The Sunday Line-up controversy can take a back seat today, as the Colorado Rockies picked up a much-needed road series win, on a Sunday of all things.
The only starters out of the game were Helton, Nelson and Fowler who were replaced by Giambi, Herrera and Colvin respectively. With Guthrie on the mound for his second Sunday start facing the ace of the Brewers, the team came out swinging their bats and putting the ball in play. Colvin singled in his first at bat, was moved over by a Tulo single and brought home by a Giambi single.
The pitching, with one exception, really came through for the Rockies with Guthrie going seven strong innings, only giving up one run on three hits with three walks and two strike-outs. The only hiccup was when Brothers came into the game in the 8th and proceeded to walk Rickie Weeks and giving up a single to Carlo Gomez. With two on and no outs, Jim Tracy made the perfect move by not allowing Brothers to get deeper into trouble. He pulled Brothers in favor of Belisle, and Matt was absolutely brilliant. He had to face the Brewers 3, 4 and 5 hitters and set them down in order by getting Braun to pop-up to first, Ramirez to line out to right and sitting down Corey Hart on strikes. Hit pitches were perfect and his confidence strong, stopping the rally before it even started.
The key moment on offense was in the top of the 8th as the teams were tied 1-1. With KRod on the mound, Tulo hit a single and Giambi was walked, bringing Cuddyer to the plate with one out. He wasn’t very successful at the plate so far, going 0-3 with two looking strike-outs, but all of that was forgotten as he delivered a double to the gap scoring Tulo and the less than speedy Giambi.
The Rockies got an insurance run in the 9th after Fowler and Scutaro, who had both been struggling at the plate, led off with singles. CarGo, another player looking for consistency, singled in Fowler to bring the score to 4-1.
Betancourt was perfect in the ninth and the team leaves Milwaukee having taken the past three series.
Very, very nice game – and well managed also. Quickly yanking Brothers was the right thing to do. And Belisle was brilliant.
Today’s lineup was better. As noted numerous times, Helton is a given. Colvin has become interchangeable with Fowler ( I’m being nice! ). The nice touch today was Herrera at 3rd instead of 2nd. That move doesnt impact batting order.
The other note I have is that Colvin is impressing at the moment. He tracks fly balls really well. Fowler should know he has a fight on his hands.
another nice series win…does anyone else get the feeling that players are starting to learn their roles and things are starting to click. We may not go undefeated thru the remaining games in April but I am starting to see the upward trend.
Another good report on De La Rosa!! Come on June!
Go Rox
Let’s not get too excited about DLR starting out like Cy Young when he gets back in June. Just look at what Adam Wainright is doing in STL on his comeback from TJ surgery. He’s 0-3 with a 9+ ERA.
To those who said not to trust forecasts, it was supposed to start precipitating around noon, then around 7PM. It’s 11:30PM on the east coast and still no rain or snow here about 60 miles south of Pittsburgh. Rox won, so I will sleep just a little bit better tonight!
As an east coaster from back in the day I say,be careful what you wish for Bob.
Also,as someone often critical here,I must say the two wins were very well played games.They were “team” games with many contributors,and many small things done right that helped win both games.That said,I am appauled that just weeks out of spring training the outfielders continue to miss the cutoff man,or throw through when they should be throwing to 2nd to keep the DP in order and runner out of scoring position!It happened about 5 times and no one was immune for the mistake.I learned that by the time I was twelve[always an outfielder],and it really hurts in a close game as well as taking a weapon away from the pitcher.
Excellent point, Gary. The throw home on the run scored by the Brewers yesterday was totally worthless as there was no real chance of getting the out, and it allowed the batter to advance into scoring position.
Agree, Gary, kinda sloppy fielding so far. Scutaro looked like his head wasn’t in the game–not tagging Braun on the stolen base and then cutting off Cuddy’s throw to second when it looked like they had a shot at doubling up Weeks. I watched the Brewer feed so don’t know how that played out, but Tulo jawed at him for a good fifteen seconds after the play.
Cuddyer is great for the Rockies! Yesterday was another great example of what Cargo and Tulo can learn from this guy. Cuddyer was having a frustrating day, but when he had a crucial at bat with the game on the line he delivered.
My friends in Minnesota were really upset when he left Minneasota and really miss Cuddie. Besides being a great player, he is a better person. What a great pickup by the Rockies.
I like Cuddyer a lot as well, especially the hustle down the line everytime, however for $31.5 million – he should have several really good qualities. Not saying that he doesn’t, but it was still a $5 million overpay by DanO and the Rockies.
So Bob in WV, are we gonna play ball tonight? Looks like a Colorado April in Western PA!
As of noon, we have none of the forecasted 4-6″ here in northern WV. (I am in Fairmont, about 10 miles south of Morgantown and about an hour-and-a-quarter drive from the stadium.) The forecast is now for “no significant accumulations”. Looks like it all slid east of us and east of Pittsburgh. It is raining here and in Pittsburgh, but that should taper off this afternoon, before resuming about game time…again, according to the less than reliable weather.com. Bottom line, Agbayani: who the heck knows.
I’m concerned about Moyer pitching in such cold weather. How will he react to pitching in the low to mid 30′s at his age?
I’m not to worried about him pitching in the cold. I think the cold weather will make it that much harder for the hitters to adjust to his great “clock management” and slow stuff.
BTW did anyone else notice that Fowler caught the final out with TWO hands. I really like it when the Rockies play the game the “right” way.
I think the Rockies need to give Eric Young Jr. a few starts at second base in the near future. If Scutaro continues to stumble or gets hurt you would then have someone that could step in bat leadoff and play second. I think EYJ enthuisiasm, speed, and offense would add to an already dangerous Rockies lineup. I want EYJ to get one more shot to prove he is an everyday second basemen. Just remember Rockies fans, everyone thought his dad’s defense was not good enough to play at MLB level. You would then have a great late inning defensive replacement in Herrera or Scutaro. Eric Young Jr. needs someone to have confidence in him and give him a shot.
