Rock Solid Recap: The Jordan Pacheco Show

Rockies 7, Cubs 5 (boxscore)

Winning Player: Jordan Pacheco

Real easy choice today. Pacheco was the man offensively (with the 1st inning three-run homer) and defensively (which you'll see shortly).

Watch Jordan Pacheco's three-run homer

Turning Point: Pacheco's 1st inning homer stood up the entire game, but there were moments when that seemed in doubt. That included the 5th inning when Chicago loaded the bases against Jhoulys Chacin with one out. The Rockies held a 7-3 lead there, and Chacin needed those two outs to qualify for the win. And he got them thanks to fielder's choice force play at home against Luis Valbuena and a Steve Clevenger groundout.

Jhoulys Chacin's Line: 5 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 4 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 85 pitches (55 strikes)

Chacin didn't have much today, but Jim Tracy allowed him to go beyond to the 75 pitches get out of that bases loaded jam. It was refreshing to see that from Jim and just as good to see Chacin reward the faith. I guess you could call it a gritty effort, but certainly a difficult one to watch or feel overly encouraged about. He is healthy, though, so there's that.

Bullpen's Line: 4 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 4 K

All of the bullpen's damage came against a gassed out Matt Belisle in the 9th. That was cleaned up by Rafael Betancourt, who struck out back-to-back hitters, and then Jordan Pacheco and Josh Rutledge finished it as you'll see right now.

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Rock Solid Recap: Charlie Blackmon Homers, Helps Rockies Preserve 7th Shutout

Rockies 6, Cubs 0 (boxscore)

Winning Player: Charlie Blackmon

Blackmon had solid day at the plate with his third career home run and another run scored.

Watch Charlie Blackmon's solo homer

He also had a key play in left field where he threw out Joe Mather at third base trying to advance on a flyball, which kept the Rockies 7th shutout intact as the tag was applied before Josh Vitters could touch home. Really a fantastic throw that almost had you wondering if Carlos Gonzalez was out there.

Watch Charlie Blackmon's great throw

Honorable Mentions: The entire Rockies pitching staff.

Drew Pomeranz's Line: 5 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 84 pitches (51 strikes)

The opponent has to be taken into consideration, but this is still a pretty solid performance for Pomeranz. Granted, the three walks are a bit high, but to see him work a little deeper and put up nothing but 0's overrides that. And really, any step that isn't directly backwards is a positive for Drew as he wraps up this highly disappointing season.

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Rock Solid Recap: Mother Nature Says Six Innings Is Plenty

Rockies 10, Cubs 5 (boxscore)

A win is a win, even when Mother Nature shortens the game to six innings and especially when you're hoping like heck your favorite team avoids its first 100-loss season.

The good news is this win will increase the Rockies chances of avoiding that slightly. The bad news is they still have work to do over these next eight games to make sure they don't lose six of them.

It's coming down to the wire, folks. Sit tight.

Winning Player: D.J. LeMahieu 3-for-3, home run shy of the cycle, two runs, one RBI

The Rockies obviously had a lot of offense in a short period of time, but LeMahieu really led the attack with his three hits against his former team. The biggest coming in the 4th when he doubled home a run ahead of Josh Rutledge's two-run double that gave Colorado the lead. Another former Cub, Tyler Colvin, contributed two hits himself, including a two-run triple in the 3rd that cut Chicago's lead to 4-1. Also delivering were Chris Nelson (three hits, two runs), Matt Bride (big three-run 5th inning blast) and Wilin Rosario (two hits, HR #27).

In total Colorado had 15 hits and 27 total bases in the six completed innings. Not bad at all.

Turning Point: This game turned the second Theo Epstein traded Colvin and LeMahieu to the Rockies for Ian Stewart and Casey Weathers. It remains Dan O'Dowd's one shining moment over the past 12 months.

Jorge De La Rosa's Line: 3 IP, 4 R (2 ER), 5 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 HR, 67 pitches (45 strikes)

The two unearned runs came after Josh Rutledge's 1st inning overthrow that landed somewhere in Oklahoma. I mean he overshot Jordan Pacheco at first base by at least 40 feet. Perhaps the wet baseball played a factor in that. Perhaps it didn't. I don't know. I just know it was the only bad throw in the game and the conditions got much worse as it went along.

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Rock Solid September Recap: These Are Rare

Rockies 4, Diamondbacks 2 (boxscore)

Since starting this blog in 2010, the Colorado Rockies record in games from Sept. 15 on is 9-33. That's including Monday's win over Arizona, which broke a nine-game losing streak.

That bad. That real bad.

But Monday was good... so let's talk why they finally won one.

Winning Player: Andrew Brown

Was leaning towards Tyler Chatwood here but Andrew Brown's late home run changed my mind. It was a solo shot in the 8th, but that insurance run was a big one to get for Rafael Betancourt. Brown also had a double earlier in the game and a run-scoring groundout. Productive night all around offensively, and the adventurous catch out in right field was a highlight too.

Watch Andrew Brown's opposite field homer

Watch Andrew Brown's nice catch

Honorable Mentions: Chatwood (more shortly), the bullpen (more shortly), along with Charlie Blackmon and Tyler Colvin who each contributed two hits.

Turning Point: After Arizona scored two in the 4th to take a 2-1 lead, the Rockies battled right back with two of their own in the bottom half (Brown's RBI and a D.J. LeMahieu RBI single). Chatwood then put up a big 0 in the 5th to stabilize things, which allowed the bullpen to bring it home.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Make That Nine Straight Losses

Diamondbacks 10, Rockies 7 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: Well, for starters, I benched Andrew Luck for Michael Vick in my fantasy football league. That backfired spectacularly. I also went a disgusting 4-10 against the spread in my NFL picks. But the plus side to that is I reminded myself again why I don't gamble. Nothing gained. Nothing lost.

As for the Rockies, it appears they had no problems offensively — 7 runs on 16 hits — but the bullpen faltered late with Rex Brothers, Matt Belisle and Will Harris combining to allow seven runs over the final two innings. This is where I tell you these guys are all wearing down... especially Matt Belisle as he closes in on 80 innings as a set up man.

Turning Point: That would have to be Aaron Hill's two-out three-run homer off Belisle in the 8th that broke the 4-4 tie. What a heartbreaker that must have been for the "32,448" in attendance.

Jeff Francis' Line: 4 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 75 pitches (45 strikes)

Even without a walk or strikeout, Francis hit 75 pitches in four innings. But it's not like he got knocked around the park either based on the numbers. Kinda just shows again how silly a pitch-limit that low is. Let a man do his work and let those reliever catch a break. Geez.

Bullpen's Line: 5 IP, 8 ER, 11 H, 3 BB, 7 K, 1 HR

As referenced above, these guys had a rough go of it in the later innings which cost the Rockies a chance to steal one. Belisle is the one who took the loss... which was his 8th if you can believe that. On the plus side for Jim Tracy though... he got to use six relievers, and the one whose numbers stand out the most are Rob Scahill with 1 2/3 scoreless. His ERA remains 0.00 through four appearances.

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