Lineup Card: Rockies vs Pirates 7-16-12

Weekend Recaps

Friday: Rockies Rookies Roll Over Phillies
Saturday: Rockies Gonna Rockie
Sunday Snoozer

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (34-54)

1. Dexter Fowler (CF)
2. Marco Scutaro (2B)
3. Jordan Pacheco (3B)
4. Carlos Gonzalez (LF)
5. Michael Cuddyer (1B)
6. Tyler Colvin (RF)
7. Wilin Rosario (C)
8. Josh Rutledge (SS)
9. Jeff Francis (P)

Well, Jim Tracy is trying something new again with Jordan Pacheco hitting third and Carlos Gonzalez slipping down to clean up. I give this experiment three games.

In other news, Juan Nicasio is out for the season after undergoing microfracture surgery under his left kneecap to remove bonechips. Nothing but bad luck for him over the last 12 months. 

Pittsburgh Pirates (49-39)

1. Alex Presley (LF)
2. Josh Harrison (RF)
3. Andrew McCutchen (CF)
4. Casey McGehee (1B)
5. Neil Walker (2B)
6. Pedro Alvarez (3B)
7. Rod Barajas (C)
8. Clint Barmes (SS)
9. Jeff Karstens (P)

Andrew McCutchen is still my favorite non-Rockie in baseball and there's not a close second right now. He was just named National League Player of the Week, he's the hottest hitter in baseball since early May, and if MVP votes were tallied this evening, he'd probably win it. He's been that damn good, and if his tear continues against the Rockies this will be a difficult series to win.

Pedro Alvarez has been a Rockies killer before. He also comes to town swinging a hot bat lately, so this really could be a long week. 

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

Rock Solid Recrap: Sunday Snoozer

Phillies 5, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: Looks like I picked another good (Sun)day to miss a game. The Rockies were again mystified and dominated by Cole Hamels, which is understandable. He's a motivated pitcher right now and he's also among the most talented in either league. It's not like it's a random shutout by Jeff Suppan or Chris Capuano, so that's fine. It happens.

Unfortunately, though, Hamels may soon be a fixture in the National League West (assuming the Dodgers trade for him or sign him in the offseason, which is heavily rumored), so hopefully they figured a few things out in the process of being stifled.

Get in that video room.

Drew Pomeranz's Line: 5 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 80 pitches (49 strikes)

A step back for Pomeranz today, but certainly not a big enough step to discourage me. Everything went satisfactory right up until Philadelphia's two-out rally in the 5th. The Jimmy Rollins single, the Shane Victorino walk, and of course the three-run homer by Hunter Pence.

It's the same old, tired, worn out problem the Rockies have had all season  — their inability to close out innings. It has to improve. They have to become better finishers, get themselves back in the dugouts quicker and allow their teammates to get off their feet and get comfortable at the plate.

Oh, and allow fewer runs. Also important.

But focusing on Pomeranz primarily, the feeling I get from watching him and listening to/reading his words is that he is very comfortable with his game right now, but also understands there are things to improve on to take those next 4-5 steps in his development. I think Sunday's experience gives him that next new thing to focus on, so it'll be interesting to see how he attacks it and comes back his next time out.

Turning Point: We just talked about it. The Hunter Pence home run moves a 2-0 game to a 5-0 game in those pivotal middle innings. No way the Rockies could recover with Cole Hamels dealing.

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