Tuesday Links and Things: We say goodbye to Seth Smith

The trade winds keep on blowing in Colorado... along with a lot of snow I hear. This time the Rockies have parted with outfielder Seth Smith, shipping him to the Oakland A's for two pitchers who may or may not be good fits: Josh Outman and Guillermo Moscaso.

I wish I knew for sure how well they will fit, but any time you can get two pitchers - who are relatively young/cheap, have experienced the big leagues, and even enjoyed a degree of success in the big leagues - for at best a really good platoon corner outfielder, you pull the trigger and take your chances.

So Dan O'Dowd pulled the trigger and now we have about 15 pitchers battling for four starting rotation spots behind Jhoulys Chacin, maybe a couple of bullpen spots, and for the right to be the first starter/reliever recalled if a MLer is injured.

As Dan O'Dowd put it.

"It's a raging competition for spots."

I shortened the quote, but it still sounds awesome.

Honestly, the most likely outcome to this trade is maybe not that we forget it ever happened 2-3 years down the road, because we all respect Seth Smith and he was significant enough to not be forgotten that easily, but I doubt it'll register as more than a minor footnote. That said, I think the Rockies have a better chance to come out big winners if either pitcher is useful for any extended period of time. If both are, Dan O'Dowd can keep his job forever.

That's what I'm saying about the trade. Here's what a few other websites are saying.

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Lackluster Recrap: Chacin shines again in another undeserved loss

Giants 3, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

Ubaldo Jimenez could have been a 23-24 game winner in 2010 with a little help from his friends.

I don't know how many more wins Jhoulys Chacin could have realistically had in 2011 with a little help from his friends, but I assure you he doesn't deserve 14 losses. Sure, he's had his games that disappointed me and discouraged me, but not that many. Not nearly that many.

Disclaimer: I know, I know. Wins and losses aren't the end all be all for determining a starting pitcher's success. What I wrote above lends further evidence to that. But you can't discard what goes on a player's record. Until they stop keeping track, it's fine to be annoyed when a pitcher's record doesn't look as pretty as it should.

Anyway, Chacin was really good on this particular night.

His line: 7 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Not at all discouraged by the lower strikeout total, but definitely encouraged by only one walk. Save the strikeouts for when you really need them, but consistently throwing more strikes early in counts to get quicker outs is exactly what Chacin needs to do to get on those higher levels that await him.

Of course one of those next levels would be throwing 200 innings on a yearly basis. He ended up at 194 this season. Just think of where that number could go with even a little bit more efficiency.

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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: Well, we almost got in a fight!

Almost.

Those 15 or so seconds after Huston Street chirped towards Gerardo Parra for his somewhat unnecessary forearm to Eliezer Alfonzo's chest, and the benches partially emptied, the Rockies nearly showed a pulse.

Of course the faint pulse quickly faded, the players returned to their dugouts, and the Rockies went quietly in the 9th inning. But at least we'll have those 15 seconds!

Diamondbacks 4, Rockies 2 (boxscore)

Esmil Rogers: Same old pattern. Awful first inning. Nice recovery. Strong middle innings. Tires in the 6th and allows that final run or two that assures his ERA will never dip below 5.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Dexter Fowler: Back-to-back games with a homer? The hell is that about?

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Rock Solid Recap: Sundays are fun again!

But to be truly be fun again, wins on Friday and Saturday would be necessary. 

Such was not the case for the Rockies weekend, but hey, it's nice to feel like the Sunday crap is behind us.

Rockies 7, Dodgers 6 (boxscore)

Here's something we've been saying a lot lately: The Rockies offense jumped out to a lead. And they did so against a pitcher they've never faced before in Nathan Eovaldi. I know what you're thinking... and I agree, that's a really strange name.

The Rockies plated five of Eovaldi in a near 40-pitch first inning. The 21-year-old righty could have trimmed about 10 pitches and 4 runs off that total with a little help from right fielder Trent Oeltjen, but Kevin Kouzmanoff's blooper to right center bounced off his wrist and actually turned into the weakest base clearing double I've seen in a quite awhile.

And that's taking nothing away from Kouzmanoff. Believe me. He got the ball in play That's something we haven't seen nearly enough of in those spots, so he earned it.

