Rock Solid Recrap: Can You Imagine If They Lost Monday?

Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 3 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: Had the Rockies managed to lose Monday's game, this loss would have been a lot more... well... I guess I wouldn't say painful, since we're pretty much numb to it at this point, but it would have driven my anxiety through the roof with 100 losses on the horizon on Wednesday.

But since the Rockies won Monday, Rafael Betancourt's second consecutive blown save was more of a shoulder shrug moment than a blood boiler. No, I'm not happy it happened, but I'm more indifferent than annoyed, which I'm afraid will continue to be my feeling throughout the winter leading into the spring. I care, of course, I just need to see this organization give a damn too before I'll feel the normal emotions again.

Turning Point: Aaron Hill's three-run walk-off is the easy call here, but Gerardo Parra's two-out single that kept the inning going was pretty important too.

Jhoulys Chacin's Line: 5 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 75 pitches (46 strikes)

Fabulous finish to an encouraging nine-start stretch since coming of the DL. Not much more needs to be said beyond that. As long as he maintains his health over the winter into the spring, he should be the Rockies opening day starter without any doubt.

Bullpen's Line: 3 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 1 K

Guillermo Moscoso is a disaster that hopefully never appears with the Rockies again. And I don't feel bad saying that because unlike guys like Felipe Paulino, Franklin Morales and Jeremy Guthrie, I don't think he'll bounce back in a different atmosphere. He's just not a major league pitcher, plain and simple.

PS: It's easy to take shots at Rafael Betancourt after a couple rough outings, but this guy has been solid all year long.

Think about it... In a given baseball season, they are usually only 4-5 pitchers who truly excel in the closer's role. A couple of them are predictably dominant like Mariano Rivera, Craig Kimbrel and Aroldis Chapman. The others are randomly recycled veterans like Jim Johnson and Fernando Rodney.

Betancourt certainly didn't reach the elite level this season, but all things considered he was a big plus because the position always has instability and uncertainty surrounding it from year-to-year, sometimes even month-to-month. Betancourt at least brought those two things to his role (and in my opinion a lot more) while the rest of the pitching staff crumbled around him.

What's Next: And then there was one. The season finale comes your way on Wednesday at 5:10 and will feature a Jeff Francis (5-5, 5.75) vs. Ian Kennedy (15-11, 4.18) pitching matchup. My emotions are already overcoming me.

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

Rock Solid Recap: Road To 100 Hits Dead End

Rockies 7, Diamondbacks 4 (13 innings) (boxscore)

It's over. Our season long regional nightmare is all over.

Five years to the day they defeated the San Diego Padres 9-8 in 13 innings to win the National League Wild Card, the Colorado Rockies won another clincher in 13 innings with the 7-4 win over the Diamondbacks. OK, yeah, so this win was just a little bit less significant in the grand scheme, but it was still meaningful as they officially avoided to century mark in the loss column.

Whew.

RIP: Road to 100.

Winning Players: Chris Nelson & Charlie Blackmon

The Rockies had 13 hits in 13 innings. Seven of those belonged to Chris Nelson & Charlie Blackmon.

I think Nelson deserves top billing because he's the one who delivered to go-ahead RBI single in the 13th. That capped a night where Nelson was seeing the ball very well and had a number of good swings, including a couple drives that had home run distance but ended up just foul. Either of those staying fair would have changed the game a lot sooner.

Then again, it was Blackmon who had four hits, including the single that made it 5-3. That would actually ended up being the winning run, so you could make an argument for either.

It's kinda like the Miguel Cabrera-Mike Trout debate for the AL MVP, only not even close.

Turning Point: Josh Rutledge had a really rough four-strikeout game, but he's also a big reason the Rockies stayed alive. His two-out RBI double (scoring Blackmon) in the 8th tied the game. Tyler Colvin followed with his own RBI double, so things looked pretty good at that moment. Of course that was only temporary.

Drew Pomeranz's Line: 5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K, 2 HR, 80 pitches (51 strikes)

All things considered during this mostly uninspiring season for Drew Pomeranz, this was a positive note to go out on. Sure, he allowed a couple homers (both solo) and threw in a couple walks, but he stayed on track and never allowed any particular inning to escalate or become a potential disaster. That may not sound like much of achievement to my newer readers, but if you've been reading these recaps all season and looking at the pitching lines, you know how difficult that has been for Pomeranz and this entire staff.

