Rock Solid Recap: Speechless

Well, almost. I have to say something.

I don't know what today's amazing victory will mean in the grand scheme of the 2010 season. It may mean nothing. It may mean everything. The bottom line is, there is nothing more exhilarating than watching your favorite team never give up, and then complete a mission that seemed impossible.

Nothing.

Rockies 12, Braves 10 

When you break this thing down and start handing out individual accolades, the only place you can start is with lefty sensation Matt Reynolds.

The kid has pitched his ass off all season, beginning in spring training, continuing through a dominant campaign at Colorado Springs, and he's now showing us firsthand that the hype was legit. Sometimes a guy has the ability, you hear the hype, he shows up and then promptly wets the bed.

Not Matt Reynolds.

The importance of his three shutout innings, on so many levels, simply cannont be measured. There's no stat that can be created that measures what a single performance like this means to a baseball team. Not to mention his patience AB that resulted in a walk and led to three run 5th inning rally. Reynolds did it all on a Wednesday afternoon.

The same praise can be heaped on Joe Beimel and Matt Belisle. That's nothing new for them, though. That's why they have routiniely ranked in the top 5-6 when I do Rockies player rankings.

The Offense?

So many clutch hits.

Dexter Fowler's Little League home run... (Highlight)

Ryan Spilborghs' pinch-hit 2-run double... (Highlight)

Carlos Gonzalez ties the game... (Highlight)

Troy Tulowitzki with another game-winning RBI... (Highlight)

Todd Helton provides the insurance... (Highlight)

And how about CarGo's web gem to end it?  Solid.  (Highlight)

Amazing display by the Rockies. I definitely feel better about this team now than I did a week ago, but that's always the case when they're at home. I need to see this team win a road series before I get too excited about a playoff run.

Or a series win over the Dodgers would be a start as well.

Tomorrow

Rockies get to spend the day with the family.

Friday

Ubaldo Jimenez vs Clayton Kershaw

I'll be back with you on Monday after a nice weekend away from the homestead.

Rock Solid Recap: Of Rock Solid Baseball

Isn't this the type of baseball we saw consistently from the Rockies (home or road) over the last four months of last season?

Why haven't we seen more of it in 2010?

Rockies 5, Braves 2 

Starting Pitching -- Check

Jorge De La Rosa strikes out seven over seven extremely efficient, often dominating innings.  That continued a very impressive string of very impressive starting pitching.

Defense -- Check

Four double plays.

Here's one started by Tulo... (Highlight) and another off the glove of DLR, right to Tulo... (Highlight).

The recap wouldn't be complete without something special from Todd Helton... (Highlight)

Going Yard -- Check

Carlos Gonzalez hits #26 (Highlight)

Seth Smith hits #15 (Highlight)

Timely Hitting/Insurance Runs -- Check

Dexter Fowler delivers in the 8th inning.  (Highlight)

That may have been Fowler's best looking swing of the season.  Bottle that one up and use it over and over.

Closer -- Check

Huston Street sets them down 1-2-3 for the third straight day. Now give him a day off before we enter another vicious cycle of fatigue and lost confidence.

I love these types of games. It makes writing a recap so much easier because I really don't have to write anything. Just pat a few guys on the seat, throw in some highlights, and talk about tomorrow's game.

Tomorrow

Esmil Rogers vs Jair Jurrjens

A little day time action in Denver as the Rockies look for a sweep. It won't be easy against a tough tough customer in Jair Jurrgens. Really like his game and his arm. His numbers are a little off this season due to injury problems, but if he shows up on his game, Esmil Rogers will need to channel his inner Jhoulys Chacin (from Sunday) to keep the Rockies in the game.

I think that's exactly what we'll see. Another hard fought, low scoring affair.

Rock Solid Recap: Helton Owns The Night

We've seen it a couple hundred times before, but that doesn't make it any less special (or thrilling) when Todd Helton takes over a baseball game and wills his Rockies to a hard fought victory.

Rockies 5, Braves 4

The 8th inning AB was vintage Todd Helton. It's the type of AB every hitting coach dreams all of his hitters could pull off, but only a select few in the game have the patience and the ability to do.

