Tuesday Links, Things and Another Trade

Dealin' Dan was back in action on Monday, acquiring 32-year-old right-hander Jeremy Guthrie from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Heaven & Helton favorite Jason Hammel - he was a good #4 or #5 start dammit, and that's all I ever asked him to be - and reliever Matt Lindstrom.

The Rockies then avoided arbitration with Guthrie, inking him to a one-year deal worth $8.2 million.

It's another trade that has stirred up quite a bit of debate among Rockies fans and bloggers. The concern, as usual, is whether or not Guthrie - a flyball pitcher - represents a good fit in the hitter friendly Coors Field.

Obviously a high flyball rate is a scary stat to bring with you to Denver, as is the fact that rate has led to at least 23 home runs allowed in each of his first five full seasons. But that hardly predicts impending disaster, or even poor results with a switch to the National League. In fact, I don't think there's any reason to believe the number of home runs he allows will jump significantly, if at all, against the inferior lineups of the National League West, regardless of where he's pitching the majority of his games.

When I look beyond the numbers, I see a tough pitcher that has more than held his own against the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays and Blue Jays lineups. When I bring the numbers back into focus, I see a pitcher that posted an ERA under 4.00 in three of those five seasons. He lost a lot more than he won because the offense and defense supporting him were pretty dreadful, but the home run ball never killed him in Baltimore. It won't kill him in Denver, either, as long as he keeps the bases clean.

Unless Guthrie loses his edge, which is certainly possible when you go from facing those lineups four or five times each, to cycling through the Giants, Padres, etc., I think he'll prove to be an unspectacular, but solid #2 starter in the National League.

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Rock Solid RECAP: Don't call it a turnaround!

No, really, don't call it that. 

Rockies 4, Astros 2 (13) (boxscore)

But do call it a victory!

Wait, that's what it's called when you score more than your opponent, right?

Or a win. That's fine.

Here's what you need to know about how the Rockies snapped their embarrassing nine-game losing streak.

-- Jason Hammel pitched VERY well in his return to the rotation. 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. That's encouraging for a couple reasons.

#1 - There's a really good chance we're going to need him in that rotation to start next season. Unless the Rockies sign or trade for a couple starters, or Jorge De La Rosa and Juan Nicasio not only recover ahead of schedule, but also prove themselves to be effective, Hammel will have to start games in April.

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Rock Solid Recap: Poised Pomeranz wins MLB debut

Alright, so maybe Alex White hasn't taken the Rocky Mountain region by storm yet, but I'd say Mr. Drew Pomeranz made enough of an impact in his debut to make us forget that for a few days. Pomeranz was absolutely sensational, controlling the game for all 63 of his pitches, and never finding himself in any real legitimate danger.

Rockies 4, Reds 1 (boxscore)

A man of few words, Todd Helton summed up Pomeranz's debut about as well I could in 500.... (via @TroyRenck on Twitter)

"A lot of poise. He had a presence"

Boy did he. In his five innings, Pomeranz walked two, but only allowed two hits. One of which was clean single up the middle, and the other deflecting off Kevin Kouzmanoff's glove. Honestly, when you look at the defensive alignment behind him -- no Tulo, no CarGo, no Helton, no Ellis -- the outing becomes even that more impressive.

And you know what makes it even better? The offense scraped together a couple runs, and Drew Pomeranz get the win!

The whole game was a lot of fun to watch, which is very rare for the 2011 Rockies. And I think we can apply the cliche that it's only going to get better when big #47 is on the hill.

How about this for a tag team. When Pomeranz got in range of his pitch limit in the 5th and had to tag out, it was Jason Hammel who got the call in the 'pen. All Hammel did was pitch the fingal four innings, allowing only a Joey Votto solo home run, to collect his third career save.

Gotta love September baseball.

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Rock Solid Recap: Youth and justice are served in thrilling victory

The Colorado Rockies are playing out at the string at this point. Actually, that started a couple months ago, but the recent sweep at the hands of Arizona made it officially official, though not technically official.

