Three Thoughts On Rockies Opening Day Loss To Brewers

1. Give Wilton Lopez a fair shake: Denver sports fans aren’t the most forgiving people when professional athletes struggle wearing their team’s uniform or decide to skip town for greener pastures, but it’s only one outing. Ugly, horrendous and disastrous, yes, but still only one outing. The Rockies brought Lopez in to be their 8th inning guy (if you hate set roles in the bullpen, I understand but we'll have to cover that later) and one magnified bad outing on opening day isn’t going to change that. Nor should it. 

2. It wasn’t Walt’s fault: Yes, Matt Belisle only threw one pitch in the game. (It was a damn fine pitch, too.) But when you spend all spring establishing roles you don’t just change them on opening day for no reason. Belisle did his job. The 8th inning is entrusted to Lopez. Everyone on the team knows this. Why would you then change that for the sake of changing it on opening day? There’s no logic in that. Lopez had done nothing yet to lose the role coming in, so you roll with him as planned.

Did Weiss stick with him too long? Maybe. Maybe he should have had Rafael Betancourt or someone else ready. That could have worked. And maybe next time he will. But you can’t panic and stray from the gameplan on Day 1. Especially when you're a BRAND new manager just establishing yourself. That’s not an impression you want to leave on players because they‘ll start second guessing him quickly.

When Walt Weiss feels like he needs to change a player's role, I don't think he'll hesitate to do it. It's just not going to happen in the middle of Game 1.

3. Jhoulys Chacin: The offense packed a nice punch. That was encouraging. Of course we also had a lot of the same lousy base running and poor execution in run scoring situations, but the potential to score runs in bunches will be there. I have little doubt about that.

As good as that was though, I think we all had to be pretty pleased and encouraged by Jhoulys Chacin’s performance. Granted, it could have ended up a lot different had Milwaukee not made three strange outs on the bases, but he looked great once he settled down and those middle innings into the 7th were fun to watch. If we could just get him to bottle that up and hold on to it, we’d had no worries at the top of the rotation.

But it’s one step at a time, so we’ll say he moved forward here and leave it at that.

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

Rock Solid Recap: Rockies Disaster Season With Solid Road Win

Rockies 2, Diamondbacks 1 (boxscore)

The disaster season started with a win from Jeremy Guthrie (who's long gone) and it ends with a win Jeff Francis (who rose from the baseball dead). What more do you need to know about the 2012 Rockies?

The numbers 64 and 98 will now go into the books as the Rockies worst record ever. We hope (and maybe even pray) this standard of suck is one they never equal or surpass in the future.

Winning Player: Jeff Francis 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 86 pitches (53 strikes)

Tough call here, but Francis gets the nod for finishing his comeback campaign with a strong outing and a victory.

Honestly, I applaud Francis. The numbers are whatever, but we know by now that you can't look at the numbers with Rockies pitchers (especially with this year's experiment) to determine their performance. Looking beyond them, I felt like Francis gave us more than I ever imagined he could coming in, so again, a polite applause for him and an open invitation to join us in 2012 if he wishes.

Honorable Mentions: The Bullpen: 4 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 2 K

The bullpen had its ups and downs this season, but they were without question the most consistently productive group on the Rockies team (not that that's a glowing endorsement but it's still a fact). I think it's fitting that both Adam Ottavino and Josh Roenicke (the two middle relief workhorses) pitched well tonight, and I think the coolest thing about the finale is the man with the bionic arm, Matt Belisle, got the final out to earn the save. Well done by Jim Tracy there.

More Honorable Mentions: Jordan Pacheco 3-for-4, run scored (All he does is get hits), D.J. LeMahieu 2-for-4, RBI (Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of all Rockies this season) and Jonathan Herrera 3-for-4 (Impossible not to love Johnny. Hope he has a big league job next season whether it's here or elsewhere).

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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: The Jordan Pacheco Show

Rockies 7, Cubs 5 (boxscore)

Winning Player: Jordan Pacheco

Real easy choice today. Pacheco was the man offensively (with the 1st inning three-run homer) and defensively (which you'll see shortly).

