Rock Solid Recap: Why so mad?

Rockies 14, Dodgers 11 (boxscore)

Todd Helton led the way with three hits as the Colorado Rockies outslugged the Dodgers...

Oh, hold on.

Sorry, that was the hits column.

Let's see here.

Dodgers 7, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

That explains that. So I guess this is a recRap then.

(I just gave the Rockies their next slogan there. Total accident.)

UPDATE: I see Purple Row's Bryan Kilpatrick used a variation of the same bit. I didn't steal or borrow, and I'm too lazy to rewrite, so we'll just go with great minds think alike.

-- Can this please be rock bottom? Please? Fourteen hits, four walks and one run. Only the Rockies. Well, the Cubs could probably pull that off just as easily, but this is a Rockies blog. So ONLY the Rockies.

The Rockies had the lead-off man reach base I believe it was seven innings in a row? None of those scored. The lone run came on Ty Wigginton's solo home run in the fourth, which was perfectly timed right after a Seth Smith GIDP.

Overall the Rockies went 1-for-12 with RISP. An ugly number. And there was little to no bad luck involved here. Just a lot of terrible at-bats and swings with expected results.

Honestly, I'm tired of hearing the unlucky bit. Yes, Troy Tulowitzki hits baseballs hard and they get caught sometimes. He also pops up all the time and hits Taylor made double play balls. Yes, umpires blow calls. Yes, weird things happen, but weird things always happen to everybody. Every team gets screwed now and then.

They get magnified when you're not doing the little things right. The Rockies simply aren't doing the little things. And they aren't doing a lot of big things right either. Throw out any stats that may suggest differently. The team is a mess right now. It's that simple.

-- Jason Hammel made some good pitches to Andre Ethier with the bases loaded in the third, but that piece of garbage Joe West screwed him. There's no other way to say it. He screwed him. That was a strikeout two different times, but Cowboy Joe was too busy being his usual arrogant self. Embarrassing the game of baseball.

Then Ethier hit that ball right back through the box than Hammel couldn't handle, and the route was on. Unfortunately Hammel unraveled, but when you're making good pitches and not getting calls, that's what will happen. Chad Billingsley faced the same problem. He allowed a career hit 11 hits. The Rockies did nothing with them.

-- The Fowler/CarGo Play

Center fielders are taught to take every ball they can get to. It was left-center, Fowler got there, it looked like he called, so Gonzalez has to clear out. Yes, Gonzalez has the better arm, but they weren't throwing anyone out at the plate from that depth. Fowler wasn't in the wrong there. It's tough to come down on Gonzalez though. They are both centerfielders in mind and ability, and he wanted to make a play.

-- So the Rockies lose 20 in May. 20 recraps in a single month, with a good chance for 21. Talk about challenging a blogger to stay engaging, interesting, motivated, funny and creative. Good lord. Thanks a lot!

Lineup Card: 5-30-11 Rockies @ Dodgers

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Links

Yesterday's Recrap: Dreadful homestand concludes

Quote of the day

"I wasn't expecting anything like that pitch. I was sitting on something like the sliders he'd been throwing," Carlos Gonzalez on the final at-bat in Sunday's game

Hey, um, you know, if you're looking for something and you don't get it on a 0-0 count, don't swing. Same for 0-1. Like, if you're sitting on a slider, why are you firing at a fastball? Either you're not seeing the ball at all out of the pitcher's hand, or your discipline is at level zero right now.

That was a pretty scary quote to read from a guy who led the league in hitting just last season, but it sure does help explain the lousy at-bats he's piling up this season. Yikes.

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (25-27)

1. 2B Eric Young
2. CF Dexter Fowler
3. LF Carlos Gonzalez
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 1B Todd Helton
6. RF Seth Smith
7. 3B Ty Wigginton
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P   Jason Hammel

We'll just get Chris Nelson that first start about Friday... when he's good and cooled of. 