Lefty reliever Jonny Venters (who made his ML debut during Ubaldo's no-hitter) threw everything he had at Todd (literally -- Helton was brushed back by a high-and-tight fastball that actually result in a foul ball), but Helton stood his ground and waited for the one pitch he could deliver.

Helton's Game-winning hit (Highlight)

Simple as that... for Todd that is.

By the way, Todd had three other hits in the game. Those three all came against Tim Hudson, whom he is now 9-for-13 against lifetime. Talk about a great hitter raising his game against a great pitcher.

Oh... and some defense from The Toddfather as well... (Seriously MLB.com, no highlight of that?)

Enjoy some Tulo (Highlight) and EY Jr. (Highlight) instead.

Jason Hammel

Another tough luck ND for Hammel. That's better than a tough loss, of course, but this guy deserves to have another 4-5 wins on his total.  Oh well, like I seem to say every time he throws, his teammates appreciate the quality work he's giving the team.  That's all that matters.  And the team W of course.

Huston Street

I'm ashamed of the people at Coors Field that booed this man. Come on people, he's not perfect, but there are only two closers (Brian Wilson & Heath Bell) in the NL that I would definitely rather have than Street. For the most part of save chances are spotless, especially when not pitching on fumes.

He's still the best option the Rockies have. And without him and Franklin Morales (seriously) holding down 9th innings last season, the Rockies don't make the playoffs. Credit has to go where it's due, Huston Street is solid in his role.

Note To Braves Fans

Stop whining about the CarGo call. Remember this? We're even now. Shut up and deal with it.

Tomorrow

Jorge De La Rosa vs Derek Lowe

Let's see another well played baseball game with the timing hitting included. Those are my favorites.

Rock Solid Recrap: Four Reasons It Wasn't All Jeff Nelson's Fault

Braves 4, Rockies 3

Reason #1

When your pitching combines to walk 11 batters, your chances of winning that game are significantly hampered.

Reason #2

Dexter Fowler led off the 6th with a single. He quickly stole second and advanced to third on Brian McCann's throwing error...

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Running Thoughts: Smith vs. Jurrjens

No clue how players handle these quick turnarounds.  Pretty sure I'll be ready for a nap by the 4th inning.

Seth Smith starts in place of Brad Hawpe, who's being held out as a precaution after some ginger baserunning last night.  Smith hits 5th and plays left, Gonzalez shifts over to right.  Chris Iannetta also back in the lineup tonight hitting 6th.  Otherwise it's all the regulars we've come to know and love.  Probably doesn't hurt that last night's game was played so quickly and without a whole lot of stress.

Atlanta has Matt Diaz leading off today.  Not sure how that'll work.

How about a series victory in Atlanta and a jovial flight to Washington to play a better expected Nationals club.

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Looking Ahead: To A Worse Today

Because let's face it, Greg Smith is going to give up a hit, maybe even a run or two.

Smith vs. Jurrjens

Following a no-hitter has to be about the least enviable task a starting pitcher could face. Then again, in the case of Greg Smith, who's coming off maybe the best start of his ML career, the pressure must feel pretty low, and the confidence has to be at an all-time high.

The adjustments he made between starts one and two were exactly what I'd hoped they would be. He was aggressive. He approached the ABs like he was in control. Most importantly, he trusted his stuff could get ML hitters out, and his stuff did just that. Now I'm really looking to how he backs up that start.

I might suggest Jason Hammel take a close at how Smith fares as well. It's early yet, not sure when Francis will return, but you have to figure Smith COULD earn his way into the rotation one way or another. And even if that's not a possibility, I wouldn't mind Smith and Hammel thinking it was.

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A Hitless Rock Solid Recap

Rockies 4, Braves 0

What a night!

Winning Player: Ubaldo Jimenez

What more can I say that I didn't say during the game and over at Bugs & Cranks.

We have a very special right arm pitching for our favorite baseball team.  The way his strength, effectiveness, filth, intensity, focus and command build and improve as a game goes along is such a joy to watch.  If he were on pitch 200 in the 16th inning right now, I wouldn't be surprised if he took it to an even higher level.

