Rock Solid Recrap: Another One For The Pile

Cardinals 11, Rockies 6 (boxscore)

Turning Point: The Cardinals plated four in the 1st on a Matt Holliday two-run double and a Carlos Beltran two-run homer. The Rockies wouldn't fold there, though, immediately cutting it to 4-2 and then 6-5 in the 6th. That's when Holliday delivered a the dagger against Adam Ottavino in the 7th (two-run homer). No turning back at that point.

Jeff Francis' Line: 4 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 56 pitches (38 strikes)

This is Francis' second rough outing of his last three, but only his third overall in 11 starts since returning to the Rockies. If you had told me this would be the case when he signed, I would have done cartwheels. However, if he struggles again in the next outing, it's probably time to assume he's hitting the wall in this paired pitching system much like Alex White, Christian Friedrich and pretty much everybody involved in it have to date.

Adam Ottavino's Line: 2 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 0 K, 2 HR

It's probably time to start treating Ottavino like a regular reliever (which is what he always should have been) rather than a piggyback reliever. It's not fair to him. It's not fair to the team. It's not fair to us watching. It's just not working.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Jonathan Sanchez Remains Worse Than Everybody

Reds 7, Rockies 2 (boxscore)

Ready for the world's fastest Recrap?

Here goes.

Jonathan Sanchez's Line: 4 1/3 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 84 pitches (48 strikes)

For a split second you had to be amazed Dan O'Dowd found a taker for Jeremy Guthrie that was willing to give up a living being in return (not to mention one that had thrown a no-hitter in MLB). And then we came to the realization that the return was Jonathan Sanchez (the only pitcher in baseball having a worse year than Guthrie).

Surprise! The change of scenery hasn't helped Sanchez one bit so far, and all we can do is sarcastically joke that we miss Guthrie.

Fun times.

Highlight of the Afternoon: The Rockies two runs came on one 1st inning swing. They then curled up and were overpowered for the remaining eight frames, but here's your highlight.

Watch Josh Rutledge's second career homer

Bonus Highlight: Watch CarGo's diving grab

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Rock Solid Recrap: Reds Win 9th Straight (Equaling Rockies Total Since June 25th)

Reds 9, Rockies 7 (boxscore)

I think the headline alone would be a sufficient enough recap, but I'll touch on a few things anyway because I love sharing my Rockies misery with all of you.

What Went Wrong: Well, the good news is all of the Reds home runs were solo. The bad news is they hit five of them. I don't care which ballpark you're in or what lineup you're facing, five is too many.

Christian Friedrich's Line: 4 1/3 IP, 7 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 3 HR, 55 pitches (32 strikes)

The three homers Friedrich allowed were all crushed. No cheapies at all. But those all came in the first three innings. The Reds then dinked and dunked him in the 5th (walk, three singles) and Jim Tracy had no patience for it, pulling him at only 55 pitches. Josh Roenicke then poured gasoline on Friedrich's ERA by allowing a two-run double to Brandon Phillips.

I still have no idea how to evaluate our young pitchers under the current pitching system, so this was just another "meh" outing in my eyes. Hopefully Jhoulys Chacin can return after his impending four-start rehab assignment on time and the Rockies will be ready to operate like a major league organization again so we can evaluate them as such.

Turning Point: The Rockies struck for three in the 1st, giving Friedrich a pretty nice cushion to work with. He then immediately gave up 2nd inning home runs to Ryan Ludwick and Todd Frazier.

I think we all realized where the game was headed at that point. Including Dan O'Dowd.

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Rock Solid Recrap: A Very Whatever Game, Followed By A Whatever Trade

Reds 3, Rockies 0 (boxscore)

Was that game just completely boring or was that game completely uninteresting? Those are the only two options I'm giving you, and the good news you can't go wrong with either answer.

What Went Wrong: Well, aside from the obvious, which is scoring zippo against Bronson Arroyo and company, I'd like to focus on the continued defensive struggles of Wilin Rosario, which were on full display during the 6th inning once Adam Ottavino was summoned. In the span of I believe three pitches, Rosario was unable to knock down two of them, which allowed Ryan Ludwick to come around from second base (without a ball being put in play) with Cincinnati's third and final run.

The first one was an obvious wild pitch, one that no catcher in baseball would have been able to smother. But the awful technique and the awkward looking stab he made at the ball were detectable to even the least experienced baseball watcher. It was brutal.

The second should have been much easier to block and keep in front of him, but Rosario failed to stay down allowing the ball to squirt between his legs.

Here's a look at that attempt

That technique leaves an awful lot to be desired, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't it pain me to watch him struggle to that extent for a couple of reasons.

1. I really like the kid and really want to see him succeed. That's the obvious one.

2. At times his technique looks so bad you almost wonder if it's possible he'll never improve. I'm sure he will in time, mainly because he seems like the type who will put in all of the extra work necessary, but it's discouraging/disappointing when you're constantly reminded just how far away he is from getting there. Time is on his side, though, so let's just cross our fingers and hope for the best.

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Rock Solid Recap: Rockies Avoid Sweep With Something Resembling Normal Baseball

Rockies 4, Diamondbacks 2 (boxscore)

This was kind of an odd game to watch. The Rockies, who have resorted to desperate, non-sensical experiments in recent weeks just to try to scratch out a handful of wins, actually played a normal, paint-by-numbers game on Wednesday. And to top it all off... they won it!

No... seriously. They won it!

They won it with Dexter Fowler leading off the game with a triple and Marco Scutaro immediately bringing him home with a sacrifice fly. They won it with a clutch two-run double by Scutaro in the 3rd. They won it with solid (even spectacular) defense. And they won it behind a starting pitcher that was not only good, but allowed to pitch beyond the 75-pitch limit.

Normal, drama free baseball for nine straight innings. I could get used to that.

Winning Players: Dexter Fowler & Marco Scutaro

Francis was good (more on him shortly), but Fowler and Scutaro really set the tone in the 1st and 3rd innings with their productive at-bats mentioned above. Fowler would finish the night with three hits, two runs and a steal. Scutaro went 1-for-1 with the big two-run double, the sac fly, and two walks. That's what you need from the 1-2 spots.

Turning Point: I alluded to some good Rockies defense tonight. The turning point in this game came courtesy of that defense as Tyler Colvin ran down Chris Young's shot into the right field corner that looked like a game-tying two-run double (at least) off the bat.

Watch Colvin's marvelous grab

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