Rock Solid Recrap: 500 never felt so...

Unsatisfying. Crummy. Lame. Lousy. Painful.

But it's still as good or better than the Rockies have been in late May in recent years. It's not an awful place to be. You can make a quick move up the standings from .500. Really.

That's a little perspective for the overall situation here... but it's really easy to lose the perspective quickly. Especially after a night like tonight.

Diamondbacks 2, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

-- Poor Jason Hammel could not have done anything more. Well, yeah, he could have hit another home run. But that didn't even help get a win the last time out. The Rockies just don't support him at all. And it never helps when Jim Tracy backs him with a Wigginton in left, or a Giambi at first, or an Amezaga at short. Always Hammel.

Tonight it was Amezaga at short. Of course Amezaga made the error that led to the only two runs Hammel allowed. Both are unearned, as is the loss Hammel took, but sadly that will stay on his record.

All we can do as fans is verbally pat Hammel on the back. He's giving us everything he has as a pitcher. His transformation in a Rockies uniform from a really good #5 starter to a solid #3 has been a joy to witness. You just hope he doesn't let the lack of run support get him down or shake his confidence. I doubt it will, but everyone has a breaking point.

-- Speaking of breaking points. Apparently Jim Tracy felt like Troy Tulowitzki was reaching his. He gave Tulo a "mental break" tonight. Just a day to collect his thoughts or something. But, um, I get the feeling it won't help, because something tells me it was more maddening for Tulowitzki to never swing a bat in a 2-1 loss than anything he could have done on the field. Not to mention watching the error.

-- Game changing moment(s): Carlos Gonzalez swinging at the first pitch with the bases loaded in the 5th. Jammed himself and grounded out weakly to shortstop. The first batter of Arizona's sixth reached on the Amezaga error. That was it. That quick.

-- I know I'm asking a question nobody can answer, but why are the Rockies so terrible on the bases? I mean it's one thing to make aggressive mistakes, which is the usual issue, but to overrun a base as Seth Smith did in the first. How does that happen? Why does that happen? How do we stop it from continuing to happen?

Someone in the clubhouse or front office might want to address that one.

-- On the other side, Xavier Nady swiping a bag has to be a sign that rock bottom is within sight, right? In total Arizona stole four bags in five attempts. Colorado never attempted one.

Four steals equals = 360 feet. 360 feet = 1 run. Rockies lost by one.

Not that they all eventually led to runs, but it's just giving yourself that chance to be in scoring position. All of those mean something is some way. Even if it just forces an intentional walk or a pitching change. They mean something.

-- Drew Goodman's press pass. Says it's the picture he took 18 years ago. He hasn't changed a bit...

-- Matt Reynolds. Matt Belisle and Rafael Betancourt: Your good work did not go unnoticed.

-- Jonathan Herrera: 1-for-1 with a double. It's criminal he hasn't started three of the last four games. Ridiculous would be another word. Are we completely sure it's not our manager than needs a mental break???

-- New day tomorrow. Maybe this will finally be the day Coors Field officially becomes a bad place for opponents to come.

Rock Solid Recrap: Rockies lose by 270 feet

It was an old fashioned pitcher's duel at Citizens Bank Park between Jorge De La Rosa and Cole Hamels. Unfortunately, Hamels got the best of it, striking out eight and allowing only five hits and one run over eight innings.

That left De La Rosa as a tough luck loser. He'll have to settle for a complete game as consolation prize, having lasted eight innings with five hits and two runs (one earned) allowed.

Phillies 2, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

With both pitcher's dealing, this game really game came down to one interesting baserunning decision and two different pitches that cost the Colorado Rockies 270 feet.

In the first, Alfredo Amezaga singled with one out. The next batter, Carlos Gonzalez, pulled a single to right field that John Mayberry Jr. charged, fielded cleanly in shallow right field, and made a great throw to nip Amezaga at third. It was an aggressive attempt. Not sure how smart it was, but I know the result was costly for Colorado.

The two pitches occurred later. Chris Iannetta committed a passed ball in the fifth that put a runner at third with one out. And then Jorge De La Rosa tossed a wild pitch in the eighth that also put a runner at third with one out.

