Rock Solid Recap: Road To 100 Hits Dead End

Rockies 7, Diamondbacks 4 (13 innings) (boxscore)

It's over. Our season long regional nightmare is all over.

Five years to the day they defeated the San Diego Padres 9-8 in 13 innings to win the National League Wild Card, the Colorado Rockies won another clincher in 13 innings with the 7-4 win over the Diamondbacks. OK, yeah, so this win was just a little bit less significant in the grand scheme, but it was still meaningful as they officially avoided to century mark in the loss column.

Whew.

RIP: Road to 100.

Winning Players: Chris Nelson & Charlie Blackmon

The Rockies had 13 hits in 13 innings. Seven of those belonged to Chris Nelson & Charlie Blackmon.

I think Nelson deserves top billing because he's the one who delivered to go-ahead RBI single in the 13th. That capped a night where Nelson was seeing the ball very well and had a number of good swings, including a couple drives that had home run distance but ended up just foul. Either of those staying fair would have changed the game a lot sooner.

Then again, it was Blackmon who had four hits, including the single that made it 5-3. That would actually ended up being the winning run, so you could make an argument for either.

It's kinda like the Miguel Cabrera-Mike Trout debate for the AL MVP, only not even close.

Turning Point: Josh Rutledge had a really rough four-strikeout game, but he's also a big reason the Rockies stayed alive. His two-out RBI double (scoring Blackmon) in the 8th tied the game. Tyler Colvin followed with his own RBI double, so things looked pretty good at that moment. Of course that was only temporary.

Drew Pomeranz's Line: 5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K, 2 HR, 80 pitches (51 strikes)

All things considered during this mostly uninspiring season for Drew Pomeranz, this was a positive note to go out on. Sure, he allowed a couple homers (both solo) and threw in a couple walks, but he stayed on track and never allowed any particular inning to escalate or become a potential disaster. That may not sound like much of achievement to my newer readers, but if you've been reading these recaps all season and looking at the pitching lines, you know how difficult that has been for Pomeranz and this entire staff.

It's a nice ending, but it's really only the beginning as Pomeranz enters this important offseason. Because of this season's results and stunted development, next year almost has to be two steps forward just to get where the Rockies wanted and needed Pomeranz by the end of this season, and maybe three steps forward to reach his potential. I'll settle for one step, as long as it's not another one sideways or backwards.

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Rock Solid Recap: Mother Nature Says Six Innings Is Plenty

Rockies 10, Cubs 5 (boxscore)

A win is a win, even when Mother Nature shortens the game to six innings and especially when you're hoping like heck your favorite team avoids its first 100-loss season.

The good news is this win will increase the Rockies chances of avoiding that slightly. The bad news is they still have work to do over these next eight games to make sure they don't lose six of them.

It's coming down to the wire, folks. Sit tight.

Winning Player: D.J. LeMahieu 3-for-3, home run shy of the cycle, two runs, one RBI

The Rockies obviously had a lot of offense in a short period of time, but LeMahieu really led the attack with his three hits against his former team. The biggest coming in the 4th when he doubled home a run ahead of Josh Rutledge's two-run double that gave Colorado the lead. Another former Cub, Tyler Colvin, contributed two hits himself, including a two-run triple in the 3rd that cut Chicago's lead to 4-1. Also delivering were Chris Nelson (three hits, two runs), Matt Bride (big three-run 5th inning blast) and Wilin Rosario (two hits, HR #27).

In total Colorado had 15 hits and 27 total bases in the six completed innings. Not bad at all.

Turning Point: This game turned the second Theo Epstein traded Colvin and LeMahieu to the Rockies for Ian Stewart and Casey Weathers. It remains Dan O'Dowd's one shining moment over the past 12 months.