Watch Jordan Pacheco's three-run homer

Turning Point: Pacheco's 1st inning homer stood up the entire game, but there were moments when that seemed in doubt. That included the 5th inning when Chicago loaded the bases against Jhoulys Chacin with one out. The Rockies held a 7-3 lead there, and Chacin needed those two outs to qualify for the win. And he got them thanks to fielder's choice force play at home against Luis Valbuena and a Steve Clevenger groundout.

Jhoulys Chacin's Line: 5 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 4 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 85 pitches (55 strikes)

Chacin didn't have much today, but Jim Tracy allowed him to go beyond to the 75 pitches get out of that bases loaded jam. It was refreshing to see that from Jim and just as good to see Chacin reward the faith. I guess you could call it a gritty effort, but certainly a difficult one to watch or feel overly encouraged about. He is healthy, though, so there's that.

Bullpen's Line: 4 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 4 K

All of the bullpen's damage came against a gassed out Matt Belisle in the 9th. That was cleaned up by Rafael Betancourt, who struck out back-to-back hitters, and then Jordan Pacheco and Josh Rutledge finished it as you'll see right now.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Make That Nine Straight Losses

Diamondbacks 10, Rockies 7 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: Well, for starters, I benched Andrew Luck for Michael Vick in my fantasy football league. That backfired spectacularly. I also went a disgusting 4-10 against the spread in my NFL picks. But the plus side to that is I reminded myself again why I don't gamble. Nothing gained. Nothing lost.

As for the Rockies, it appears they had no problems offensively — 7 runs on 16 hits — but the bullpen faltered late with Rex Brothers, Matt Belisle and Will Harris combining to allow seven runs over the final two innings. This is where I tell you these guys are all wearing down... especially Matt Belisle as he closes in on 80 innings as a set up man.

Turning Point: That would have to be Aaron Hill's two-out three-run homer off Belisle in the 8th that broke the 4-4 tie. What a heartbreaker that must have been for the "32,448" in attendance.

Jeff Francis' Line: 4 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 75 pitches (45 strikes)

Even without a walk or strikeout, Francis hit 75 pitches in four innings. But it's not like he got knocked around the park either based on the numbers. Kinda just shows again how silly a pitch-limit that low is. Let a man do his work and let those reliever catch a break. Geez.

Bullpen's Line: 5 IP, 8 ER, 11 H, 3 BB, 7 K, 1 HR

As referenced above, these guys had a rough go of it in the later innings which cost the Rockies a chance to steal one. Belisle is the one who took the loss... which was his 8th if you can believe that. On the plus side for Jim Tracy though... he got to use six relievers, and the one whose numbers stand out the most are Rob Scahill with 1 2/3 scoreless. His ERA remains 0.00 through four appearances.

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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 Behind Alex White's Bat And Arm

Rockies 6, Giants 5 (boxscore)

Winning Player: Alex White 4 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 76 pitches (47 strikes)

I give White the nod for two reasons.

1) His pitching performance was a big step in the right direction compared to his recent outings. Look no further than the walk column for evidence of that, because it's the first time in 11 starts (June 20) that he's put a zero there.

2) Watch Alex White's first career home run

Overall it was a very productive night for White, but more importantly it felt like a meaningful one. More of these in the future would be welcomed.

Honorable Mentions: Rafael Betancourt (perfect 9th to earn the save, only Rockie pitcher to not allow a run), Tyler Colvin (two hits, one run, one blunder) and Chris Nelson (triple, run, RBI).

Turning Point: Matt Belisle, like the rest of the Rockies bullpen save for Rafael Betancourt, didn't have his best stuff, but he was still able to escape a potentially disasterous situation in the 8th inning.

After allowing a walk, single, and run scoring double to Angel Pagan, Belisle was left to face Marco Scutaro and Pablo Sandoval with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. He would retire Scutaro on a groundball to Jordan Pacheco, which was a very nice play on his part. He then got Sandoval to hit a lazy flyball to left field, ending the inning, and proving once again that despite the enormous workload (over 70 appearance three straight years) he's about as reliable as they come in any bullpen role.

