Rock Solid Recrap: Rockies Take Another Weekend Off, Swept By Angels

Angels 10, Rockies 8 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: Lousy starting pitching was the biggest problem... again.

The umpires didn't help much, either.

With Carlos Gonzalez representing the tying run in the 9th, the soon to be all-star hit a line drive (not just any line drive, a CarGo line drive) back to Angels' closer Scott Downs that the lefty miraculously snagged cleanly out of the air, and then lost on the exchange from glove to hand as he attempted to double off Marco Scutaro. Only the four-man umpiring crew led by NBA official Joey Crawford and three direct descendants of the Three Stooges ruled that Downs didn't catch the ball.

(OK, the crew was actually Greg Gibson, Gerry Davis, Phil Cuzzi and Manny Gonzalez, but you could have fooled me.)

Gonzalez, who had the best view of Downs making the catch, never took off for first. Marco Scutaro apparently had the second best view, because he retreated to first base. That led to one of the most awkward looking and slowest developing 1-6-3 double plays you'll ever see. And it also led to an animated Jim Tracy outburst that earned him his first ejection of the season.

Watch the madness

It's always rough when a blown call takes an opportunity away from your offense, especially when it's at that point in the game. But again, starting pitching was the real problem today. The offense hit well enough that it should have never come down to the incompetent men in blue. Unfortunately, things aren't about to get better in that regard. By the same token, things aren't about to get better with these umpires either until MLB gets serious about expanded replay.

Fails galore.

PS: This in the fourth weekend the Rockies have been swept in the last six. They're 3-15 over that stretch.

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Lineup Card: Rockies vs Angels 6-10-12

Saturday's Recrap: Death By Singles

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (24-34)

1. Tyler Colvin (CF)
2. Marco Scutaro (SS)
3. Carlos Gonzalez (LF)
4. Michael Cuddyer (RF)
5. Todd Helton (1B)
6. Jordan Pacheco (3B)
7. Wilin Rosario (C)
8. Chris Nelson (2B)
9. Christian Friedrich (P)

Los Angeles Angels (31-29)

1. Mike Trout (CF)
2. Torii Hunter (RF)
3. Albert Pujols (1B)
4. Mark Trumbo (LF)
5. Howard Kendrick (2B)
6. Alberto Callaspo (3B)
7. Erick Aybar (SS)
8. John Hester (C)
9. Ervin Santana (P)

I see those first five names and I'm ready to cry Uncle. Christian Friedrich won't be, however, and this actually qualifies as not only a big test for him, but an equally big opportunity to gain some experience against a high caliber offense. It'll be interesting to see if he responds as well as I thought Alex White did on Friday night.  

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

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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Lineup Card: Rockies vs Angels 6-9-12

Friday's Recrap: Meet the newest Rockies killer: Torii Hunter

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (24-33)

1. Dexter Fowler (CF)
2. Marco Scutaro (2B)
3. Carlos Gonzalez (LF)
4. Jason Giambi (1B)
5. Jordan Pacheco (3B)
6. Tyler Colvin (RF)
7. Wil Nieves (C)
8. D.J. LeMahieu (2B)
9. Jeff Francis (P)

Not what you'd call an inspiring lineup today. But hey, since Jeff Francis is essentially filling the spot of Jamie Moyer, we might as well treat him the same way. 

Los Angeles Angels (30-29)

1. Mike Trout (CF)
2. Torii Hunter (RF)
3. Albert Pujols (1B)
4. Mark Trumbo (LF)
5. Howard Kendrick (2B)
6. Alberto Callaspo (3B)
7. Erick Aybar (SS)
8. John Hester (C)
9. Dan Haren (P)

Mhm. That's an all right-handed lineup for Francis to deal with this afternoon. 

Hold me. 

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

Rock Solid Recrap: Meet the newest Rockies killer: Torii Hunter

Angels 7, Rockies 2 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: Somehow, Torii Hunter had never played a game in Coors Field despite a career that has spanned nearly 15 seasons. I hope it's another 15 seasons before he plays another game there after his debut resulted in two home runs (that traveled a total of 874 feet) and six RBIs.

Of course it'll really only be 15 hours between games for Hunter, and one can bet he'll be among the loudest members of the welcoming committee for Jeff Francis.

Also, C.J. Wilson was pretty filthy. The Rockies would have needed 5-6 more innings to figure him out and/or wear him out.

Turning Point: I would say everything Mike Trout (three hits, three runs) did was a turning point, because it led directly to the damage inflicted by Hunter. Trout's a damn good player. The Angels are a damn good team.