Jorge De La Rosa's Line: 3 IP, 4 R (2 ER), 5 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 HR, 67 pitches (45 strikes)

The two unearned runs came after Josh Rutledge's 1st inning overthrow that landed somewhere in Oklahoma. I mean he overshot Jordan Pacheco at first base by at least 40 feet. Perhaps the wet baseball played a factor in that. Perhaps it didn't. I don't know. I just know it was the only bad throw in the game and the conditions got much worse as it went along.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Drew Pomeranz Continues To Scuffle

Padres 4, Rockies 3 (boxscore)

Drew Pomeranz's Line: 3 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 67 pitches (42 strikes)

Pomeranz just can't get it together, which almost makes me wonder if the Rockies should shut him down now, let him clear his mind and come back with a fresh start next spring. I know getting him the innings to develop and gain experience are important — which is why I hated the paired pitching system from the start — but I think enough might be enough already this season. His confidence is low, and there may not be much more to gain over the last 2 1/2 weeks.

Bullpen's Line: 5 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 4 K

Carlos Torres, Edgmer Escalona (he never goes away), Will Harris, Josh Outman and Josh Roenicke were marvelous and played a big role in the Rockies almost coming back here. Collectively, they were the Rockies biggest positive for about the 120th time this season.

Turning Point: There's a big difference between 1-0 and 4-0. That's why Jesus Guzman's three-run homer in the 3rd was the turning point.

Highlight of the Night: Two more hits for Chris Nelson, including this RBI double he ripped in Colorado's three-run 7th inning.

Watch Chris Nelson stay warm

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Rock Solid Recap: Rockies Settle In After Wild 1st To Beat Padres

Rockies 7, Padres 4 (boxscore)

Winning Players: Carlos Gonzalez & Chris Nelson

The Rockies got a monster performance from their lone all-star in this one. Gonzalez finished the night 4-for-5 (all 4 singles) at the plate and two stolen bases, which makes him the first Rockie ever to have three consecutive 20-20 (home run-stolen bases) seasons. That's kind of a big deal.

Nelson also had a spectacular offensive night, including a home run, double, single, two RBIs and one run scored. And then he flashed a little leather later on to rob Alexi Amarista of a sure hit. Big, big night for Nelly.

Watch Nelson's big blast

Honorable Mentions: Wilin Rosario (two-run 1st inning double) and Jordan Pacheco (two-run 1st inning double). Obviously both played a huge role in the five-run 1st inning that held up as the difference in the game.

Turning Point: I think I'm going to go back to Nelson's home run here. Yes, the Rockies scored five in the first, which ended up being enough, but the Padres did respond to that with four of their own in the bottom half. I think it was important after that for the Rockies to be the next team to score, and thanks to Nelson's home run in the 3rd, they were.

Also in consideration was Tyler Chatwood and Matt Reynolds stranding Cameron Maybin after his lead-off triple in the 4th.

Tyler Chatwood's Line: 3 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 72 pitches (44 strikes)

I don't care what the pitch limit might be at this time, when your offense gives you five runs in the 1st inning, you better find a way to last five and get a win. What a lost opportunity for to Chatwood to do not only that, but find a little more confidence and consistency as well. Disappointing outing.

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Rock Solid Recap: Rockies Win Ugly Sunday Rubber Match

Rockies 11, Padres 10 (boxscore)

As well played as the first two games were, this one was every bit as ugly. And I'm not just talking about from a pitching standpoint. It was sloppy baseball in general, and that made it quite a chore to sit through despite the offensive fireworks and positive result.

Winning Player: Chris Nelson

Nelly only had one of the Rockies 11 hits, but it was the biggest in the game. It came in the 7th with Colorado trailing 9-7. Tyler Colvin had just sacrificed the tying runs into scoring position (because Jim Tracy is a genius or something), and Nelson said screw that, skip, I'm here to win. So he launched a three-run homer to straight away center to recapture the lead.

Watch Chris Nelson's three-run jack

Honorable Mentions: Dexter Fowler (three hits, two RBIs) and Jordan Pacheco (two hits, two RBIs and two runs)

Turning Point: The Rockies had two big innings offensively, and need every bit of both to pull out this win. Of course one of those was the 7th thanks to Nelson's home run. The other was a seven-run 3rd in which they scored six more two-out runs. I swear they've doubled their season total of two-out runs in the last two days alone. And it's no surprise at all that they have won both of those games.