Anyway.

Once we get to this miserable place with nothing to truly invest ourselves in as fans, watching the Rockies (or any team) can be torturous (especially the Rockies). However, on this unusual Tuesday, they actually gave us reason (two, actually) to not only invest our precious time and energy, but they also rewarded us with one of their most exciting victories of the season.

I mean it.

Rockies 8, Diamondbacks 3 (boxscore)

Of course the first seven and one half innings looked exactly like every other Rockies snooze fest. General sloppiness in the field, sleepiness from the offense, and seemingly every possible bounce or call going against them. But the offense absolutely erupted in the bottom of the 8th; where they scored a season high seven runs on seven hits with the added assistance of two walks and one HBP.

And the best part of that particular inning? All seven runs crossed with two outs. So that means every plate appearance after Dexter Fowler's fielder's choice (1st in the order) until Mark Ellis' flyout (2nd in the order, but one full time around the lineup later), was a clutch/quality/pretty damn exciting plate appearance.

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Lackluster Recrap: I'm very sad for Jason Hammel

Dodgers 8, Rockies 2 (boxscore)

Well, so much for Jason Hammel getting on track and stringing together good starts for the first time in two months. Wow, this one here was actually about as bad as it can get when you consider who was missing from the opposition's lineup. Namely, Andre Ethier.

But really, the Dodgers plain stink no matter who's suiting up. so whatever hell you'd like to give Hammel for this one is more than justified.

While you're at it, give the offense some hell too. I understand they were fighting an uphill battle right out of the gate, but you honestly can't win that battle when only two or three guys are fighting for every at bat on a given night. Again, it's everybody or two or three. We need those periphery guys to step it up in every game, but especially games like this one.

Aside from Troy Tulowitzki, who's so locked it right now it's ridiculous. Aside from Todd Helton, who's just Todd Helton. Aside from Jason Giambi, who obviously doesn't play often. And aside from Carlos Gonzalez, who's fighting those nightly battles for the Rockies, and who's winning them at a successful clip?

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Rock Solid Recap: I'm very happy for Jason Hammel

So many people have been quick to bail on Jason Hammel. Maybe rightfully so, maybe not. Time will tell for sure.

I can't deny that he's struggled (slight understatement) for six weeks, but I'm not one that's quick to abandon a solid performer. Hopefully you've noticed that about me over the past two seasons. I like to think I'm fair and critical when necessary, but I see no reason in running a guy into the ground that has been a huge positive for this team for the vast majority of his tenure.

No, he's not Ubaldo Jimenez or Jhoulys Chacin. Few are. To expect that from him would be sorely lacking in perspective, but sometimes I feel that's the standard he's held to. Jason's in that category of a back end rotation guy. Limited upside. His stuff won't scare anybody, but he battles. And for 2009, 2010 and early 2011, the Rockies 4th and 5th rotation spots were stronger than most because of Jason Hammel.

He's one of the guys on this team that I know has fight, and I know has personal and professional pride on the line every time he goes out there. When he struggles, he's harder on himself than anyone. We've seen that in his quotes and the way Troy Renck describes his demeanor. I know that's hard to imagine, because the drubbing his takes from Rockies fans on Twitter (likely elsewhere) is brutal, but he really does take it personal and is his own harshest critic.

To see him come out and pitch a baseball game like he Saturday night in St. Louis makes me feel really good for him. We needed it. He REALLY needed it.

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Rock Solid Recap: The Reds look familiar to me

If the Rockies are the most disappointing team in baseball, which I fully believe they are, then the Cincinnati Reds are a close second. They took control of the NL Central last season. With a whole season of Aroldis Chapman, a healthy Edinson Volquez, and a pretty solid crop of young starting pitchers coming along, it seemed like they were destined to repeat this season and possibly beyond.

That all sounds familiar. Just change a few names and divisions.