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A Double Rock Solid Recrap With Errors... Lots Of Errors

Game 1: Phillies 3, Rockies 2 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: I think we saw this game before. Oh yes, it was Friday when the Rockies also scored two runs early, stopped scoring, blew the 2-0 lead, and then lost 3-2 in the 9th to the Phillies. Mhm. Same script. Same result. Including two wins for Jonathan Papelbon. Bleh.

Turning Point: 9th inning with Philadelphia hitting. The Rockies had just elected to intentionally walk Chase Utley to put runners at 1st and 2nd with two outs. Acceptable strategy implemented there by Mr. Tracy to give his team more options to record the third out. Problem is, with Ryan Howard hitting, Wilin Rosario wiped that strategy out by committing yet another passed ball (I've lost count of the official number - it's too damn high). That put the winning runner (Nate Schierholtz, of course) at third. Howard is intentionally walked to load the bases to again give them more options defensively, but also zero margin for error.

Then this happened.

Watch the Rockies lose on Mayberry's walk-off single

Phenomenal effort there by Carlos Gonzalez, it just wasn't in the script for him to make that catch.

Tyler Chatwood's Pitching Line: 5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 2 K, 76 pitches (41 strikes)

Poor command and walks aside, Chatwood was pretty effective this afternoon. And that's pretty much him in a nutshell this season. He'll flash some promise but it's always marred by inconsistency and inability to throws strikes. He, like the other young Rockies starters, needs to clean that up before he can take the next step forward.

Tyler Chatwood's Batting Line: 2-for-2, RBI

Well, there's no doubt Chatwood had confidence at the plate today, raising his season average to .300 with these two hits. The RBI was the first of his career.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Offense Disappears As Rockies Find Yet Another Way To Lose

Braves 1, Rockies 0 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: Thursday afternoon was a replay of Wednesday night, only with the Rockies finding a more creative way to lose.

Yes, they again lost 1-0 on an unearned run, making them the first team since the Kansas City Royals on July 23 & 24 of 1987 to lose back-to-back games without allowing an earned run, and this time the error was Jhoulys Chacin completely whiffing on a simple throw back from Wilin Rosario, allowing Juan Francisco to hustle home from third. 

Watch and cringe:  

 

Offensively, Tim Hudson shut the Rockies out for seven innings, allowing six hits and two walks. Three of those six hits belong to Charlie Blackmon, who also added a fourth in the 9th. Good afternoon for him, but he had no assistance whatsoever.

Turning Point: See, watch and cringe.

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Rock Solid Recap: Rockies Bats, Bullpen Carry The Load

Rockies 6, Braves 0 (boxscore)

Winning Players: The Bullpen 6 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 8 K

Another dominant performance from the Rockies bullpen with Carlos Torres leading the way again in the piggyback role. He allowed three hits over three innings while striking out three and continues to be, along with Adam Ottavino, the most pleasure surprises on the pitching side this season. Torres then gave way to Rex Brothers, who was flat filthy in two innings, striking out four and walking one. Matt Belisle put the finishing touches on Atlanta with a strong 9th.

Dominant.

Turning Point: Well, since only one team scored, I'd say the first run of the game was very important. That was produced by the bat of Carlos Gonzalez, who connected for his 22nd home run.

Watch Carlos Gonzalez go yard

One inning later, Jordan Pacheco would hit his 4th of the season to make it 2-0. That was also very important.

Watch Jordan Pacheco muscle up

Then again, you could easily argue the disastrous double play that killed a potential rally for Atlanta in the 6th inning was the most important of all important plays.

Watch Atlanta run into a double play

I think Fredi Gonzalez stole a page from the Jim Tracy playbook with that call. What in the blue hell was he thinking?

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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 Put Rare Resilience On Display

Rockies 4, Cubs 3 (boxscore)

I'm not used to this from the 2012 Colorado Rockies. They lost a game they absolutely should have won on Friday. Then they fell behind on Saturday 3-0, which is often times a sign the game is about to get ugly (especially away from Coors Field), but the Rockies bullpen held things in check, the defense held strong, and the bats provided just enough timely hits to complete the comeback.

Dare I say, they looked like winners.