Jeff Francis' Line: 3 2/3 IP, 6 R (5 ER), 10 H, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 80 pitches (55 strikes)

This looked a lot like his return start back on June 9. The Angels peppered him for 10 hits (all singles) in 3 1/3. Today, San Diego threw a home run and a double in there, but it was mostly Francis getting peppered by singles, and he also didn't get much help from his defense. Indecisiveness, sloppy technique, and missed cutoff men were abound, and each 90 feet allowed proved to be costly in one way or another.

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Rock Solid Recap: Rockies Welcome Josh Beckett Back To The National League

More specifically... Tyler Colvin welcomes Josh Beckett back to the National League.

Rockies 10, Dodgers 0 (boxscore)

Winning Players: All of them. That's about as complete a performance as this team has had all season. And honestly, it's as satisfying a win as you can have in August of a lost season. Beating the Dodgers in Beckett's debut and in dominant fashion? Hell. Yes.

Special mentions are definitely in order for Tyler Colvin. Not only did he greet Beckett with the mammoth home run, he also played a big role in breaking the game open with a two-run 8th inning triple.

Another key contributor was Chris Nelson (single, double, triple, three runs scored) with the bat and with the glove. He started a huge double play on Matt Kemp that snuffed out the Dodgers 8th rally attempt.

D.J. LeMahieu (two hits, two RBIs, great double play turn) and Jonathan Herrera (three hits) also get hat tips.

Watch the Rockies turn a big DP

Turning Point: Jim Tracy made a logical managerial move. I swear to it. He made a logical managerial move in the 6th inning when he pinch-hit for piggyback/hybrid reliever Josh Roenicke in a run scoring opportunity, and I'll be damned if Josh Rutledge didn't come through with a pinch-hit RBI single to extend the lead and the inning.

This might not just be a turning point in a baseball game. It could be the turning point in all our lives.

Watch Josh Rutledge deliver

Oh, right, then Matt Belisle hit for himself with two runners on base in the 8th and struck out bunting. But I guess the Rockies were out of players by then or something. And then the Rockies scored six more runs inning and it didn't matter. Fun times!

Jeff Francis' Line: 5 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K, 91 pitches (56 strikes)

Josh Beckett was the talk going in but Jeff Francis stole the matchup with his outstanding five-inning performance. Of course I emphasized five innings there because that's a big deal for a Rockies pitcher. And you know what's an even bigger deal? Jim Tracy allowing Francis to reach 91 pitches despite being in a jam in the 5th. It's a good thing he did, too, because Francis finished the outing in style with the nasty 60-something mph curveball that struck out Shane Victorino.

Loved it.

What's Next: The Dodgers series continues on Tuesday night at 6:40 with a slightly less interesting pitching matchup. For the Rockies, it'll be the young righty Tyler Chatwood (3-3, 4.98). For the Dodgers, it'll be the crafty and surprisingly effective left-hander Chris Capuano (11-9, 3.37).

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

Rock Solid Recap: Rockies Complete The Sweep In New York

Rockies 1, Mets 0 (boxscore)

For some reason Citi Field in New York has become a nice home away from home for the Colorado Rockies (eight straight wins there over the past two seasons). And if you're asking for my best guess as to what that reason is... I'll say it's probably because the Mets play there, and the Mets are kind of a mess.

But hey, I'm not giving back any of those wins. I just wish they could stay longer.

Winning Players: The Bullpen 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 K

With 150 friends and family members in attendance on Wednesday night to see Adam Ottavino's scheduled piggyback outing, manager Jim Tracy elected to push him back until Thursday, which was kind of a dick move if you ask me. I mean, yes, this is professional baseball. There are no promises and you just have do your job when you're told and hopefully do it to the best of your abilities. That said, the Rockies have been dipping their toes in some Little League waters with his pitching system, so why not just pitch the guy when you said you would so he can have that night in front of his family.

That bugged me more than it should have, but it worked out well for the Rockies on Thursday as Ottavino was able to give them a couple scoreless innings out of the bullpen. He was followed by Rex Brothers, who also tossed two scoreless innings and ended up getting the win (8-2). Then it was Will Harris (he's turning out to be a nice find, huh?) with an overpowering 8th inning in the setup role to Matt Belisle, who earned the save in place of the resting Rafael Betancourt.