Eliezer Alfonzo would follow with his own two-out, RBI hit. That was also critical, because all of those runs would end up being important. As would the RBIs Seth Smith and Kouzmanoff collected in the 5th, which turned a 5-2 lead into a 7-2 advantage.

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Rock Solid Recap: Mixed results for White in ugly Rockies victory

With three exceptions...

1. Carlos Gonzalez's ridiculous catch (Watch) 

2. Seth Smith's 478-foot home run (Watch)

3. Jonathan Herrera's game-winning two-run home run (Watch)

... every other piece of footage from this game should be doused in gasoline and burned.

Rockies 8, Astros 6 (boxscore)

The Colorado Rockies did not play good baseball. In fact, they were pretty horrible. The infield defense suffered from several lapses. The baserunning was atrocious... again. It just wasn't something you'd show to a group of little leaguers hoping to learn the basic fundamentals of baseball.

And then you have the Houston Astros, who could probably learn things by watching little leaguers on tape. Heck, maybe that's where manager Brad Mills got the idea to move relief pitcher Wesley Wright to right field for one batter and then back to the pitcher's mound. Hey, it worked. Give him that much.

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Rock Solid Recap: Rare positive baseball thoughts on a Sunday

You might want to bookmark this post, it could be a collector's edition.

For the first since April 17., the Colorado Rockies have won a Sunday baseball game!

It's true! I watched it with my own eyes.

Rockies 5, Dodgers 3 (boxscore)

Yes, they won it, but it certainly wasn't easy. The Rockies offense did a typical Sunday disappearing act from the 2nd-6th innings. In fact, the offense as a whole only collected three hits in the game. That's an on-going problem that we've dissected and thrown up in our collective shoes thinking about for five months. But at least on this day they made their hits count.

Two of them were home runs.

Carlos Gonzalez hit a two-run blast in the first to start the game's scoring. (Watch)

Seth Smith then connected for a titantic 458-foot go-ahead home run in the seventh. Smith's ball landed in the second deck in right center field, above the bullpen. Not unusual to see second deck shots to straightaway right, but that's quite a poke to where Smith hit it. (Watch)

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Day Game Recrap: Chacin in ace form, Rockies lose anyway

Another day game. 

Another chance to win a series. 

Another predictable result. 

And then I predictably say this: The Colorado Rockies always find a way to offset their positives and minimize their success. That's how this team will be defined in the history books. 

Reds 2, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

At least we saw a return to ace form for Jhoulys Chacin this afternoon. On the heels of Kevin Millwood's more than professional performance on Wednesday, Jhoulys was even better throwing an eight inning complete game where he struck out nine, walked three, allowed six hits and two earned runs.

And took the loss. Just like Millwood.

I really liked what I saw here though. Like both starts against Philadelphia, Chacin took the game over from the mound and pitched determined and focused. When that happens, he's special. Really special. Look around at every ace in the game right now. How many of them could determine to Chacin's level at 23?

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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: Street + Phillies = Sadness

This season stinks doesn't it?

Phillies 4, Rockies 3 (10) (boxscore)

One out away from putting away the dreaded Phillies. If It seems like we've been there 100 times before, it's because we've actually been there 5-6 times. And that final out never seems to come. Unfortunately, they are the one team that owns Huston Street. Not that he hasn't had a bad outing here or there against someone else, but that's the team that always gets him.

They tormented him all throughout 2009, with the playoffs being nothing short of disastrous. He didn't face them in any meaningful action in 2010, but did fare well in two appearances. Save opportunity on Monday; two up, two down rather easily, and back to tormenting. Couldn't finish them.

Huston doesn't seem like the type that would let a team get in his head, but if the Phillies aren't in there, I'd be shocked. And if he doesn't have nightmares about that 3-2 pitch to John Mayberry that tied the game, I'd be shocked about that as well.

Steet has now allowed 10 home runs on the season. That's tops in baseball for a reliever and 25% of his total allowed in seven seasons. So yes, a very disturbing number, and looking at the here and now a big concern. But I'd like to think there's a good chance it'll get better if he simply starts locating better and making smarter pitches.

