Rock Solid Recap: Jhoulys Chacin Brilliant In Return From DL

Rockies 6, Mets 2 (boxscore)

Winning Player Jhoulys Chacin: 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 73 pitches (51 strikes)

As good a return outing as you can have asked for or expected. Troy Renck pretty much summed it on Twitter. Chacin threw with confidence and swagger, which is something we haven't seen from him since early in 2011. He was in the strike zone consistently. He was efficient. It's the type of outing where he may have pushed to go the distance under different circumstances, but we'll certainly take these results and hope there are more to go this weekend in Chicago. 

Welcome back, Jhoulys.

Congrats on your first win since last Aug. 28.

Bullpen's Line: 3 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K

The Mets scratched out one against Matt Reynolds in his 1/3 of an inning outing, but could get nothing going against Josh Roenicke, Matt Belisle and Rafael Betancourt.

Seriously... how nice is it to finally see the Rockies having opportunities to use Reynolds, Belisle, Roenicke and Betancourt in setup/closer situations?  It's almost like we have a little structure back in our lives.

Also, NO WALKS. From anybody!

Turning Point: The game obviously turned in the Rockies four-run sixth. Up until that point, Colorado was without a single base runner. D.J. LeMahieu and Jonathan Herrera changed that with back-to-back singles leading off the inning. Then came the big play... After Chacin put down his sacrifice bunt, starting pitcher Chris Young fielded it and promptly tossed it halfway down the right field line, which allowed LeMahieu to score and tie the game.

Watch The Mets Botch It All Up

Charlie Blackmon and Dexter Fowler would follow this with RBI singles. Ramon Hernandez then capped the rally with a sacrifice fly. So again, like Monday night, it came down to a few batters in one half inning where the Rockies executed everything correctly and benefitted greatly from the opponent's inability to do the same.

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Rock Solid Recap: Rockies Earn Win With Jumbled Lineup

Rockies 3, Mets 1 (boxscore)

Most of the names in the lineup were unrecognizable to people who don't follow the Rockies closely (and even some who do), yet they found a way to start their road trip on the right track with a win over the New York Mets. And to make it more satisfying, they won a game started by Cy Young candidate R.A. Dickey (no-decision for him).

Winning Player: Tyler Colvin

First base belongs to Colvin again with Michael Cuddyer back on the disabled list. He took advantage of the playing time on Monday night, breaking Colorado into the scoring column with a mammoth second deck bomb off Dickey in the 5th.

Watch Tyler Colvin's home run

But that was just his first big moment in the game. In the 8th, with the Mets threatening to retake the lead, Colvin make a fantastic diving stop of a Jordany Valdespin groundout that was ticketed for the right field corner. Colvin then gathered himself and flipped to Matt Belisle (who was a little late covering) JUST in time to get the out.

Big time play.

Without the out, the game would have been tied and New York still has the bases loaded. If the ball gets down the line, it likely clears the bases and we know the result that would lead to.

And then to cap his night, Colvin singled in the 9th to keep the inning alive. One batter later, Ramon Hernandez gave the Rockies an insurance run with a single of his own.

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Rock Solid Recap: Rockies Split With Marlins, Lose Half Their Roster

Rockies 3, Marlins 2 (boxscore)

Winning Player/Turning Point/Highlight of the Afternoon: Jordan Pacheco

All Jordan Pacheco does is provide good at-bats every time he steps to the plate which regularly result in hits. He was at it again on Sunday, producing 33% of the Rockies hit total with a 3-for-4 day. That included a go-ahead two-run home run in the 5th inning that surprisingly held up to be the difference in the game.

Watch Jordan Pacheco's two-run homer

The homer was only Pacheco's 2nd of the season, but we obviously already know that's not his game. Whether or not that bothers you is completely up to you. Personally, I understand the need for some pop from the third base position, but the Rockies really just need offense in any form they can get it. So I'm perfectly content with Pacheco for the time being.

Other Winning Player: Adam Ottavino: 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Good stuff again from Ottavino to protect the lead and ultimately get himself another win (5-1). I'd say he's going to be due for a nice raise this offseason... unless his arm detaches itself.

Drew Pomeranz's Line: 4 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 76 pitches (42 strikes)

One of the walks was intentional to Giancarlo Stanton, so it's nice to see the Rockies figure something out there. Otherwise it was just another basic four-inning start by a Rockies pitcher since they went to four men. Nothing special, but not too discouraging. He was just kinda there and then gone, with no reason to believe we're actually trying to develop the kid.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Tyler Chatwood's Rough Start Too Much To Overcome

Marlins 6, Rockies 5 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: Well, getting behind 6-0 in the first two innings is never a good recipe for success.

Also, they should probably consider pitching around Giancarlo Stanton when there's a base open (homered in his 6th straight at Coors Field - a three-run shot), or at the very least do something to back him off the plate. That won't happen, of course, because there's a real fear among Rockies pitchers about leaving one hanging middle in.

That might be a leftover nugget from the Bob Apodaca era, but I can't prove that to be true.

Tuning Point: Stanton's three-run homer capped a four-run 1st inning. That was a crusher. But so was the Jose Reyes two-out, two-run triple in the 2nd inning that made it 6-0. Despite their best efforts against Miami's bullpen, that's the hit Colorado couldn't overcome.

Tyler Chatwood's Line: 4 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 71 pitches (48 strikes)

Chatwood fooled no one in the first two innings. That's bound to happen at the big league level, especially when you're talking about a 22-year-old pitcher still finding his way. What I liked is that Chatwood continued throwing strikes despite the rough start and finished the outing strong with two scoreless innings. That's always good to see (and something I value greatly), but obviously we need to see a lot more improvement and more consistency from Chatwood going forward.

He still has plenty of time.

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Rock Solid Recrap: Can't Win'em All... Don't We Know It

Marlins 6, Rockies 5 (boxscore)

All good things (winning streaks included) must come to an end eventually. That end came for the Rockies on Friday night, which means they'll fall short of equaling their season best five-game winning streak from May.

What Went Wrong: The Rockies made a couple errors tonight that didn't cost them, but overall played a decent game again. They just couldn't get off the deck again in the final innings after the Marlins rallied twice in the middle innings to retake the lead.

Turning Point(s): Basically, it came down to three big swings of the bat for Miami.

1. The Jose Reyes three-run homer off Jeff Francis in the 5th.
2. Giancarlo Stanton's titanic game-tying homer off Josh Roenicke in the 6th.
3. John Buck's go-ahead RBI double later in the 6th. 

All three of those big hits came on the heels of the Rockies scoring a crooked number the inning before. 

Jeff Francis' Line: 5 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 71 pitches (42 strikes)

Francis did well to pitch around the 2nd inning errors and really settled in well with 1-2-3 3rd and 4th innings. He just couldn't navigate through the 5th before allowing the game-changing homer to Reyes. I'm sure that has nothing to do though with Francis being conditioned to throw 75-85 pitches now and as a result beginning to tire around 60-65 pitches instead of 95-100 pitches.

But I could be offbase there.

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