Rock Solid Recap: 22-22 Never Felt So... Good?

Baseball is a beautiful game when played smoothly and correctly.

Sunday's game was anything but beautiful.

We'll take it old way we can gets it.

Rockies 11, Royals 7

I hate to quote myself, but sometimes it's just necessary.

Sometimes matchups like these are just what the doctor ordered to bust a slump. Maybe the Rockies peck away at Greinke a few innings before finally breaking through with a 3-4 spot.

Or how about 3 spot AND a 5 spot? That'll work?

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Sunday Linkage: Which Team Has a Crush on Iannetta?

David Martin breaks down the Rockies 3-0 win over Kansas City and evaluates the potential impact of a healthy Jeff Francis. (Rockies Review)

Irv Moss fills us in on the Rockies farm system, including answering concerns over the lack of power hitting in the system. (Denver Post)

The Boston Red Sox have always had strong feelings for Chris Iannetta. (WEEI)

Dave Krieger tackles Dexter Fowler's switch-hitting experiment. (Denver Post)

10 Thing The Rockies Can Do To Turn Their Season Around (Bleacher Report)

How much credit does Miguel Olivo deserve for the success of Zack Greinke and Ubaldo Jimenez?  (Bleacher Report)

Rock Solid Recap: Stress Free Francis

Rockies 3, Royals 0

Winning Player: Jeff Francis

He looks good doesn't he? I'm always a little cautious to say a guy's back to top form so soon after 21 months on the shelf... but damn, he's in really, really good form.

Everything is so smooth and effortless out there. He's locating precisely, he's setting hitters up 2-3 pitches ahead, and then he's attacking and finishing them off. That's the new wrinkle in Ubaldo's game that has put him over the top. For Francis, it's an old wrinkle that he has to live and survive by because he's not overpowering.

So far, so good.

I understand he came in to the game dealing with strep throat, so that just makes his endurance and performance.out there even more amazing.

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Lineup Card: Game 2 @ Kansas City

Rockies Lineup

• CF Fowler   (Finally!)
• DH Giambi
• 1B Helton
• SS Tulowitzki
• RF Hawpe
• LF Smith
• C  Olivo
• 3B Stewart
• 2B Barmes

Jeff Francis on the mound.

Much needed day off for Carlos Gonzalez.  And it's great to see Fowler back at the top of the order.  

Royals Lineup

• LF Podsednik
• 2B Aviles
• RF DeJesus
• 1B Butler
• DH Guillen
• 3B Callaspo
• SS Betancourt
• CF Bloomquist
• C   Kendall

Former Atlanta Brave Kyle Davies on the mound.  

Essentially the same lineup for Ned Yost even against a left-hander.  Willie Bloomquist starts for Mitch Maier in CF and that's the only change.  

Also, hopefully the Rockies are now aware the DeJesus can throw a little bit on there in RF.  You can take advantage of Podsednik and Bloomquist all day... but leave well enough alone with DeJesus.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Avoiding A Royally Cliched Headline

Unfortunately the Rockies couldn't avoid another cliched performance from their woeful offense.

Royals 9, Rockies 2

There is no losing player tonight. There's an entire losing team that has zero fire and zero guts.

It continues to be sad and frustrating to watch them be satisfied simply going through the motions against awful teams they should be mauling and taking advantage of.

This is the easiest effing roadtrip the Rockies have all season.

Hell, it might be the easiest roadtrip they've had in five years.

Cubs, Astros and Royals.

1-4.

The Rockies offense has been shutdown by the likes of Carlos Silva, Randy Wells, Felipe Paulino and Brian Bannister this week. These aren't exactly the Tim Lincecum's and Dan Haren's of the world, folks. Jim Tracy can't ramble on his pregame radio show about the talented NL West arms holding the offense down.

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Hits & Misses: Spring Training Game 21

Rockies 11, Royals 11 (Boxscore)

Hits

Chris Iannetta

Between Iannetta and Olivo... could the Rockies catchers total 40+ HRs this season? I might have to go with the over there. Both those guys have the swing going right now. As long as they both don't go cold at the same time, the Rockies should get incredible production as season long from the backstops.

Michael Paulk

Might as well rename this section after him. His ninth inning 2-run triple gave the Rockies a temporary lead. Of course everything about this game was temporary.

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Hits & Misses: Spring Training Game 9

Royals 5, Rockies 0  (Boxscore)

Hits

Jeff Francis

Healthy, sharp and effective for three scoreless innings.  That is a HUGE step forward for Jeff Francis.  The next step is gaining the arm strength while maintaining the health, sharpness and effectiveness.  I'm sure his confidence has to be at it's highest point in about 18 months.  Big day for him. 

I also saw a picture of Francis showing off a little stubble on his face.  That's almost as big a news story as his return to form on this Wednesday afternoon.  Great news all around.  

Tim Redding

Geez, that was a pretty dominant three innings for Redding today.  No runs, only one hit allowed, and three strikeouts.  At the end of the week I plan on ranking the Rockies starting pitching candidates as they stand right now.  Redding will be an interesting guy to rank.  He's doing his best to make the coaching staff think about it at least.

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