oh, and Rockies starters have combined for eight innings pitched in two starts under the new four-man rotation.
Bullpen's Line: 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K
The positive here was the three hit-free, walk-free innings from Jeremy Guthrie. I have no idea what that means, but it's a positive.
What's Next: Can the Rockies avoid a sweep on Thursday night???
Their "starter" will be Jeff Francis (0-1, 12.46). His mound opponent will be Vance Worley (3-3, 2.80). First pitch is scheduled for 5:10. Francis' last pitch is likely to come before 6:10.
Final Thoughts: The Rockies learned they lost Troy Tulowitzki for eight more weeks with an injury we've never heard of before. Then they went out and lost a baseball game in a way we've never seen before.
Somehow, someway, tomorrow will be worse.
I can almost guarantee it.