Amazing work by the bullpen the entire series.

Turning Point: The Mets have a lot of things that look and feel out of place. Among the most noticeable would be their decision to play Jordany Valdespin, an infielder by trade, playing center field in Thursday's game. That misguided strategy led directly to the only run of the game as Valdespin misplayed Tyler Colvin's flyball leading off the 8th into a triple. One batter later, Chris Nelson rolled one through the infield for the game winner.

Watch Tyler Colvin's Triple

Watch Chris Nelson's RBI single

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Rock Solid Recap: Just Another Four-Game Winning Streak. No Big Deal.

Rockies 5, Mets 2 (boxscore)

Remember when the Rockies couldn't beat the same team twice in a row for like three months? Yeah, so now they're not only doing that, they're actually taking it one step farther and beating the same team three times in a row. They did it to Milwaukee last week at home. Now they're doing it to the Mets in New York. 

Unreal.

Also, thank you Brewers and Mets falling apart at the seams at just the right time. Of course I want to see changes from top to bottom and left to right, but I don't really want to see the Rockies ever loss 100. Very happy they're moving further away from that pace. 

Winning Player: Wilin Rosario 

The Rockies rookie catcher was terrific in Wednesday's win, and it all started in the 1st inning when he ended the Mets mini-rally (one run in, runner on first) by catching David Wright stealing.

Even if it ultimately didn't save a run, it definitely saved Francis a few precious pitches. We all know how vital that is for Rockies starters. In this case, it would help Francis stick around long enough to have a shot at winning (he didn't, of course).

Rosario then got the Rockies offense started in the 4th with a sacrifice fly scoring Jonathan Herrera. The thing I liked most about that plate appearance (aside from the obvious) is that he picked up Carlos Gonzalez, who had just struck out with the runners at second and third. Even if the Rockies didn't get the most out of the opportunity, at least they got something because of Rosario's good work.

That evened the score at 1-1. It stayed that way until the 7th when Mr. Rosario again made a difference with a go-ahead solo homer.

Watch Wilin Rosario Hit No. 20

I think the home run speaks for itself. He's a strong kid with scary offensive potential. We need a couple more of those guys.

Turning Point: Those three Rosario moments could all be considered turning points in the game. I also think the Rockies adding two insurance runs in the 9th was a huge difference (Chris Nelson's RBI single and Josh Rutledge's pinch-hit RBI double), especially when you look at how the bottom half played out with New York getting two runners and the tying run to the plate.

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Rock Solid Recap: D.J. LeMahieu's Career Night Paces Rockies Attack

Rockies 9, Brewers 6 (boxscore)

All I wanted for my birthday was some cake, ice cream, and a lot of Rockies runs (enough to win at least). Low and behold, I got all three!

Winning Player: D.J. LeMahieu

I singled out LeMahieu on Sunday for his excellent play on the entire road trip and he follows that up with a career-high four hits on Monday. Granted, all four were singles, but singles can be very effective when everybody in the lineup is contributing. Monday was one of those nights for the Rockies, as all eight position players had at least one hit (Eric Young Jr., Dexter Fowler, Tyler Colvin and Chris Nelson each had two) and all eight position players had at least one run scored or one RBI.

Those nights are the best.

Turning Point: It was nice to see the offense come out swinging against Mike Fiers, who had an incredible 1.02 ERA over his last 10 appearances (9 starts). He's a good — potentially great — young pitcher that I figured this Rockies lineup would struggle against. They didn't struggle at all, and I credit EY and Jonathan Herrera for getting that started in the 1st, as well as Fowler, Carlos Gonzalez and Wilin Rosario for not letting the inning go to waste (Rockies jumped up 3-0).

Jeff Francis's Line: 5 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 77 pitches (44 strikes)

How nice of Francis to allow a two-run homer to Carlos Gomez on his 77th pitch. That made life easy on old Jim Tracy, who immediately brought the hook.

Of course what else would you expect to happen when a starting pitcher has become conditioned to throwing 75-85 pitches, but all of that just plays right into the hands of Rockies management. They can continue selling the 75 pitch thing by pointing at a result like this. Unfortunately for them, though, we're not idiots.