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Lackluster Recrap: Another Sunday no show

It's becoming increasingly difficult to sit through Colorado Rockies baseball games, let alone write about them. Especially on Sundays, when the team finds new ways to embarrass themselves and discourage the fanbase. 

It's ridiculous. And you can't really blame Jim Tracy's lineup on this mess we witnessed today. Ubaldo Jimenez was on the mound, and the only regular not playing was Mark Ellis.

This team just flat out disappoints time and time again. There's no sense of urgency whatsoever. There's no pride to improve fundamentally. Instead, we watch players - like Seth Smith - continue to regress in every phase of the game. Smith's defensive effort in recent weeks has been shameful. And his offensive performance has sunk right along with it.

With Carlos Gonalez and Charlie Blackmon hurt, there's no place else to turn here. But he's proven again he won't be an every day player. He deserved the opportunity. He didn't get consistent enough playing time for a while in that role, but honestly, I don't think it mattered. He's not cut out for it. He's a solid hitter that's best used late in ballgames.

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Rock Solid Recap: The honeymoon continues for Mark Ellis

We're getting a really good look at how dangerous the Colorado Rockies lineup can be with an effecitve hitter slotted into the #2 spot. Of course it's anything but a guarantee that Mark Ellis will continue being that effective hitter, but his first two games give us a lot of hope that he will be a measurable upgrade over those who played before him.

And I'm not just talking about this season. I'm talking about several seasons.

On Saturday, Ellis collected three more hits -- three more doubles to be exact -- making him 6-for-10 with five extra base hits and five runs knocked in through two games as a Rockie. Something tells me he's not going to miss the Oakland Coliseum. Or anything about Oakland for that matter, but especially that graveyard for hitters.

But I think the most important part here is that twice Carlos Gonzalez has been intentionally walked ahead of him, and twice Ellis made the Royals pay with an extra basehit. If Jim Tracy wants to continue hitting Gonzalez lead-off, which I can live with, he absolutely needs a respectable hitter to protect him. Ellis will start earning that respect with a couple more clutch knocks.

Watch Ellis come through

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Rock Solid Recap: Seth Smith plays hero in dramatic road win

One of the early highlights of Tuesday's game was getting to hear Seth Smith's dad in the broadcast booth with Drew Goodman and Jeff Huson talking about his son's terrific accomplishments in sports other than baseball while growing up. 

I've said a time or two I believe Smith is the best pure hitter on this team. Is it possible he's also the best pure athlete? Sounds like he could be.

It was also entertaining hearing Mr. Smith's southern drawl. That was a nice changup from Jeff Huson's robotic tone and use of the same cliches and pieces of analysis over and over. If I had a vote, I'd actually have Mr. Smith replace Huson when George Frazier is off doing whatever things George Frazier does. But of course my first choice would still be Lisa Iannetta.

Rockies 4, Indians 3 (boxscore)

The only thing I wish I could change about the game is having Smith's dad in the booth for one or both of Seth's home runs.

Wow, were those two blasts HUGE for the Rockies.

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Rock Solid Recrap: No sweep for us

That's okay. Justin Verlander vs. Aaron Cook? Nine times out of ten that's not going to go your way. The important thing is they took care of business in the first two games, took the series, and should leave town feeling pretty good about themselves.

Tigers 9, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

Aaron Cook: Pretty standard Cook day when you think about it. Which I'll actually take against Detroit. 6 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. It may not look pretty, but it matches up well with Ubaldo's line and better than Jason Hammel's. The difference was his margin for error was zero. We knew that going in, so that made every hit and run allowed a little more frustrating than the one before or any hits allowed by Ubaldo or Hammel.

7th inning: Ouch. Rough day for Rex Brothers' ERA. Rough day for Rex Brothers period. Spiked on the arm covering home plate? I've been spiked on the ankle a time or two. But **** that would hurt to take one on the forearm. Thankfully it was his non-throwing arm, but he was still forced to leave due to bleeding. The wound took four stitches to close up. Did I mention ouch?

Watch in the injury if you dare

Also, Seth Smith... Well, that was embarrassing. Jim Tracy should consider benching him for three weeks. Oh... he was already considering that.