Winning Players: The Bullpen... again. 5 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 K

The win goes to Carlos Torres, who pitched  2 1/3 scoreless at the piggyback reliever. Rex Brothers added a strong 1 1/3 and now has a scoreless streak of 7 1/3 innings over five appearances. Will Harris, who has served in the setup lately when Matt Belisle needs a day off, retired the only batter he faced to end the 8th. Rafael Betancourt was flawless in the 9th to earn his 26th save. Brilliance abounds in the bullpen right now.

Turning Point: Two big moments stand out for me.

The first, Josh Rutledge's pinch-hit, two-run homer in the 5th that got Colorado on the scoreboard and cut the deficit to 3-2.

Watch Josh Rutledge go yard

The second came after the Rockies grabbed the lead in the 7th. The Cubs were putting together a little rally with runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. For some unknown reason, manager Dale Sveum elected to put the double steal on at that point, and Wilin Rosario put the fire out with a strong throw to cut down the trail runner Joe Mather.

Watch Wilin Rosario kill a rally

Huge play. And what makes it more impressive is that he dug out a ball in the dirt and still had the ability to make a good throw, and also had the presence of mind to throw to the correct spot. Very encouraging stuff from Rosario, who seems to be gaining confidence by the day behind the plate.

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Rock Solid Recrap: 2012 Rockies Reemerge In Ugly 8th

Cubs 5, Rockies 3 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: Three weeks of good baseball unraveled quickly in the 8th inning. After Brett Jackson tied the game with a solo home run off Matt Belisle (which was a shocker), the Rockies relapsed with a series of miscues (Blackmon bobble in the outfield, Nelson and LeMahieu botched double play and Matt Reynolds' overthrowing a play at first), that allowed the Cubs to grab the lead. It was really quite frustrating considering how focused and solid the team had played recently, and I sincerely hope this doesn't lead to another stretch of hideous performances.

Turning Point: When Matt Belisle (1/3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 1 HR) doesn't have it, it's simply not going to work out for the Rockies. This game was pretty good evidence of that.

Drew Pomeranz's Line: 5 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 HR, 72 pitches (43 strikes)

Pomeranz was very efficient and very effective — retired the first 12 in a row — right up until the 5th inning when Alfonso Soriano and Wellington Castillo each got to him for a solo home runs. I believe I counted seven outs that were three pitches or less, which is solid. So I guess overall this would qualify as a step forward from his recent string of four inning outings. Then again, there's still that empty feeling not knowing how Pomeranz would have fared had he continued on.

Highlight of the Night: Ah, the sound of a well struck baseball off Carlos Gonzalez's bat is sweet music to my ears.

Watch & Listen

What's Next: Another morning game in Chicago with a 11:05 first pitch. Hopefully the Rockies and Alex White (2-6, 5.55) wake up on the right side of the bed this time, while Brooks Raley (1-2, 7.63) and the Cubs continue sleepwalking as they have for the past 103 years. .

Final Thoughts: I think the Rockies set a new record in the 5th with two separate (Jonathan Herrera and Carlos Gonzalez) head first slides into first base. Those annoy me to no ends and make me very nervous, especially when it's a guy like CarGo who has a history of wrist injuries and is really frickin' valuable. Let's try to practice running through the base, if possible.

Please?

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: Jhoulys Chacin Brilliant In Return From DL

Rockies 6, Mets 2 (boxscore)

Winning Player Jhoulys Chacin: 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 73 pitches (51 strikes)

As good a return outing as you can have asked for or expected. Troy Renck pretty much summed it on Twitter. Chacin threw with confidence and swagger, which is something we haven't seen from him since early in 2011. He was in the strike zone consistently. He was efficient. It's the type of outing where he may have pushed to go the distance under different circumstances, but we'll certainly take these results and hope there are more to go this weekend in Chicago. 

Welcome back, Jhoulys.

Congrats on your first win since last Aug. 28.

Bullpen's Line: 3 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K

The Mets scratched out one against Matt Reynolds in his 1/3 of an inning outing, but could get nothing going against Josh Roenicke, Matt Belisle and Rafael Betancourt.

