Thursday, June 9, 2011

Lineup Card: 6-9-11 Rockies vs 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
Lineups

Colorado Rockies (29-32) 
  1. CF Carlos Gonzalez
  2. 2B Chris Nelson
  3. 1B Todd Helton
  4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
  5. 3B Ty Wigginton
  6. RF Ryan Spilborghs
  7. LF Charlie Blackmon
  8. C  Jose Morales
  9. P  Juan Nicasio
Couple minor changes with Spilborghs and Morales starting against Kershaw, but the template remains the same for another day. 

Los Angeles Dodgers (29-34)
  1. SS Dee Gordon
  2. 3B Casey Blake
  3. RF Andre Ethier
  4. CF Matt Kemp 
  5. 2B Juan Uribe
  6. 1B James Loney
  7. C  Dioner Navarro
  8. LF Tony Gwynn
  9. P   Clayton Kershaw
Juan Nicasio's margin for error tonight: 

Not a typo. That means nothing. Zippo. Hope I'm wrong. 

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Rock Solid Recap: Rockies 3-4 finally provides some punch

An ideal lineup features your most productive hitters batting third and fourth. On this Wednesday afternoon, the Rockies had the right two guys holding down those positions.

Rockies 5, Padres 3 (boxscore)

Todd Helton and Troy Tulowitzki combined to go 7-for-8 with a home run (Todd), three doubles (2 Todd), four RBI (3 Troy) and four runs scored (3 Todd).


The biggest of the seven hits was Tulo's two-run double in the ninth that broke the tie and served as the game-winner. A big, big moment for Tulo, especially considering Heath Bell intentionally passed on Helton to get to him.


Sometimes a good slap in the face in the best kind of wakeup call.

Once Carlos Gonzalez gets his act together, I would strongly suggest to Jim Tracy that he hit fifth and Helton stays third. I really would. Helton gives you your best at-bats on a nightly basis, and Tulowitzki desperately needs someone dynamic like Gonzalez behind him for protection. That's just me though. Gonzalez still has a ways to go before we can think about that.

Charlie Blackmon: Congratulations on the first ML hit! it was a Todd Helton special on a hard groundball through the right side. And then he barely missed on a three-run homer his second at-bat that probably would have been out in Denver. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he can do on this ten-game homestand.


Aaron Cook: I'm sure there was some rust involved, but this looked a lot like most of Cook's outings last season. Didn't get real deep. A lot of traffic. Was always one hit away from disaster. I won't judge him too harshly, but I'll hope for better when Cook faces the same Padres next week in Denver.

Huston Street: Wow. That's all. Wow.

Now let's watch Eric Patterson get picked off... and caught stealing. Thanks for the help!

That concludes a 4-5 road trip through California that could have absolutely buried the Rockies if things went poorly. I feel like they kept their heads safely above water. Granted things could have gone a lot better with a couple hits here and there, and it's nine games off the schedule with no forward progress, but the important thing with how poorly they've been playing is to survive as long as you can and hope things turn around.

Hopefully that starts tomorrow as they host the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw. Yeah, that doesn't look too promising on paper. Now let's see them finally come out, rip up the paper and make an ace look like a #5 for a change.

Lineup Card: 6-8-11 Rockies @ Padres

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
Lineups

Colorado Rockies (28-32)
  1. CF Carlos Gonzalez
  2. 2B Chris Nelson
  3. 1B Todd Helton
  4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
  5. RF Seth Smith
  6. 3B Ty Wigginton
  7. LF Charlie Blackmon
  8. C   Chris Iannetta
  9. P   Aaron Cook
Almost in a state of shock that Jim Tracy is sticking with the same lineup template. The only change is Iannetta back in for Jose Morales. 

