No other real word I can find to describe the action at Coors Field on Tuesday. It was one of the more bizarre games I've seen, and that's saying something coming from a Rockies fan since Day 1.
The injuries, the solo home runs, the Tarp Monster claiming another victim, the weird Dexter Fowler vs. Mike Pelfrey at-bat that morphed into a Ryan Spilborghs vs. Jason Isringhausen at-bat. And of course, the first ever Paulino vs. Paulino battle that yours truly foreshadowed in Tuesday's Lineup Card. Not that I'm proud of that fact.
I also predicted Ian Stewart would... oh, **** it.
Mets 4, Rockies 3 (boxscore)
-- I came away from this game knowing one thing for sure: Jason Hammel is one tough dude.
I mean that physically, and I mean that mentally.
To block out the pain after taking that line drive in his calf, and to continue pitching and pitching well for three innings afterwards. That says a lot. That was a man-sized effort. Definitely not his best from a pitching standpoint, but still an outing where your appreciation grows and you're more thankful to have a guy with his makeup representing your baseball team.
-- What a swing by Carlos Gonzalez on that home run to straight away center. Now, if we can only a) trick pitchers into to throwing him that same pitch at-bat after at-bat, or b) have him improve his pitch recognition so he can make pitchers challenge him, things will be much better for all of us.
-- Troy Tulowitzki struck out for the first time in the month of May. That's a cool little stat. But the problem is popping up the first pitch to the second baseman is just as unproductive, and it also allows the opposing pitcher to throw less pitches.
At least he hit that home run. That was nice to see. Unfortunately he didn't follow it up with anything encouraging.
-- I mentioned Felipe Paulino earlier. He pitched a scoreless inning!
-- Did I also already mention this game was strange? I believe I did.
-- Even though the Paulino and Jose Lopez lottery tickets haven't worked out for Dan O'Dowd, he's hit the jackpot so far with a reliever whose name I shall not mention for fear of jinxing his outstanding performance.
-- That was an awesome three pitch walk by Ryan Spilborghs. One of the better ones you'll ever see.
-- I really hope Dexter Fowler can bounce back quickly from fouling that ball off his leg. Obviously his legs are of vital importance to the Rockies from a defensive standpoint, so to be without him for any period of time is going to add a lot of extra stress on the pitching staff. Not to mention it would also take away one of the two or three most consistent bats in the lineup.
And then we're faced with the reality that his replacement would likely be Willy Taveras.
Now I don't feel well.
Be well, Dex. Please be well.