In both instances the Phillies cashed that runner in. In a game that ended up 2-1, I'd say that was pretty significant. You tip your cap to them for executing, but it was very frustrating from my perspective because I really thought Chris Iannetta could have done a better job preventing those runners from advancing.

I've never donned the tools of ignorance at any point in my life, so I have no experience attempting to do what I'm being critical of here. But there's no denying Iannetta's technique can be sloppy from time to time. That he gets into stretches where his first reaction is to backhand everything. If you're expecting a fastball up and it's two feet in front of the plate, it's going to be difficult to block it with the proper technique, but it's impossible when your first instinct is to backhand it.

Heck, sometimes Chris will backhand pitches on the inside corner and take them right out of the strike zone. I don't think that's what he wants to be doing there, but again, I have no catching experience.

I was probably too harsh in my tweet on the wild pitch. But it was frustrating to watch. It may seem like a minor thing overall, but on a night when run scoring opportunities were scarce and every 90 feet was of the utmost importance, it was magnified.

To Iannetta's credit, he called a terrific game. He had De La Rosa's full trust with the game plan and that led to a gem. The offense just couldn't get anything going against Cole Hamels. And then they wasted Seth Smith's lead-off double in the ninth with Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki and Jason Giambi all striking out.

And no doubt there were some questionable strike calls mixed in there.

Hopefully the Rockies can put this one behind them and head into tomorrow's game maintaining the confidence they built sweeping San Francisco. There's no shame in splitting in Philadelphia.

Moe Belismel tag team broken up

The righty-lefty Rockies reliever tag team I affectionately named Moe Belismel (Matt Belisle & Joe Beimel) is no more. We figured the day was coming when Troy Renck stated the Rockies had no interest in bringing Beimel back, but after the surprising return of Jason Giambi a couple weeks ago, it was worth waiting for the official word.

The word is now official.

Joe Beimel is headed to the new Coors Field East in Pittsburgh.

Much dismay is now ensuing amongst Rockies fans. I understand it to an extent. I liked Joe. Didn't love him, though. His value in the Rockies community is a tad inflated due to the simple fact his name isn't Franklin Morales. Plus the ladies think he's cute and he entered to a kick ass song.

I'm more concerned with the pitching and business side of it. Thankfully the Rockies are too.

There is definitely risk in putting so much stock and faith in a less experienced Matt Reynolds and a roller coaster ride like Morales, but tough decisions have to be made somewhere. And I'm sure the Rockies feel like their right-handers, especially at the back end of the pen, are plenty capable of retiring tough lefties. That's why each of them is making pretty decent coin.

-- In other news... The Rockies have signed OF Willy Taveras, IF/OF Alfredo Amezaga, and C Chad Moeller to minor league deals with invites to spring training. In addition, they have shipped RHP Ethan Hollingsworth to Oakland for AAA RHP Clayton Mortenson.

If I had to venture a guess, I would say Amezaga has the best chance to do something meaningful for Colorado this season. It would take injuries and such, but he has always been an O'Dowd guy and reports are the Rockies came away from his workout at Arizona St. impressed. The fact that he can play three infield positions and the outfield certainly helps his case.

@PoseidonsFist (Andrew T. Fisher, Purple Row) set the over/under at negative three for number of games Willy Taveras would start for the Rockies in CF this season. I'll still take the under there.

-- Rockies avoided arbitration with Ian Stewart on Thursday.

I would hope so. Stewart knows what's at stake this season for him personally. He knows Ty Wigginton, Jose Lopez and Joe Crede are coming to camp. He's heard the far fetched Michael Young rumors. Wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to get hung up over $450K difference in arbitration offers and allow bad feelings to come into play.

Simple advice to Ian going forward... not that he needs it.

Go out on the field, hold off the competition behind you, play at the level we all mostly believe you're capable of playing, and you'll make up whatever money you feel like you're giving up.

I believe Ian Stewart can do it, too. I just doubt Jim Tracy will have the patience to let him play through his slumps, especially with the new options at his disposal.

-- Jim Tracy... Still the two scariest words that come to mind when I think about the 2011 Rockies and how far they can go.

Will he learn when to get out of the way?

Will he learn when to press buttons?

Will there be enough healthy relievers left standing in September?

Will there be lineup stability?

I'm crossing my fingers.