Los Angeles Dodgers (24-30)

1. SS Rafael Furcal
2. 2B Jamey Carroll
3. RF Andre Ethier
4. CF Matt Kemp
5. LF Jay Gibbons
6. 1B James Loney
7. C  Rod Barajas
8. 3B Aaron Miles
9. P   Chad Billingsly

Rock Solid Recrap: Dreadful homestand concludes

The Rockies scored 41 runs on their seven game homestand!!! That's like an average of six runs per game! 

Not bad, huh?

Well, 27 of those came in the TWO wins. The other 14 came in the FIVE losses.

Nope, not bad. More like sad. And absolutely maddening.

Cardinals 4, Rockies 3 (boxscore) 

-- Jhoulys Chacin padded his team lead for home runs allowed when Jon Jay and Colby Rasmus took him yard. That's nine on the season and definitely a problem. Even more so when he walks the guy directly in front of the home run, as he did on Jay's in the first.

The Rasmus solo homer was also frustrating because it came right after the offense pushed across a run with a double, bunt and sacrifice fly. But Chacin still did a nice job of holding the Cardinals in check. That's a great offense and holding them to four with Kyle Lohse opposing you should set you up well.

-- Matt Reynolds, Matt Lindstrom and Rafael Betancourt were nearly untouchable in three innings of scoreless relief. Another day at the office for Reynolds and Lindstrom. Another positive step towards being himself again for Betancourt.

-- Ty Wigginton, Ryan Spilborghs and Chris Iannetta reached base a total of eight times. You would think that would really spark another offensive outburst. Not so much.

-- You know, it would be easy to nitpick Jim Tracy today.

Bases loaded, no outs, down by two in the 7th. Tracy pulls pinch-hitter Seth Smith off the on-deck circle and plays the Jason Giambi card, which obviously means he's looking for the four-run homer. Of course that's not a situation where a grand slam is necessary. A basehit or productive out would be very helpful, which Seth Smith has a better chance of providing, but Tracy has his way of doing things.

Of course Jason Giambi struck out and Eric Young lined into a double play. Rally killed.

Next inning, Tracy allows Ty Wigginton to hit for himself against the St. Louis closer, Fernando Salas, with two on and two out. He struck out on three sliders. May have been a good spot for Smith there as well. Especially when you have Chris Nelson and Jonathan Herrera available to play third.

Then Seth Smith strikes out as the tying run in the ninth, so who knows what the right call is in each situation. I would have definitely set things up differently, but sometimes it just is what it is. And what it is is the players need to have better at-bats.

Especially Carlos Gonzalez in the 9th inning. His entire mindset was to swing away at anything close. Turned himself into an easy final out of the game.

-- Eric Young had another nice game by the way. He knocked in two of the Rockies three runs.

-- Dexter Fowler still struggles with those liners directly at him. Gap-to-gap, he's still terrific. But he needs to read and track those liners a lot better. It's cost him several times.

I linked to Troy Renck's (Rock-Hard decisions at hand) piece earlier. I'll mention it again here. Renck really did a great job with this, but I specifically enjoyed this paragraph...

And finally, end the shock theater with bunts and baserunning. It's alarming how bad the Rockies have been at basic fundamentals, especially since they practice them as much as any team in baseball. Simply put, the Rockies can't win when they don't hit. They have proved incapable of playing small ball.

He had a lot more to say. I'm sure most Rockies fans have read it already. But even non-Rockies fans can get a good feel for the Rockies struggles by reading that piece.

-- Dreadful homestand over. Road trip from Hell now looming. Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego here they come. Nine big games in ten days. I hate to say it at the end of May into early June, but if the Rockies tank this trip (2-7, 1-8), well, any and all optimism would be rightly tossed out the window.

Is it possible they could rebound? Of course. But to expect it or even hope for it would be pretty close to unrealistic.