It hasn't happened for them. There have been injuries along the way. Volquez has gone from the ace to constantly shuffling back and forth with AAA Louisville. The young pitchers are still feeling their way. But above all else, and I've seen this several times when watching them, their fundamentals, baserunning, clutching hitting and all around execution are all terrible.

Baseball being baseball strikes again. Every new season is exactly that - a new season. We've learned that the hard way a couple times over the past five years. Reds fans are relearning it for themselves right now.

But you aren't here to read about the Reds and how sad and disappointing they are. And I surely don't mean to take away from...

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Lackluster Recrap: Thanks for the education

Not that we needed one to realize how far the Rockies are from being relevant in the National League. The Phillies are definitely the measuring stick right now, and thanks to them we confirmed the Rockies are pretty comfortably stationed between the bottom of that stick and the halfway point.

Not even good enough to be mediocre.

Phillies 8, Rockies 6 (boxscore)

Considering Jason Hammel's ups and downs of late, I'd say Wednesday's start went pretty close to what you'd except. Which is unfortunate, because Halladay's start went nothing like I expected. Something decent from Hammel would have actually positioned the Rockies to win this game. Judging from his postgame comments, he's just as dissatisfied with himself as the rest of us.

Rex Brothers continued his very recent struggles. He's now allowed runs in each of his last three appearances, taking the loss in two. That's after allowing ONE run in the 18 appearances prior. So basically, I think any lashing out in his direction would be short-sighted and unnecessary. Hopefully not too much of that is happening in Denver.

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Rock Solid Recap: Hammel punches back against Padres

That was Jim Tracy's headline quote in the postgame describing Jason Hammel's impressive outing and victory over the San Diego Padres.

Rockies 3, Padres 2 (boxscore)

Apparently Hammel had a sitdown talk with some coaches after his last start and the gameplan for Friday night was to pitch inside more. It appeared to work, although I'd be lying if I said I paid real close attention to his location in comparison to previous starts. I just know he was throwing the ball with some zip, and was able to overcome the small doses of traffic he dealt with. I'm encouraged by that even if it was against a sorry offense in a very pitcher-friendly park.

Hammel's line: 6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB 5 K

The important thing for Hammel now is to make this start his foundation for rebuilding his season that crumbled around the last month or so. A home date with the Philadelphia Phillies next week will make that a difficult task, though a good start there could go a long towards rehabbing everyone's confidence in him, including his own.

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Lackluster Recrap: Hammel's struggles continue

D-Backs 12, Rockies 3 (boxscore)

Let's keep this short and sweet tonight.

Wish I could tell you what was wrong with Jason Hammel. Some people think he's distracted and disengaged. I wouldn't be surprised if he was hurting. Either the back injury that knocked him out a handful of starts ago, or something that developed because he pitched through that. Maybe it's a dead arm, or maybe he's just regressed to being a fringe rotation guy.

I don't know, but whatever it is is coming at the worst time. With Aaron Cook struggling. With Juan Nicasio learning on the fly. With Ubaldo and Jhoulys trading off being good, the Rockies need Hammel to ascend to and sustain being a dependable middle of the rotation guy. Instead, he's bouncing back and forth between decent outings and ugly outings.

Here's the line: 5 2/3 IP, 12 H (ick), 8 ER (career high), 4 BB, 7 K (not bad)

He actually rallied in the final 3+ innings to make the numbers look more respectable, but this was still a flat out ugly outing. He desperately needs a rebound next weekend in San Diego.

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Return of the Rock Solid Recap

Every now and the Rock Solid Recap goes on a vacation. For example, the entire second half of last September, it was all Recrap all the time. But it's always nice when the Recap makes it triumphant return!

Welcome back Recap!

Welcome back Rockies!

Rockies 3, Nationals 2 (boxscore)

Let's get right into the three positives

1. Jason Hammel: A huge, HUGE bounce back effort from Hammel. I admit I was getting a little concerned there might be a lingering back problem or something else that was bothering him. And maybe there was. But this performance helped suppress those worries, and should help to inflate Hammel's confidence. If he'd lost any that is.