Unfortunately for us, they just might be.

By the way, overall it was a very nice outing for Francis. Happy for him to get a win out of it.

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June Review and Player Rankings

June Record: 9-18

The Rockies followed up a 10-18 May with a 9-18 June. It's almost impossible to believe they finished April at a very respectable 11-11, isn't it?

Overall Record: 30-47

June Swing Games: 4-3

Wins (Games They Could Have Lost)

• June 3rd vs Los Angeles Dodgers (Read the Recap)
• June 15th @ Detroit (Read the Recap) 
• June 25th vs Washington (Read the Recap)
• June 28th vs Washington (Read the  Recap)

Losses (Game They Should Have Won)

• June 10th vs Los Angeles Angels (Read the Recrap)
• June 13th vs Oakland (Read the Recrap)
• June 20th @ Philadelphia (Read the Recrap) 

Again, the Rockies record in 50/50 swing games looks a lot better than their overall mark because a high percentage of their losses are games they're completely out of early due to the starting pitching.

Simply stated, this isn't your typical win 60, lose 60, how do they split up the other 42 games team. It's a win 50, lose 90, pray the offense keeps them from losing 100 team.

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Rock Solid Recap: Josh Outman Starts Are Fun!

Rockies 11, Nationals 10 (boxscore)

Winning Player: Edwin Jackson

Only kidding. It's Tyler Colvin, who led the Rockies offensive attack with four hits (just a double shy of the cycle) and five RBIs. But he certainly wasn't the lone Rockie to have a productive afternoon. Dexter Fowler, Marco Scutaro, Carlos Gonzalez and Chris Nelson all contributed three hits apiece as Colorado pounded out an even 20 on the afternoon.

But I definitely will give Edwin Jackson an honorable mention. The Rockies absolutely brutalized E-Jax into submission during their glorified batting practice exhibition that would make even Jeremy Guthrie and Alex White cringe. But I guess we shouldn't be too surprised considering Edwin entered the game with a 13.91 ERA against the Rockies in SIX career starts.

Ugly.

Turning Point: The Rockies blew a 7-0 second inning lead and a 10-9 ninth inning lead because winning convincingly and on time apparently bores them. But it's OK, because Marco Scutaro sent the crowd home happy with a two-out, walk-off single in the 11th inning after a seven-pitch at-bat.

Way to go, Marco!

Highlight of the Night: Watch Marco Scutaro's game winner

Josh Outman's Line: 3 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 67 pitches (41 strikes)

Well, Outman should have no beef with the offense. They have staked him out to 11-1 and 7-0 leads over his last two starts, yet all he has to show for that is 7 2/3 innings of total crap, one unintentional shoulder bump with the manager and zero wins.

I vote we replace him with Drew Pomeranz soon, or maybe even one of the youth campers from Tuesday. Frankly, I'll take any replacement aside from Guthrie, White or Guillermo Moscoso.

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Rock Solid Recap: Maybe Jeff Francis Should Start Four Times A Week

Rockies 4, Phillies 1 (boxscore)

You know, since the Rockies lone two wins in the last 14 games have come in Francis starts. Let him start. Give him a 30-pitch limit. Give one day of rest. Bring him right back.

That's pretty sound logic, right Jimbo?

Winning Players: I was all set to name Wilin Rosario and Chris Nelson the Winning Players before last night's ridiculous 9th inning meltdown. To their credit, they came right back tonight and earned the right again by each connecting for a two-run homer to help the Rockies avoid the sweep.

Highlights of the Night

Watch Chris Nelson's two-run homer

Watch Wilin Rosario's two-run homer 

The month of June hasn't provided many positives. In fact, Chris Nelson's recent improved play is the only one I can think of off hand. I'm sure there's something obvious I'm missing though. As for Rosario, he's strong as hell, and should he develop anything resembling decent plate discipline, he'll be pretty special.  For now, though, I'll just enjoy the tape measure bombs and his kid like enthusiasm as he rounds the bases.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Another Lesson In Losing Baseball

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.