San Diego Padres (28-34)
  1. CF Eric Patterson
  2. SS Jason Bartlett
  3. 3B Chase Headley
  4. LF Ryan Ludwick
  5. RF Brad Hawpe
  6. C   Nick Hundley
  7. 1B Jorge Cantu
  8. 2B Alberto Gonzalez
  9. P   Dustin Moseley

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Rock Solid Recrap: The frustration continues

My first choice would be for the Rockies to start winning some games. Like I said yesterday, a winning streak. Win two, then win three, then win four. That's what I'm looking for. But I'm so tired of seeing the same thing everyday I'd honestly settle for an 9-8 loss. I'm begging for something different. Anything different. And I'm sick of feeling awful for our pitchers.

The games are boring. Absolutely painful to sit through. I could be watching any number of other games on a given night, but I love the Rockies. I'm committed to them. Because of that I'm missing out. I hate that feeling, too.

I feel like my writing is getting boring too. I mean what the hell can you write about when it's the same story every night? As my Rockies pal Brian put it on Twitter.

@gorox1983 im glad i dont have a blog about the rockies cause it would be riddled with f words.

Brian, you should get a blog! That would be a joy to read. But since you don't, allow me to riddle this Mother... you know what with some F words to describe the Rockies offense.
  1. Futility 
  2. Fail 
  3. Flop 
  4. Floundering 
  5. Folding 
  6. Feeble 
  7. Faulty 
  8. Foul 
  9. Flaky
  10. Frustration!
Those are just the F words.

Padres 2, Rockies 0 (boxscore)

Ubaldo Jimenez: Terrific.He pitched his ass off again. Ran into trouble in the 5th, but little of that was his fault. The 1-1 pitch to Alberto Gonzalez that was right down the middle and called a ball. Then the 2-1 pitch where Gonzalez's checkswing was ruled a ball when he pretty clearly went. He's out of the inning right there, but Gonzalez's at-bat continued and that damn infield RBI single followed.


Ubaldo did make the lazy pitch to the opposing pitcher that cost him another run, but he's human. Really no need to focus on that.

Catcher Jose Morales also had an awful half inning there. He couldn't get down on a wild pitch that looked like an easy block. That would have kept the Kyle Phillips at first, meaning he doesn't score on the infield single. Morales had a really ugly passed ball a couple innings later, so this goes down as his roughest night in a Rockies uniform. He'd done really well in his role up to now.

Also, I have no anger for Chris Nelson's attempt on that play. He knocked the ball down. That's his main objective and he did it very well. It gave Tulowitzki a chance to pick it up and throw home. It just wasn't handled by Morales. Morales picks it, makes the tag, everyone looks good.

It's sad that one infield single has to be put under the microscope with four paragraphs. Jesus. But when your margin for error is minus 50, that play qualifies as a disaster.

Lineup Card: 6-7-11 Rockies @ Padres

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
Lineups

Colorado Rockies (28-31)
  1. CF Carlos Gonzalez
  2. 2B Chris Nelson
  3. 1B Todd Helton
  4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
  5. RF Seth Smith
  6. 3B Ty Wigginton
  7. LF Charlie Blackmon (MLB Debut)
  8. C   Jose Morales
  9. P   Ubaldo Jimenez
I'll just say this about Charlie Blackmon. The kid is a terrific hitter, but I'm not expecting miracles. I'm not expecting him to instantly fix every problem the Rockies have offensively. Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki have to pick it up before that become a realistic hope. 

That said, I'm very excited to watch Blackmon play. I'm optimistic he will contribute positively. I'm confident he gives the Rockies a better 25-man roster. And most of all, I hope he's a fixture in the lineup for the next 6-8 years. 

San Diego Padres (27-34)
  1. CF Chris Denorfia
  2. SS Jason Bartlett
  3. 3B Chase Headley
  4. LF Ryan Ludwick
  5. RF Brad Hawpe
  6. 1B Jorge Cantu
  7. C   Kyle Phillips
  8. 2B Alberto Gonzalez
  9. P   Tim Stauffer