It's a nice ending, but it's really only the beginning as Pomeranz enters this important offseason. Because of this season's results and stunted development, next year almost has to be two steps forward just to get where the Rockies wanted and needed Pomeranz by the end of this season, and maybe three steps forward to reach his potential. I'll settle for one step, as long as it's not another one sideways or backwards.

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Rock Solid Recrap: The Rockies Scored A Run!

Dodgers 7, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

What Went Right: The Rockies scored a run in the 4th inning, which snapped a 26-inning scoreless streak! Thanks, Andrew Brown!

Watch Andrew Brown's home run 

What Went Wrong: Well, as you can imagine, only scoring one run in an entire series is a recipe for being swept. So yeah, the Rockies were swept. They were pretty much unwatchable games the whole weekend. And the road to 100 continues with three games left to go. Buckle up.

Turning Point: The Rockies scored their run to take a 1-0 lead. Then the Dodgers scored four runs in the bottom half to take command of the game. Those four runs came on two-run homers from Matt Kemp and the legendary Luis Cruz.

Jorge De La Rosa's Line: 4 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 2 HR, 67 pitches (46 strikes)

Four innings and done. Four innings and done. Four innings and done. These pitching lines ALL look the same, though it's always good to see De La Rosa avoiding the walks. That's a small positive that does stand out here. As does his good health to end the year.

Bullpen's Line: 4 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 5 K

Rob Scahill was touched up for a run on three hits in the 5th. That's the first run he's allowed this season. Alex White then continued to struggle in the relief role by allowing two runs on three hits and two walks. The only clean reliever was Carlos Torres, who struck out two in the 8th.

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Rock Solid Record-Breaking Recrap

Dodgers 3, Rockies 0 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: It's official, the 2012 Colorado Rockies are the worst we've seen in their two decade long existence, surpassing the 95-loss team from their inaugural season in 1993.

(Please, hold your applause. There are still four (road) games remaining on the schedule and this record in futility could still grow all the way into the triple digits.)

So it's not really about what went wrong tonight. It's about what has been going wrong for essentially three years, leading us to this dreadful season that will mercifully end in four days. 

Turning Point: Matt Kemp cracked a really long two-run homer in the 4th. He then added a completely unnecessary solo homer in the 8th, because the Rockies had already resigned to their fate and checked out after the first one. Typical road Rockies. Typical September Rockies under Jim Tracy. You know all the cliches and hashtags.

Tyler Chatwood's Line: 4 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 74 pitches (46 strikes)

Nothing to see here. Standard Rockies four-inning outing that was neither excellent nor disastrous. It was just kind of there, which is a fitting ending to Chatwood's season.

That said, I still have a decent feeling about Chatwood long term, but odds are he'll never ever sniff his potential with the Rockies.

Bullpen's Line: 4 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR

Jim Tracy was in heaven tonight utilizing six different relievers to navigate the final four innings. Of course three of those relievers (Rex Brothers, Josh Roenicke and Matt Reynolds) faced a grand total of four hitters, retiring only one of them. But by golly, our manager was out there managing and pushing buttons and making all kinds of things happen! Shake his hand and give him another lifetime deal.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Ailing Clayton Kershaw Overpowers Rockies

Dodgers 8, Rockies 0 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: On a night that featured a no-hitter and a one-hitter, I suppose things could have been worse for the Rockies. But it still wasn't pretty as a far less than 100% Clayton Kershaw (bad hip) dominated them for eight shutout innings, striking out 10 along the way. In fact, the Rockies would only scratch out four singles and a Wilin Rosario double, and never saw a runner reach third base.

Like I said... not pretty.

Turning Point: They're on the road and they aren't playing the Cubs anymore. This game was over before it started.

Jeff Francis' Line: 4 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 66 pitches (38 strikes)

And then Jeff Francis made sure it never got in doubt by allowing a four-spot in the 2nd. Shane Victorino's three-run homer was the big blow there. Blah outing.

Bullpen's Line: 4 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 4 K

All of the damage here came against Will Harris in the 8th inning. He allowed a two-run homer to Bobby Abreu, which is a really tough thing to do these days. Guillermo Moscoso (2 IP) and Josh Roenicke (1 IP) were both excellent, though, which kept this from being extremely embarrassing.

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