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

Rock Solid Recap: Eight Run 10th Was A Thing Of Beauty

Rockies 12, Tigers 4 (boxscore)

I'm admittedly running out of gas after writing six posts for Big League Stew in a little over 24 hours, but how could I not muster up the energy to write about the Rockies snapping their eight-game losing streak overall, and their nine-game losing streak in interleague play.

Winning Player: Chris Nelson

Nelson was the pacesetter for the offense with his RBI triple in the 3rd and his two-run homer in the 4th. Both hits gave the Rockies a lead, the second of which came right after the Tigers had scored three in the 3rd to take the lead themselves. Those are big time contributions from a guy I've honestly been ready to give up on for a while now, and may not even be here this weekend had Troy Tulowitzki returned as scheduled.

Good for you, Nelly. Hope you stay hot and keep earning your spot.

Turning Point: The entire 10th inning was gorgeous. Every damn person in the lineup did something to contribute, including laying down good bunts, drawing walks, productive outs, and then it was all capped by the back-to-back home runs from Carlos Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer.

I'm telling you, when this offense clicks, it's a fun thing to experience.

When this offense clicks and the pitching doesn't embarrass themselves, it's even more fun.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Death By Singles

Angels 11, Rockies 5 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: The Rockies hit five home runs. The Angels hit one.

How did the Rockies lose you ask?

Well, all of the Rockies home runs were solo shots. Yes, exactly like the Sunday afternoon loss in Cincinnati. The Angels, on the other hand, hit 14 singles, stole four bases, had a number of productive outs, and just played beautiful baseball in general. They're the better baseball team, obviously, and it showed in every phrase of the game this afternoon.

Turning Point: Mike Trout led off the game with a single. Torii Hunter followed with a single and both runners advanced 90 feet when Tyler Colvin missed the cutoff man. Albert Pujols hit a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0. Hunter then scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. That all happened within about 12 pitches.

The Rockies never recovered.

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Rock Solid Recap: Christian Friedrich Shines In Big League Debut

Rockies 6, Padres 2 (boxscore)

Winning Player: Christian Friedrich

Rockies fans have been waiting anxiously for Christian Friedrich's big league. Well, today was the day, and the 24-year-old left-hander did not disappoint one bit. In fact, he managed to surpass even reasonable expectations — even against the Padres in San Diego — with a stellar line.

Christian Friedrich's Debut Line: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 7 K, 93 pitches (60 strikes)

Friedrich pounded the strike zone all day with a fastball ranging between 91-94, and kept Padres hitters off balance with a curveball in the 76-78 range and an effective changeup. I can only think of two pitches San Diego squared up. One was a lead-off single by Will Venable in the 1st that led to their first run. The other was Chase Headley's lead-off single in the 6th on a 3-2 pitch. Friedrich left him stranded.

San Diego's unearned run came after Marco Scutaro committed an error beginning the 3rd. Chase Headley followed that with a bloop single and then Yonder Alonso plated the run on a broken bat bloop double just out of Chris Nelson's reach.

In other words, Friedrich was really, really sharp today, and should have earned himself another turn in the rotation. And honestly, I wouldn't be opposed to several more turns.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Tracy, Bullpen fall apart in 7th inning

Brewers 9, Rockies 4 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: The Rockies bullpen has been a strength in the early going.

Tonight, not so much.

It started in the sixth inning as Jim Tracy called on Esmil Rogers to protect a one run lead. Rogers, who had put together four scoreless relief appearances — retiring at least four batters in each — to begin the season, was greeted by a game-tying Ryan Braun home run.

That you could live with. However, Tracy elected to stick with Rogers (18 pitches in the sixth) into the seventh, and the wheels promptly fell off as three of the first four Brewers reached, including a Rickie Weeks RBI triple.

So Rogers gets the hook with Colorado now trailing 5-3. In comes Edgmer Escalona, who proceeds to throw gas on the fire beginning with a Ryan Braun RBI triple and ending with an Alex Gonzalez three-run homer.

9-3 Brewers. Game over.

Other problems: Managing only two hits and striking out nine times against injury fill-in Marco Estrada wasn't exactly inspiring. Marco Scutaro was one of those victims, striking out for the first time in 2012. Maybe he'll only strikeout against pitchers named Marco.