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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: Splitting headache

Yeah, splitting that four game series with the Dodgers was not what I had in mind, especially after the Rockies came out and played so well in the first two. Very, very frustrating results these past two days. A blown opportunity to not only gain on or stand their ground with the front-runners, but more importantly to me, create some space from a Dodgers team that I think has a good run in them during the second half of the season.

Dodgers 10, Rockies 8 (boxscore)

Ubaldo Jimenez: Listen, allowing three home runs is never a good thing for a pitcher. That much is pretty clear and obvious, but it's beyond the numbers to me. Where I'm more concerned is Ubaldo's confidence/mindset. Once something has gone wrong for him this season, like Ty Wigginton's error, he loses it. Fast. And he rarely gets it all back together.

That kinda tells me everything we've seen with him this season has been more mental than physical. I can't prove that. I'm not a licensed doctor or psychiatrist, but that's my diagnosis from afar. And I don't know how you can fix that if it really is the root of the problem. You can work on his mechanics. You can review scouting reports over and over. But how do you teach a pitcher to get over mental hurdles?

Bullpen: Well, we saw the entire lineup struggle together for a month, so it's only appropriate the entire bullpen struggles at the same time. Hopefully they get it straightened out a lot quicker than the offense did. And I don't mean to lump Rex Brothers in there because he's been excellent, but even he had a rough go of it today.

Ty Wigginton: I've seen enough of the limited range and routine grounders clanking off his glove. This team desperately needs to tighten up the defense. If that means bringing back Ian Stewart sooner than later, I'm all for it. Giving opponents extra outs and opportunities has to be addressed and eliminated. It's wearing on everybody.

Jonathan Herrera: The bloom is off the rose with Johnny, which is unfortunate, but not totally unexpected for a major leaguer who survives on guts, intelligence and ability to execute. I'm not saying he needs to go, because I don't think that's the case. But given how well Chris Nelson has played, and given the need for dynamic offensive performers, I'm not sure he's going to fit in if he's not excelling at the things he does best while in a bench role.

This could be a big week for him to get it turned around. And this is coming from Herrera's biggest supporter since he was called up last June.

Offense: All of the Rockies runs scored on homers. Seth Smith had a three-run shot in the 1st, which hopefully served as a reminder to Jim Tracy that he needs to play EVERY DAY. Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki each had two-run homers in the 7th, and then Todd Helton hit a solo shot in the 9th. 8 runs. That should have been enough, but once again, it wasn't.

Overall: Any confidence in the Rockies I had built up over their three-game winning streak is wiped away. Today was a big, big, big game in my mind, especially with Ubaldo out there, and they fell short. Yeah, it's promising the offense has turned it around, but we're learning again that the problems for this team run much deeper than one thing. On any given day, they can do a number of different things poorly that puts them in a position to lose.

Until all of those are cleaned up, the ups will always be followed with disappointing downs.

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 Recap: That's a winning streak

One is just one without two. Two gives you something to build on. Three is what I call a real winning streak. The Rockies have their first real winning streak since April 15th thanks to eight shutout innings by Jhoulys Chacin and 17 hits on offense.

Rockies 6, Dodgers 5 (boxscore)

And somehow they only won by a single run. Is life ever easy for these guys?

Jhoulys Chacin: Life has been pretty easy for Chacin against LA this year. He's yet to allow a run to the Dodgers in his 15 innings against them. It's pretty special getting to see this kid continually develop his game and elevate his status not only on the Rockies staff, but in the entire National League. Hopefully that continues to the point where he can be considered for a nice honor next month.

Watch Chacin dominate

Chad Billingsley: On the flip side, Billingsley's last two starts against the Rockies have resulted in new career highs in hits allowed. They got him for 11 hits back on May 30. Remember? The game where they had 14 hits overall and one plated run? Well, the Rockies topped that with 13 hits this time, and 17 overall. Six regulars recorded multi-hit games.

Carlos Gonzalez: CarGo led the way with four hits out of the lead-off spot. Yeah, that's not where he's going to stay, but Jim Tracy might have a really difficult time messing with this current formula. It shall be interesting to see when he decides to make the move.