3-6 or 4-5 would be frustrating, but not totally demoralizing depending on the order they come in. 5-4 or 6-3 would be very encouraging. I would be downright giddy even. Anything better than that isn't going to happen. Sorry. I wouldn't even expect the best Rockies team ever to win seven on this trip. Just hope for a winning one.

Lineup Card: 5-29-11 Rockies vs Cardinals

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Links

• Rock Solid ReCAP: 15 runs. A win. Woah!
• Troy Renck: Hard-Rock decisions at hand 

Lineup

Colorado Rockies (25-26)

1. 2B Eric Young
2. CF Dexter Fowler
3. LF Carlos Gonzalez
4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
5. 1B Todd Helton
6. 3B Ty Wigginton
7. RF Ryan Spilborghs
8. C   Chris Iannetta
9. P    Jhoulys Chacin

No actual lineup changes! However, Alfredo Amezaga was finally designated for assignment and Chris Nelson received the recall from AAA. He'll likely serve in a bench role upon arrivial, but given how Jim Tracy has apparently soured on Jonathan Herrera and Ty Wigginton is the only option at third currently, plenty of opportunity awaits Nelson in the upcoming weeks. 

St. Louis Cardinals (31-22)

1. SS Ryan Theriot
2. LF Jon Jay
3. 1B Albert Pujols
4. RF Lance Berkman
5. 2B Allen Craig
6. CF Colby Rasmus
7. C   Yadier Molina
8. 3B Daniel Descalso
9. P   Kyle Lohse

Rock Solid ReCAP: 15 Runs. A win. Woah!

Rockies 15, Cardinals 4 (boxscore)

Well I didn't see that coming. Jaime Garcia entered play today with a 1.93 ERA and he exited in the fourth inning with a 3.28 ERA. Yes, the Rockies plated 12 runs (11 earned) on this season's version of Ubaldo Jimenez while in the midst of maybe the most extensive and infuriating offensive slump we've seen them have in 18+ years.

And they did it in support of Juan Nicasio -- a kid with an electronic fastball, solid changeup and developing breaking stuff -- making his major league debut against the hottest offense in the National League. He didn't need that much support. He was brilliant, allowing one run (unearned) over seven innings, and actually made a lot more quality pitches than I expected him to.

It was a lot of fun to watch. Hopefully we only saw a small sample of what this kid will offer as he continues developing some of those secondary pitches. Very impressive debut.

Now back to the offense.

First of all, Eric Young leads off the game with a single and STEALS A BASE. I almost stopped watching right there so I could leave with a positive visual. But it only got better as Dexter Fowler followed with a 10-pitch walk after being behind in the count 0-2.

Those two plate appearances are textbook for table setters. Patience, contact, speed. It provided the middle of the order a solid foundation to build from against an all-star pitcher. And then Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki and Todd Helton each followed with singles to plate those two runs and load the bases. Great start.

Ty Wigginton then struck out. Ho hum.

But that set up maybe the most important at-bat of the game. Ryan Spiborghs didn't allow the offensive momentum to fizzle out. Instead he worked a 7-pitch walk for an easy RBI and to keep the line moving. The Rockies would tack on three more thanks to a Chris Iannetta two-run single and an Eric Young RBI single.

6-0.

Spilborghs had another outstanding at-bat in 2nd, singling home one with two outs. He then tripled home two in the 4th. Chris Iannetta cleaned up again with a two-run homer right after.

12-0

Iannetta would hit another two-run homer in the 8th, giving him a career high two home runs, four hits and six RBI. That's definitely worthy of player of the game, yet I think we need to cut that into thirds because Spilborghs and Nicasio deserve a piece of the pie as well.

Any way you slice it, it was a much needed performance for several players and the team as whole. Maybe THIS will be the start of something good. Maybe all the frustration has come to a head and burst.

Maybe not. We've seen the Rockies breakout before, only to follow up with more of the same. Guess we just have to tune in again tomorrow to see where we go from here.