Line: 6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

2. Jonathan Herrera: The professional pain in the ass is back to being just that. Herrera reached base three times (two hits, one walk) and was the catalyst in Colorado's three-run fourth inning (the only inning they scored in). He also had a solid night in the field.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Sundays. Bloody Sundays.

You know the drill by now. Rockies have a chance to wrap up a series sweep. Rockies fall flat on their face in grand fashion. Happens every time.

Sunday may have taken the cake though. What a flat out miserable day in so many different ways. Most of which revovlve around usually dependable pitchers having their worst outings of the season. But there was so much more. So. Much. More.

Royals 16, Rockies 8 (boxscore)

Jason Hammel: I wonder if his back is still bothering him. He really hasn't looked like the same guy since leaving that start 2-3 weeks ago when if stiffened up on him. I'm not trying to make excuses for him, but something is amiss. I don't think he just went sour for no reason, but I could be way off on my speculation.

Either way, his outing was lousy. Hopefully he can bounce back in Washington.

Matt Belisle: This one came out of nowhere. Belisle allowed ONE run the entire month June. I even ranked him as the Rockies No. 1 player in June.He's not likely to repeat in July, but we must not overreact to one awful outing. As long as nothing is physically wrong, he's going to continue being a critical and effective part of the bullpen.

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Rock Solid Recap: Pitching holds strong, Tulo steals the W

This is what happens when you put an underachieving team (Rockies) and mediocre team (White Sox) together for a baseball game. A long game full of fans from both sides wondering how their teams is going to blow it, why the other team refuses to win it, and why they're staying up into the late evening hours to witness it.

Rockies fans are glad they did, because it was shown there is one big difference between these teams, and, quite frankly, the two leagues.

The Colorado Rockies have a superstar by the name of Troy Tulowitzki. A superstar who's athletically gifted and can change a game any number of different ways, including with his legs. The Chicago White Sox have no such player. In fact, most American League teams don't.

Watch Troy Tulowitzki steal the baseball game

Now listen to Hawk Harrelson's non-call

And the Jim Tracy drinking game

Rockies 3, White Sox 2 in 13 (boxscore)

That game could have gone on for 20 innings without a resolution if not for Tulowitzki's instincts and hustle, but let's make no mistake about where this game was truly won for the Rockies...

Pitching. Pitching. Pitching.

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Rock Solid Recrap: No sweep for us... again

Well crap, one of these days the Rockies need to go ahead and sweep somebody just to see how fun and satisfying it can be. Like that time in New York when...

I'm digressing already. A series victory on the road is something I'll definitely accept with a smile on my face. That makes two straight winning series on the road, and five unbeaten series overall with the home split with the Dodgers mixed in there.

Definitely a lot better baseball than we saw in May.

Indians 4, Rockies 3 (boxscore)

Jason Hammel: Alright, aside from the balk, which was bizarre and possibly the most herpy derp moment of the season, was Hammel really all that bad? I didn't think so. Frustrating in a couple innings? Of course. But who isn't?

He lost command for a short time in the third inning. Then the balk.

I don't know? Brain cramp? Thought the batter called timeout? Back spasm?

Jason?

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Rock Solid Recap: No offense to the Detroit Tigers... but

Beating up on them and Jim Leyland was a helluva lot of fun on Friday night.

I admit it, I still haven't forgetton Leyland's quitting on the Rockies after the 1999 season. Forgiven? Sure. I mean, it's his life, so it's not really an unforgivable thing, but certainly not forgotten. That means it will always be a little extra satisfying when the Rockies clean his clock, which is exactly what they did here.

Rockies 13, Tigers 6 (boxscore)

The Rockies rookies led the assault.