Oh, and remember how I was praising Wilin Rosario for his work behind the plate in his early starts? BIG step back tonight with some lousy (perhaps lazy) footwork leading to a pair of passed balls and a wild pitch. He needs to bring it every night.

Turning Point: Back to Jim Tracy's odd use of the bullpen in the seventh.

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Rock Solid Recap: Bottoms Up

Rockies 8, Padres 4  (boxscore)

Winning Player(s): As the title may or may not indicate, I'm going with the bottom third of tonight's starting lineup. That includes Chris Nelson, Jonathan Herrera and Juan Nicasio. All three played a huge part in tonight's win, and you're about to read how.

Turning Point: Sometimes the turning point can be obscure, other times it's blatantly obvious. Tonight's was the latter, because it came via Chris Nelson's two-run double in the second that gave Colorado a 2-1 lead.

The most important thing is that it did just that, gave Colorado the lead. But with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out, I felt like it was ultra important for the Rockies to not settle for one, or even worse, none in that spot. Nelson's hit not only guaranteed they would put up the crooked number, but it opened the flood gates to a five-run inning that San Diego never recovered from.

Nelson would finish up his night with a pair of doubles, a walk, two runs scored and two more driven in. That's how you take an opportunity and run with it.

Juan Nicasio's Line: 6 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 HR, 99 pitches (65 strikes)

Terrific outing for Nicasio on the heels of that unexpectedly disastrous effort against San Francisco. If you recall, Nicasio walked FIVE in that game (career high), but came back firing strikes with all of his pitches tonight and worked effectively outside of the zone when he had to. The only Padre that got to him was Chase Headley (two home runs), but he's been getting to every Rockies pitcher since he came into the league so we're used to seeing that.

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Spring Training Hits & Misses: Game 31 vs. Cleveland

Hits

Tyler Colvin

I don't how good his 400+ foot home run off Ubaldo Jimenez felt to him personally (probably pretty good), but it damn sure felt great to Rockies fans. Colvin would later add a second home run and two additional hits, finishing the day at 4-for-5 with six RBI.

Welcome to the big club, Tyler Colvin. Happy to have you.

Chris Nelson

Speaking of making the big club and homering off Jimenez, Chris Nelson also belongs to this club. His fourth inning two-run shot tied the game momentarily. He later added an RBI double giving him three on the day.

Josh Roenicke

Two more scoreless innings lowers his spring ERA to 0.79. That would be good enough to make the 1990 Cincinnati Reds bullpen, so I'm pretty sure it'll get him on the 2012 Rockies. Especially if they go eight deep initially in the 'pen.

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Spring Training Hits & Misses: Game 30 vs. Chicago

Hits

Drew Pomeranz

6 IP, 0 R, 4 H, BB, 2 K

I can't wait for April 15.

Chris Nelson

Good showing for Nelson as he looks to lock down the third base job — or at least earn the majority of the playing time — in his battle with Jordan Pacheco.

In the second, Nelson tripled home the game's first run against a tough left-hander in John Danks. Six innings later, Nelson would single home the game's second run against another veteran left-handers in Will Ohman. I'm sure Jim Tracy will be filing those two productive swings away for when he makes out the lineup card against Wandy Rodriguez in six days.

Dante Bichette Jr.

Alright, so he's not a Rockie — really, really, really wish he was — but how freakin' cool is it that the 19-year-old son of my favorite player growing up got an opportunity to play with the New York Yankees big club today?

It's awesome.

Oh, and nevermind the fact he hit not one, but two home runs in his two at-bats. One of them coming off a 10-year veteran in Brandon Lyon.

Ya know, I think the kid's gonna be all right.

Misses

The offense vs. John Danks

Danks limited a Rockies offense not including Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez, Todd Helton, Michael Cuddyer and Jason Giambi to one run on three hits over six innings. Obviously this wasn't the best possible lineup Jim Tracy can field, but guys the Rockies will count on to hit against lefties — Dexter Fowler, Eric Young Jr. and Ramon Hernandez — were in there and contributed zilch (0-for-9).

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