Rock Solid Recrap: Tracy, Bullpen fall apart in 7th inning

Brewers 9, Rockies 4 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: The Rockies bullpen has been a strength in the early going.

Tonight, not so much.

It started in the sixth inning as Jim Tracy called on Esmil Rogers to protect a one run lead. Rogers, who had put together four scoreless relief appearances — retiring at least four batters in each — to begin the season, was greeted by a game-tying Ryan Braun home run.

That you could live with. However, Tracy elected to stick with Rogers (18 pitches in the sixth) into the seventh, and the wheels promptly fell off as three of the first four Brewers reached, including a Rickie Weeks RBI triple.

So Rogers gets the hook with Colorado now trailing 5-3. In comes Edgmer Escalona, who proceeds to throw gas on the fire beginning with a Ryan Braun RBI triple and ending with an Alex Gonzalez three-run homer.

9-3 Brewers. Game over.

Other problems: Managing only two hits and striking out nine times against injury fill-in Marco Estrada wasn't exactly inspiring. Marco Scutaro was one of those victims, striking out for the first time in 2012. Maybe he'll only strikeout against pitchers named Marco.

Oh, and remember how I was praising Wilin Rosario for his work behind the plate in his early starts? BIG step back tonight with some lousy (perhaps lazy) footwork leading to a pair of passed balls and a wild pitch. He needs to bring it every night.

Turning Point: Back to Jim Tracy's odd use of the bullpen in the seventh.

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Lineup Card: Rockies @ Brewers 4-21-12

Friday's Recap: Chacin and Cuddyer play hero in Milwaukee

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (7-6)

1. Marco Scutaro (2B)
2. Dexter Fowler (CF)
3. Carlos Gonzalez (LF)
4. Troy Tulowitzki (SS)
5. Todd Helton (1B)
6. Michael Cuddyer (RF)
7. Wilin Rosario (C)
8. Chris Nelson (3B)
9. Drew Pomeranz (P)

Milwaukee Brewers (6-8)

1. Rickie Weeks (2B)
2. Carlos Gomez (CF)
3. Ryan Braun (LF)
4. Aramis Ramirez (3B)
5. Corey Hart (RF)
6. Alex Gonzalez (SS)
7. Mat Gamel (1B)
8. Jonathan Lucroy (C)
9. Marco Estrada (P)

This right-handed powered Brewers lineup is going to provide quite a challenge for Pomeranz tonight. It wouldn't be surprising at all if they touch him up a bit, but I'm just looking for him to be sharper than he was on Sunday against Arizona.

Quicker innings would be great, but most of all keep what is likely to be an aggressive baserunning team in check and do a better job of not allowing the opposition to create opportunities for themselves. Make them earn every bit of their offense. 

More Rockies thoughts await you if you follow me on Twitter: @Townie813 & @HeavenHelton

Rock Solid Recap: Chacin and Cuddyer play hero in Milwaukee

Rockies 4, Brewers 3 (boxscore)

Winning Player(s): Whenever the Rockies steal a game from a quality team on the road, there are going to be several candidates. For tonight, though, I've narrowed it down to just two.

1. Jhoulys Chacin: We'll get into his performance a little later.

2. Michael Cuddyer: Even on a night when he's not in the starting lineup (nursing that bruised toe) Cuddyer finds a way to make a difference for the Rockies. As a pinch-hitter in the ninth, Cuddyer came to the plate needing to hit a flyball to score Eric Young Jr. as the go ahead run from third. Cuddyer played it a little safer, instead ripping a solid single right back through the middle.

Clutch!

Highlight of the Night: Watch Michael Cuddyer's game-winning knock

Turning Point: Jason Giambi's pinch-hit single leading off the ninth, which essentially turned into a double with pinch-runner Eric Young Jr. taking over. That, and Marco Scutaro doing his usual professional job of moving the runner to third with another productive plate appearance (still hasn't struck out) to set up Cuddyer's heroics.

Honorable Mention: I can't help but look back to Jhoulys Chacin's two-out, bases loaded single in the fourth that pushed Colorado's lead 2-0, and probably should have made it 3-0 if not for the missed call at the plate. Yes, the Brewers would later tie the game up, and the Rockies impressively responded to that, but this hit from the nine spot could easily be seen as the real difference maker.

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Lineup Card: Rockies @ Brewers 4-20-12

— Wednesday's Recap: Bottoms Up

Lineups 

Colorado Rockies (6-6)

1. Marco Scutaro (2B)
2. Dexter Fowler (CF)
3. Carlos Gonzalez (LF)
4. Troy Tulowitzki (SS)
5. Todd Helton (1B)
6. Ramon Hernandez (C)
7. Tyler Colvin (RF)
8. Chris Nelson (SS)
9. Jhoulys Chacin (P)

Ramon Hernandez returns from his minor hand ailment, Michael Cuddyer replaces him on the sideline with his bruised big toe suffered on his own foul ball on Wednesday. I don't think that would keep him out more than a day or two, but I do know big toe pain sucks. So we'll see. 

Milwaukee Brewers (6-7)

1. Rickie Weeks (2B)
2. Norichika Aoki (CF)
3. Ryan Braun (LF)
4. Aramis Ramirez (3B)
5. Corey Hart (RF)
6. Mat Gamel (1B)
7. Alex Gonzalez (SS)
8. Jonathan Lucroy (C)
9. Shawn Marcum (P)

Ryan Braun was 0-for-11 in Milwaukee's just completed series vs Los Angeles. I'm going to look at that as bad news for Rockies pitching this weekend. Really bad.

More Rockies thoughts await you if you follow me on Twitter: @Townie813 & @HeavenHelton

Rock Solid Recap: Bottoms Up

Rockies 8, Padres 4  (boxscore)

Winning Player(s): As the title may or may not indicate, I'm going with the bottom third of tonight's starting lineup. That includes Chris Nelson, Jonathan Herrera and Juan Nicasio. All three played a huge part in tonight's win, and you're about to read how.

Turning Point: Sometimes the turning point can be obscure, other times it's blatantly obvious. Tonight's was the latter, because it came via Chris Nelson's two-run double in the second that gave Colorado a 2-1 lead.

The most important thing is that it did just that, gave Colorado the lead. But with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out, I felt like it was ultra important for the Rockies to not settle for one, or even worse, none in that spot. Nelson's hit not only guaranteed they would put up the crooked number, but it opened the flood gates to a five-run inning that San Diego never recovered from.

Nelson would finish up his night with a pair of doubles, a walk, two runs scored and two more driven in. That's how you take an opportunity and run with it.

Juan Nicasio's Line: 6 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 HR, 99 pitches (65 strikes)

Terrific outing for Nicasio on the heels of that unexpectedly disastrous effort against San Francisco. If you recall, Nicasio walked FIVE in that game (career high), but came back firing strikes with all of his pitches tonight and worked effectively outside of the zone when he had to. The only Padre that got to him was Chase Headley (two home runs), but he's been getting to every Rockies pitcher since he came into the league so we're used to seeing that.

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