Seriously... how nice is it to finally see the Rockies having opportunities to use Reynolds, Belisle, Roenicke and Betancourt in setup/closer situations?  It's almost like we have a little structure back in our lives.

Also, NO WALKS. From anybody!

Turning Point: The game obviously turned in the Rockies four-run sixth. Up until that point, Colorado was without a single base runner. D.J. LeMahieu and Jonathan Herrera changed that with back-to-back singles leading off the inning. Then came the big play... After Chacin put down his sacrifice bunt, starting pitcher Chris Young fielded it and promptly tossed it halfway down the right field line, which allowed LeMahieu to score and tie the game.

Watch The Mets Botch It All Up

Charlie Blackmon and Dexter Fowler would follow this with RBI singles. Ramon Hernandez then capped the rally with a sacrifice fly. So again, like Monday night, it came down to a few batters in one half inning where the Rockies executed everything correctly and benefitted greatly from the opponent's inability to do the same.

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Rock Solid Recap: Rockies Earn Win With Jumbled Lineup

Rockies 3, Mets 1 (boxscore)

Most of the names in the lineup were unrecognizable to people who don't follow the Rockies closely (and even some who do), yet they found a way to start their road trip on the right track with a win over the New York Mets. And to make it more satisfying, they won a game started by Cy Young candidate R.A. Dickey (no-decision for him).

Winning Player: Tyler Colvin

First base belongs to Colvin again with Michael Cuddyer back on the disabled list. He took advantage of the playing time on Monday night, breaking Colorado into the scoring column with a mammoth second deck bomb off Dickey in the 5th.

Watch Tyler Colvin's home run

But that was just his first big moment in the game. In the 8th, with the Mets threatening to retake the lead, Colvin make a fantastic diving stop of a Jordany Valdespin groundout that was ticketed for the right field corner. Colvin then gathered himself and flipped to Matt Belisle (who was a little late covering) JUST in time to get the out.

Big time play.

Without the out, the game would have been tied and New York still has the bases loaded. If the ball gets down the line, it likely clears the bases and we know the result that would lead to.

And then to cap his night, Colvin singled in the 9th to keep the inning alive. One batter later, Ramon Hernandez gave the Rockies an insurance run with a single of his own.

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Rock Solid Recap: Good Baseball Is Fun — Rockies Win 4th Straight!

The Colorado Rockies have certainly been a huge disappointment this season, but at least they're beating up on the National League's two biggest disappointments — the Milwaukee Brewers and Miami Marlins. 

Rockies 5, Marlins 3 (boxscore)

That's four wins in a row now. Four!

A win on Friday would be five. Five!

Five would equal their longest winning streak of the season, but I'm getting way ahead of myself here. Let's just enjoy four.

I would say the Rockies pitched well overall on Thursday night, but haven't pitched incredible during this homestand. That was especially true in the later innings against Milwaukee. But the reason those six runs Milwaukee scored in all three games on that series didn't balloon to nine or ten is because the Rockies haven't been shooting themselves in the foot with ill-timed errors. And when they have made a mistake like Jonathan Herrera's error tonight, they haven't compounded it with another mental or physical miscue.

They have kept their focus. They have limited damage in the field. They have taken advantage and maximized opportunities to score runs. They are simply playing really good baseball, and have been since the last road trip started in Los Angeles.

Better late than never... I guess.

Winning Player: Welcome back, Michael Cuddyer!

His two-run homer in the 6th tied the game at three and ended up serving as the turning point for Colorado.

Watch Michael Cuddyer's game-tying blast

The Rockies would then score two more in the 7th on a Josh Rutledge pinch-hit RBI triple and a successful safety squeeze bunt from Eric Young Jr.

Watch EY2's effective bunt

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Rock Solid Recap: Early Offense Carries Rockies Again

Rockies 8, Brewers 6 (boxscore)

This should not be newsworthy, but since we're grasping for positives this season, I'll proclaim it loud and proud anyway.

The Rockies have won back-to-back games TWO weeks in a row!

Absorb that for a moment...

Good? Now absorb this tweet from Purple Row's Andrew Fisher.