Watch all four of CarGo's hits

Chris Nelson: That talk about Nelson being an AAAA player is dying down a bit. He's not a real polished defender, as we saw in the 9th inning, but he's a solid addition to the lineup to be sure. Where he is a month from now is anybody's guess, but I'm betting he's still hanging around in the two-hole.

Todd Helton: I'm out of adjectives. At 37, he's still the glue that holds it all together. I know, I've said that before. I'm really out of things to say.

Watch Helton be Helton

Troy Tulowitzki: And now the home run swing is coming back. I think we're on the verge of something wonderful with Troy.

Watch Tulo's solo blast

Seth Smith: Only one hit. It was probably the biggest hit of the game. A two-run single in the 5th.

Watch Smith's two-run single

Chris Iannetta: If Smith's wasn't the biggest hit, Iannetta's two-out RBI single in the 5th was. Either way, it's nice to see this balance. I didn't even mention Ty Wigginton's two hits. Sorry Ty.

Bullpen: Really rough night for Matt Belisle. Sure the Nelson error didn't help, but a six-run lead should never turn into a save situation for your closer. That led to Huston Street having to warm up quick and enter a tough spot. And then Street gets criticized because he gives up a couple soft hits. The Navarro defensive swing was an especially softly hit blooper that found a nice cozy spot just out of Tulo's reach.

I've already said I won't defend Huston Street anymore because it's pointless. If Mariano Rivera was the Rockies closer, people would complain endlessly about that too I'm sure. But it's silly to hold anything against Street in this one.

Winning streak: Let's make it four and get Jason Hammel a damn victory!

Rock Solid Recap: Shutouts guarantee success

If you don't allow the opposing team to score, you will win. It's a proven strategy. For most, it's the surest way there is to win. For the Rockies, it's the only way to win.

Rockies 3, Padres 0 (boxscore)

Clayton Mortensen: This is interesting. Mortensen was very effective tonight (6 IP, 5 H, 2 BB and 3 K), but apparently did not receive a whole lot of praise from Bob Apodaca in the postgame. I understand what they're thinking here. Keep Juan Nicasio in the rotation, bump Mortensen to long relief. I have no issue with that at all, but there has to be a better way than suggesting a pitcher wasn't good enough after six shutout innings.

What if Nicasio takes steps back in his next couple outings? What if Aaron Cook is no good? What if you're needing to go right back to Mortensen in the next couple weeks? I would have just said Mortensen was really good, but we feel he's best here (in the bullpen). No need to shoot holes in an excellent outing.

Offense in two words: Just enough.

Chris Nelson: Nelson had a really strong game at the plate. His first inning triple led to the Rockies first run. He later ripped a double to the left field gap, but was thrown out at third trying to stretch it. Replays showed he was probably in there, but that's a poor decision leading off an inning. Maybe he'll actually learn from it? That would be something!

Nelson was also really good defensively at second base. It would be nice if he was allowed to stick there tomorrow, but I won't hold my breath with the ever changing lineup cards.

Seth Smith: His ninth inning RBI triple was definitely the biggest (most relaxing) hit of the night. Going from 1-0 to 2-0 and eventually 3-0 felt like 13-0.

Chris Iannetta: Quietly the player of the game. On base three times. Called a solid game. Defense behind the plate was sound. Nothing exciting to point at, but high grades in every facet of his game.

Carlos Gonzalez: Nothing at the plate. Very frustrating, but the nice thing about CarGo is his defense is still Gold Glove caliber. And his arm is a freakin' cannon... right Jorge Cantu?

Rex Brothers: Congratulations on a solid ML debut. Tracy brought him into a one-run game and he did not look overwhelmed by any means. Nor did I expect him to. He was hitting the high 90's with his fastball. His command was excellent. It was very good. If all you see are the two hits, you're missing everything. One was a cheapie anyway.

Matt Reynolds, Matt Belisle and Huston Street: Lord were those three filthy tonight. This bullpen is not a problem right now with how nicely it's set up. They aren't perfect, which they essentially need to be with the current offense, but you won't find many better, especially when Street is on his game.

Winning streak: Two in a row does not a winning streak make, but you can't win three in a row without the two. So let's make it two.

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.