Charlie Blackmon: 4-for-4, two runs and two RBI. He's not providing a lot of power, but damn, he's getting the bat on the ball consistently and he's finding himself on base multiple times each game. That's helping the Rockies extend their lineup. For the first two months the offense was basicially limited to 2-5 in the order. Now with Blackmon hitting well at seven, it's opening things up for guys like Ty Wigginton and Chris Iannetta to see better pitches be factors.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Can't win if you can't pitch or catch

Had a nice dinner with my dad for his birthday last night. Then I get home and my internet signal was a little choppy, so while I was able to catch most of the major moments in the game, I wasn't watching as intently as usual. Feel free to correct me on any thoughts that seem off.

But I don't think anyone can argue with this point: If you allow Jamey Carroll and Aaron Miles to go a combined 8-for-9 with 4 RBI, you most definitely deserve to lose.

Dodgers 11, Rockies 7 (boxscore)

Jason Hammel: Had a very average outing going for his 5+ innings before exiting with the sore lower back. Makes you wonder if his back was bothering from the get-go. Whatever the case, the injury doesn't sound like a huge problem right now, so we'll cross our fingers and hope for better next time around.

Bullpen: I think we should just demote all of them. What about you? It's just not tolerable for some of these guys to have a rough outing, much less two bad outings in a row like Matt Reynolds. Demote some of them. Release a couple more. Let's start fresh tomorrow with an all new seven.

If you haven't caught on to the sarcasm, this blog isn't for you. The bullpen had a rough night. It happens. Matt Reynolds, Clayton Mortensen, Matt Lindstrom, and even matt Belisle the night before, these guys have all done wonderfully for the Rockies. To get as worked up as some fans I saw on Twitter (when it was actually working) doesn't make sense.

No, Matt Reynolds doesn't need a minor league stint. No, Matt Lindstrom isn't garbage. Calm it down, folks. There's 98 games to go. Those guys are all going to be quietly great a lot more times than they'll be loudly awful over that timeframe.

Defense: Where do I even start?

First of all, as I mentioned in the Lineup Card, poor Jason Hammel was once again stuck with pretty much the worst feasible defensive alignment Jim Tracy could come up with.

Jason Giambi showed once again he is not a good defender or even an average defender. Any other opinion of the matter will not be acknowledged. Plain and simple.

Eric Young in the outfield needs to never happen again until he spends a whole year in the minors learning it. Sheesh his routes are terrible. And PLEASE don't think I'm taking this out on the player. He's just doing what he's told, and what he's being told is really stupid. Of course it's also the only thing keeping him the big leagues at this point, so it's a really, really tough spot for Young. It's a no-win situation for everybody, which should ultimately lead to him being traded if 2B never opens up.

And yet somehow Young looked a lot better than Matt Kemp did in the outfield. What the heck is his deal?

Oh, and yes, the Jonathan Herrera botch in the 9th inning was quite embarrassing for him and actually pretty costly for the team. Generally he's one of the smarter guys on the team, so his not knowing where to go with the ball in that spot shocked the hell out of me.

I didn't even specifically mention Troy Tulowitzki or Ty Wigginton, the two men who were actually charged with their two errors. That kinda shows how terrible this was overall.

Offense: It's back on track right now. Carlos Gonzalez, Jason Giambi, Troy Tulowitzki, Ty Wigginton and Charlie Blackmon all had multi-hit games. The seven runs they were able to produce should have been enough to extend the winning streak to four, but it wasn't.

Seth Smith: Jim Tracy already thinks Charlie Blackmon is a lot better than you! And apparently he thinks Eric Young is too. I don't necessarily disagree on the former, but come on Tracy, Smith needs to just play every single day.

Ryan Spilborghs: Can't even buy a start against a left-hander these days. That really has to suck.

Sunday afternoon: This is a big one for the Rockies and Ubaldo Jimenez. Despite the loss here, the team is taking more steps forward the backward this week. It would be huge to seal up this series victory over a division rival, as well as keeping Ubaldo's momentum going.