That's obviously not Reynolds' fault... but wow.

Winning Players: Eric Young Jr. & Carlos Gonzalez

For the second straight night, EY2 got the offense started with a lead-off double and scored the first run... this time on a Carlos Gonzalez single. Young would go on to produce a three-hit night that included his second home run (this time over the fence and off the facing of the second deck) in less than a week. As for Gonzalez, he would go to on have a 4-for-4 night at the plate with two RBI, a run scored, and a couple caught stealings (the aggressiveness is appreciated).

Great production from two guys at the top order, with Dexter Fowler (two hits), Wilin Rosario (two hits, home run) and Jordan Pacheco (two hits, two RBI) providing enough support to earn Rockies fans tacos and the team a victory.

Watch EY2's highlight reel

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Rock Solid Recrap: Tired Bullpen Falters In San Francisco

Giants 9, Rockies 6 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: Not really a big fan of making excuses for failed performance on the baseball field, but it's hard to get around them when looking at the Colorado Rockies bullpen situation. Most of the guys out there are toast, and the ones who aren't toast are seemingly working on fumes.

So many unnecessary innings, not only for the piggyback guys, but that next layer as well that includes Matt Belisle, Rex Brothers and Matt Reynolds. Unfortunately. I think Belisle may have finally crossed the line to toast in his 56th appearance on Sunday afternoon after wobbling in the 7th inning and falling completely apart in the 8th inning.

Matt Belisle's Line: 1 1/3 IP,  4 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 35 pitches (21 strikes)

Jim Tracy rode Belisle until he had nothing left (and then continued riding him for another 10 pitches or so). He then turned to Rafael Betancourt for a five-out save opportunity. Three batters later — sacrifice fly, three-run homer and a double — Betancourt was out, and the Rockies 6-4 lead entering the inning was now a 9-6 deficit.

Such a disappointing result after the offense battled back from an early deficit to take control in the middle innings. And, as usual, there's no reason to not draw a straight line right to the paired pitching system. It continues to cause more chaos and harm than good.

Alex White's Line: 4 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 82 pitches (48 strikes)

Like Jeff Francis on Wednesday in Los Angeles, the damage against White all came within the first few hitters. A lot of his own doing (wild pitch included), but the botched rundown (somebody please work with Wilin Rosario on the basics of defense) certainly helped little. From there White wouldn't really find a good groove until the 4th inning, and of course that was his final inning. Who knows, he may have been good for at least one more inning, even two, which would be so huge to the bullpen's cause. It just isn't an option with our mess of a system in place.

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Rock Solid Recap: Encouraging Roadie Continues With Second Shutout

Rockies 3, Giants 0 (boxscore)

The Good News: The Rockies won another division road game with excellent pitching.

The Bad News: The Rockies won another division road game with excellent pitching, likely giving the brain surgeons in charge more motivation to keep the paired pitching system in place.

We can't win for losing around here... or something to that effect.

Winning players: Wilin Rosario, Tyler Colvin and Tyler Chatwood

It was difficult to pick one above the others, so we'll go with three tonight.

First of all, Wilin Rosario doubled twice off Tim Lincecum and had really strong at-bats all night long. But just as important to his cause were the two base runners he threw out at critical times in the game. The first came in the 1st inning after Tyler Chatwood walked Angel Pagan leading off, which really seemed to help Chatwood calm down and settle in. A big time throw and an odd decision by San Francisco.

The second came in the fifth with runners on first and third. Bruce Bochy again made an odd decision here, putting the runner in motion with Tim Lincecum at the plate. Lincecum swung-and-missed. Rosario made the strong throw to retire Brandon Crawford, ending the threat. We'll go ahead and call that the turning point as well, even with the Rockies holding a 2-0 lead, because they seemed destined to be San Francisco's inning.

Watch the big strike'em out throw'em out double play

Tyler Colvin had a two-hit night at the plate as well. The first was an 0-2, two-out hit that plated Wilin Rosario in the 4th. After the second hit, Colvin stole second and eventually scored on Chris Nelson's sacrifice fly. Another productive game for Mr. Colvin.

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