Alex White's Line: 6 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 6 K, 2 HR, 95 pitches (62 strikes)

I feel like White is turning a corner based on his win over the Dodgers on Sunday and this outing against the Angels. Yes, he was unable to keep Mike Trout off the bases. Yes, he made two critical errors to Torii Hunter. But he remained very composed throughout and didn't allow the game to get away from him. It's a good step forward.

The key now, of course, is to plant both of his feet firmly in the ground and not allow the next start to go backwards. Always easier said than done.

Highlight of the Night: Watch Todd Helton get it done with the glove... again

Screengrab of the Game

Eye of the Tulo.

One of those nights.

Where Torii Hunter's second home run landed. 

What's Next: More Mike Trout. More Torii Hunter. At least there won't be more C.J. Wilson at 2:10 on Saturday afternoon. As I've mentioned previously, Jeff Francis will be making his Rockies return in that one. He'll square off against... oh crap... Dan Haren (3-6, 3.52).

Final Thoughts: None. Good night and good morning.

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

Lineup Card: Rockies vs Angels 6-8-12

Wednesday's Recrap: Offense Cools Further, So-Called Starting Pitching Remains Awful

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (24-32)

1. Dexter Fowler (CF)
2. Marco Scutaro (SS)
3. Carlos Gonzalez (LF)
4. Michael Cuddyer (RF)
5. Todd Helton (1B)
6. Jordan Pacheco (3B)
7. Wilin Rosario (C)
8. D.J. LeMahieu (2B)
9. Alex White (P)

Los Angeles Angels (29-29)

1. Mike Trout (CF)
2. Torii Hunter (RF)
3. Albert Pujols (3B)
4. Kendrys Morales (1B)
5. Mark Trumbo (LF)
6. Howie Kendrick (2B)
7. Erick Aybar (SS)
8. John Hester (C)
9. C.J. Wilson (P)

That's not a typo on Albert Pujols. He's playing third tonight, which is something he actually did a few times last season without incident. Kendrys Morales, on the other hand, is playing first base for the first time since breaking his ankle in May of 2010. That's where the Angels may be handicapped the most these weekend in terms of defense. Then again, Mark Trumbo's in left... at Coors Field. 

That's a lot of 1B/DH types for one lineup. But I guess the good news for the Angels is they can all smack the cover off the ball and should be able to outhit their mistakes against this Colorado pitching staff. 

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

Spring Training Hits & Misses: Game 25 vs. Los Angeles

Hits

Drew Pomeranz

I was hoping Pomeranz would get to face the Angels projected opening day lineup. Thankfully, Mike Scioscia obliged with Pujols, Kendrick, Morales, Hunter, Wells, right on down the line to some guy named Iannetta. That's a big boy lineup, and it set up as a great test for the Rockies 23-year-old lefty.

How did he do?

Well, Pomeranz pretty much breezed through the first two innings, with the only challenge coming from Pujols. Pomeranz won that lengthy battle that included a broken bat, a long, loud foul ball, and ended with a weak popout to third base on a fastball in Albert's kitchen. Fun battle.

Pomeranz ran into some traffic in the third, which was actually perfect, because it forced him to bear down against the meat of their order with RISP. That's exactly what he did, striking out Howie Kendrick and getting Pujols out in front on a changeup to ground out to third. Another impressive sequence of pitching there.

The Angels did scratch across a run against him in the fourth. The good news there is that Brandon Wood won't (or shouldn't, God forbid) be seeing any time for at second base during the season, so the soft grounder up the middle that he couldn't handle will be an out nine times out of ten, not a run.

The only small downside is that Pomeranz reached his pitch limit (85) in the fourth inning, but all things considered — mainly the quality of opposition and the health of his backside — it was an excellent outing and an exciting afternoon for Rockies fans.

Test Grade: B+

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Remember the day Neifi Perez donned a catcher's mask?

Chris Jaffe of the Hardball Times does. In fact, Jaffe penned a fun — or maybe more accurately for us, painful — article on the game this morning to mark it's 5,000th day-versary.

Yes, it really has been that long, but it honestly seems like it was last year that I was listening to the fading signal of 850 KOA on my little hand held radio. Same as I did when Hideo Nomo tossed his no-hitter at Coors Field. Same as I did when the Rockies scored 11 runs in the seventh inning to rally past the San Diego Padres.

Thank God for satellite TV and internet streams.

Anyway, I'll let you venture over to Jaffe's article for all of the details, but not before pointing out the irony of Rockies reliever Jerry Dipoto being right in the middle of the wild half inning that decided that game. Of course he's now the general manager of the Angels, and if his first winter is any indication, he's going to continue helping the Angels for a long, long time.

Enjoy.

Hardball Times: 5,000 days since bizarre ending to Rockies-Angels game