Rock Solid Recrap: Was yesterday's score a misprint?

Or maybe it was a fluke.

Read my quick Recap: Rockies win a one-run game!

Giants 2, Rockies 1 (boxscore) 

This is the score I'm used to seeing.

Jason Hammel: I can't tell you how much I respect him. He hasn't made any noise or shown frustration with the lack of run support. He just continues to go out and pitch his ass off. There are some pitchers (see Chicago) that would be mental cases if this kept happening to them, but Jason has been nothing but a pro. Hats off to him. He deserves so much better.

Offense in two words: Cringe worthy.

Chicago White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson doesn't think any team in baseball has wasted more opportunities (ie, bases loaded, no out and runner on third, less than two out) than his Sox have. Boy will he be in for a treat when they visit Coors Field later this month.

With just a LITTLE more offense this Rockies team could be in a special position right now. You expect things to even out. That's why some folks point to bad luck and stats for hope or excuses. But seriously, it can't even out with the poor quality of at-bats this team gives in money situations. That's what makes it cringe worthy.

Speaking of...

From (@TroyRenck) Jim Tracy on what Carlos Gonzalez needs to do to improve after his 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts: "Have a strike zone."

That won't exactly endear player to manager, and I'm not usually a fan of a manager taking veiled or cheap shots at players, but he's absolutely right. Someone needs to get on CarGo's ass about being more disciplined and taking a more professional approach. And that goes for everything. As I've said before, I'm not a fan of the hot-dogging in the outfield either.

Not all praise for Tracy: Matt Reynolds is warming up in the 8th. The score changes, so Jim Tracy sits Reynolds down and makes Rex Brothers try to warm up quick to face the same hitters Reynolds would have faced. Turned out he wasn't needed, but what's the point of that? Now you have two different relievers that have warmed up and neither is used.

You can't do that. That adds up on pitcher's arms. That's why so many Rockies relievers end up with sore arms. When I said treat Brothers like any other reliever, I didn't mean start the process of wearing him out.

Leadoff walks: Not even Matt Lindstrom can overcome them.

Troy Tulowitzki's elbow: I can't believe how many Giants fans were acting like this was a big deal. Tulo's going to go out of his way to try and knock Aubrey Huff out. Yes, that makes so much sense. You're all so classy and smart. But you already proved that with the death threats for Scott Cousins.

Rock Solid Recap: Why so mad?

Rockies 14, Dodgers 11 (boxscore)

Todd Helton led the way with three hits as the Colorado Rockies outslugged the Dodgers...

Oh, hold on.

Sorry, that was the hits column.

Let's see here.

Dodgers 7, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

That explains that. So I guess this is a recRap then.

(I just gave the Rockies their next slogan there. Total accident.)

UPDATE: I see Purple Row's Bryan Kilpatrick used a variation of the same bit. I didn't steal or borrow, and I'm too lazy to rewrite, so we'll just go with great minds think alike.

-- Can this please be rock bottom? Please? Fourteen hits, four walks and one run. Only the Rockies. Well, the Cubs could probably pull that off just as easily, but this is a Rockies blog. So ONLY the Rockies.

The Rockies had the lead-off man reach base I believe it was seven innings in a row? None of those scored. The lone run came on Ty Wigginton's solo home run in the fourth, which was perfectly timed right after a Seth Smith GIDP.

Overall the Rockies went 1-for-12 with RISP. An ugly number. And there was little to no bad luck involved here. Just a lot of terrible at-bats and swings with expected results.

Honestly, I'm tired of hearing the unlucky bit. Yes, Troy Tulowitzki hits baseballs hard and they get caught sometimes. He also pops up all the time and hits Taylor made double play balls. Yes, umpires blow calls. Yes, weird things happen, but weird things always happen to everybody. Every team gets screwed now and then.

They get magnified when you're not doing the little things right. The Rockies simply aren't doing the little things. And they aren't doing a lot of big things right either. Throw out any stats that may suggest differently. The team is a mess right now. It's that simple.