I'm as full of hyperbole as the next baseball fan, so I'll go ahead and say he's one of the top 5 arms in the game right now.  And he may be closer to #1 than #5, but he's not better than Roy Halladay.  I'll get that out of the way.

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Running Thoughts: Jimenez vs. Kawakami

Preview

It's the reunion of the Opening Day lineup... sans Chris Iannetta, who once again sits in favor of Miguel Olivo.  Whatever, at least we know Chris will play tomorrow.

Baseball time.

1st Inning

• Chip Caray back in the both tonight for Atlanta.  Opens the broadcast by telling us the Rockies are battling for the NL Wildcard.  Actually, numbnuts, the Rockies are aiming a little higher this season.  
• Chip also informs us the Rockies are like so many other NL teams that are looking for a leadoff man.  Folks, I wasn't kidding, Chip Caray is a blithering idiot.  Can't wait to hear what else he has to say.  
• CarGo "the leadoff man experiment for tonight" does what he does so often, leads off the game with a hit (double). 
• Fowler moves CarGo to third, Helton walks, and Tulo sac flies.  Good start for the offense.  
• Even better start for Jimenez, who wipes out a walk with a DP grounder.  
• Rockies 1, Braves 0
  

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Looking Ahead: To A Better Today

Because yesterday sucked. And so did the day before that.

Jimenez vs. Kawakami

When times are rough, who's the person you always turn to? Your ace in the hole, right? Well, thank God the Rockies actually have one of those, and they're going to need him to live up to the billing in full for the third straight outing.

The Braves counter with Kenshin Kawakami. Kawakami is a very much underrated right-hander who came over to MLB last season from Japan. I suppose it's easy to understand why he would be underrated or overlooked when you look at the quality arms Atlanta has in their rotation.

At 34, he's also not a young prospect with endless amounts of hype surrounding him. He's just a solid, veteran arm that knows how to get hitters out without being overpowering. Josh Fogg might be a decent comparison to make, though I'd consider Kenshin to be more polished and talented.

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Rock Crappy Recap: Hammel Hammered

Braves 9, Rockies 5

Overall, a much improved effort from the Rockies tonight.

Seriously!  I mean it!

No sloppiness was evident on defense.  The offense put together a couple solid innings, with Seth Smith contributing the pinch-hit 3-run homer.  The bullpen was honestly pretty awesome. Thank you Manny Corpas, Joe Beimel, Matt Belisle and Randy Flores.

The loss pretty much boiled down to one person and one inning.

Losing Player: Jason Hammel

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Running Thoughts: Hammel vs. Lowe

Here I was all prepared for a 6:05 CT first pitch only to discover the Braves are doing the 35 after first pitch.  I'd like to say that's annoying but I can only imagine how annoyed fans are by the Rockies 40 after first pitch time.  Of course nothing tops the White Sox 7:11 start times.

Now I have to find something productive to do with my next 30 minutes... like laundry, or exercise.

Bleh.

Oh, and there is some good news on the injury/flu front.  Brad Hawpe and Todd Helton are both in the lineup in their customary spots.  Carlos Gonzalez is available for pinch-hit duty and could start a game in this series.  All very positive things.  Now hopefully yesterday's debacle served as a wake-up call and we see a whole different team out there tonight.

Update: My only productive activity in the last half hour was getting the mail.  Now it's time for baseball in Atlanta!

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Looking Ahead: Let's Get Fisted

There's no way to make that sound right, nor is there any way to make Chip Caray sound like a competent announcer.

Before I get into anything for tonight, I just want to offer you this in regards to yesterday's debacle.

Click on the following links to view condensed versions of Brewers/Cubs, Rangers/Indians & D-Backs/Dodgers from yesterday. It'll make you feel better about he Rockies game momentarily... and then you'll remember they lost two of three to Milwaukee and you feel like crap again. But at least you'll have that short moment of comfort.

Hammel vs. Lowe

I think we've seen enough of Derek Lowe over the years to know what's he about. Sinkerballer in the exact same mold as Aaron Cook. Cook probably relies on his a little more, but Lowe also lives and dies with it when it's crunch time.

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