-- Jason Hammel made some good pitches to Andre Ethier with the bases loaded in the third, but that piece of garbage Joe West screwed him. There's no other way to say it. He screwed him. That was a strikeout two different times, but Cowboy Joe was too busy being his usual arrogant self. Embarrassing the game of baseball.

Then Ethier hit that ball right back through the box than Hammel couldn't handle, and the route was on. Unfortunately Hammel unraveled, but when you're making good pitches and not getting calls, that's what will happen. Chad Billingsley faced the same problem. He allowed a career hit 11 hits. The Rockies did nothing with them.

-- The Fowler/CarGo Play

Center fielders are taught to take every ball they can get to. It was left-center, Fowler got there, it looked like he called, so Gonzalez has to clear out. Yes, Gonzalez has the better arm, but they weren't throwing anyone out at the plate from that depth. Fowler wasn't in the wrong there. It's tough to come down on Gonzalez though. They are both centerfielders in mind and ability, and he wanted to make a play.

-- So the Rockies lose 20 in May. 20 recraps in a single month, with a good chance for 21. Talk about challenging a blogger to stay engaging, interesting, motivated, funny and creative. Good lord. Thanks a lot!

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: Reoccurring nightmare strikes again

I'm not talking about the nightmare on Huston Street, although his recent string of home runs allowed is a growing concern to be sure. And I'm not talking about the scary thoughts that go through my mind between every Rafael Betancourt pitch. Believe me there's time for a lot of them.

(Both of those pitchers played their part in Friday's gut-wrenching and infuriating loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. There's no denying if they do their jobs, there's a much happier ending. But.)

I'm talking about Felipe Paulino. Very possibly the worst pitcher to wear a Rockies uniform in ten years. And here some people thought we traded that guy on Thursday. Nope. Paulino makes Franklin Morales look like Billy Wagner by comparison. Morales has major league stuff. Paulino has a straight fastball that begs to be hit 450 feet.

That's exactly what Prince Fielder did in the 14th inning. It was a moment everybody predicted would happen the second Paulino began warming up. It was his first official blown save of the season, and his fourth loss in the past three weeks. All of them have looked the same. He looked like a guy that couldn't get major league hitters out, and he didn't.

But as awful as he's been, you can't really get mad at the man himself. He's shown us who he is. We obviously don't like what we see because he's terrible and we want the Rockies to win every day. But for some reason, what we've seen for six weeks still hasn't sunk in with Jim Tracy and Dan O'Dowd. They're the ones who keep stubbornly sending a person to the mound who's not equipped to handle the job. They're the ones who come under fire for this.

Paulino = bad. O'Dowd & Tracy = clueless.

We're ****ed meter: Clueless management > Bad pitcher

And I'm putting that as kindly as I can.

If Felipe Paulino is still on this roster when I post the Lineup Card later today. So help me. I don't know what I'll write, but it probably won't be as kind as what I wrote here.

Brewers 7, Rockies 6 in 14 (boxscore)

-- Jason Hammel pitched a really nice game. He left in the 7th inning with a lead over Zack Greinke. What more can you honestly ask for? A home run? That's not really fair, but he hit one of those, too. Great game.

But it was pissed away. You have an improbable win handed to you on a silver platter and it's gone. Those are the losses that haunt you for weeks and months. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants continue winning one-run games like it's the easiest task in the world.

-- Jason Giambi hit another home run. It's an awesome stretch for him. Hope it continues.

-- Troy Tulowitzki lost his composure on a night when this team NEEDED his presence in the field and in the lineup. No Helton. No Cargo. Tulowitzki has to be the leader in that scenario. He can't lead from the clubhouse because he had to settle a pissing match with the home plate umpire. I'm deeply troubled by what happened here. He's supposed to set the tone and lead by example. If that's his leadership, it's no wonder this team gets frazzled so easily.