Pooter, I might the only other EY2 supporter here, however I really like him in center field where the throws are usually much shorter and he can utilize his speed. Having said that if EY2 and Fowler can OBP at .350 or better that’s the best possible top of the lineup with EY2 #1 and Dex #2 – but they both can’t play CF at the same time.
I agree, I like him in centerfield as well. I hate it when he is stuck in left field, this really seems to expose his below average throwing arm. However, the only place I could see him being a regular starter for the Rockies is second base. With Fowler, Colvin, and Blackmon in the mix, I don’t see EYJ getting a shot in center field. If he could get a start here and there like Colvin in center field then I think he could show that he is much better than Scutaro.
Pooter, while I enjoy your comments about EY2 I think you are dead wrong (at least we can agree to debate on “our” site.
I have started supporting EY2 to a degree last few weeks but not in a full time, defensive move. He has shown he can get to fly balls within his range (not in a Fowler range) yet his arm is average at best on a good day. And Scutero overall has been good- yes his average is down but 1 strikeout after 15 games is just what you look for in a leadoff hitter. EY2 has more than that in one game. Everyone has moments or off days. We all do I am sure, but saying Marco hasn’t made a good contribution is wrong.
I will never be a supporter of giving playing time just for occasionally coming off the bench. Doesn’t mean you have to do that from a manager standpoint-just don’t support it. I think Eric is doing a very good job within his role on the team. Keep him where he makes the most “positive” impact and that is not defensively. Colvin right now is the #4 for good reason. I think even Charlie is going to have a tough time getting back up from AAA early.
Oh, and saying Cuddyer is $5m overpaid by DOD?????? He would have been in another city had the Rox tried to lowball…and then everyone would have have hammered Dan.
Go ROX
Cuddyer comment was from early note Pooter, not directed at our comments ; )
Go Rox
It’s early so now’s the time to experiment a little.
I guess they did pull the plug because of snow/rain. I know yesterday they already had plan B and said there would be a standard double header on Wed.
Love that Cuddy more and more! The guy is a ballplayer. Belisle….umm, wow! Nice to feel fairly calm when someone comes out of the pen. Keep EYJ out of the outfield, period! Nice series win and over .500, who could ask for more
)
About Scuturo: I did not see the Braun steal until the late news and didn’t see the home plate ump. Did the ump make a decisive strike call? Or did he make a call that looked like he was calling it a ball? Don’t know. From what I heard the ump had a terrible strike zone and everybody was ticked at him. Still Scuturo should have tagged him.
On the throw in the 8th inning, I did see that. I’m not sure if Tulo was “jawing” at him or not. It Tulo’s call to yell cut (or not). Did he do that? Did Scutoro hear him? Maybe he did yell cut and Scutoro did what he was told. It might not have been Suctoro’s fault. Hard to tell without knowing what happened.
Where did the idea that you hide the weakest outfield arm in center come from? I never heard that. For as long as I remember and for almost all teams the weakest arm went into left field. Only on the Rockies is the strongest arm in left field. I still think that’s wrong and it will come back and haunt the Rockies a few times this year.
As for EY Jr. I love him a base-runner and a bunter but if you play him in the field you are just looking for trouble. If you think our defense has been bad before. He will make it worse. Unless he’s gotten tremendously better since last year. I would think if he had, he would be playing more.
I remember back in the early 70′s (I think) the Oakland A’s had a guy (was it UL Washington?) who they used almost exclusively has a pinch-runner. Most teams can’t afford to do that now with 12 (and in some cases) 13 man pitching staffs. Back in the day (the older I get, the more I say that) teams usually had 10 man pitching staffs. In our slow pitch softball league we used to be able to send in a young guy to pinch run for some of the old geezers and then the old geezer would be able to go back in to play the field and hit. Don’t think the MLB is ready for that idea.
Scutaro couldn’t see the call – he was being blocked by someone (pitcher, catcher or batter – not sure) – but he still should have tagged…rookies mistake from a vet…
He has been one of the most dissapointing parts of the season so far for me because i had HUGE hopes for him…i know Red Sox fans LOVE the guy and his numbers last season were legit…i don’t want him to turn into a Barmes, where he can’t hit, but at least Barmes was gold glove 2nd baseman…
I can only hope he is just getting his memory back on being at 2nd after having played short for so long…
Bill, you’re thinking of Herb Washington, former world class sprinter hired by Charlie Finley’s A’s to be a pure pinch runner. He did ok, but proved to everyone that being fast isn’t enough to be a great base stealer. He’s most famous for getting picked off in the World Series. Nice story: when I googled him I discovered that he’s a very successful business owner of a bunch of McDonald’s.
I love having EY around in the same role, plus he can hit (and catch) a little. I just don’t think that long term you can keep both Herrera and EY without missing a key piece. Right now that’s a decent RH bat off the bench, which will haunt us soon enough…
On Colvin: the guy is just intriguing to me. I was (still am) not completely sold on him. But he seems like a polished ballplayer (he even looks comfortable at 1B) with a really nice “line drives to all fields” swing. I mentioned that keeping EY and Herrera (and Giambi and Colvin) leaves us stuck without a righthanded hitter with some pop. But here’s what’s unusual about Colvin: he’s always handled lefties as well as righties. Virtually no platoon split, even in the minors. So you can use him against lefties without worrying that he’s overmatched.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that he hits lefties as well as righties, but so far in his career he hasn’t hit either one very well for an extended period of time. But I can see the talent that made him a top 20 draft pick. He’ll get his chances if he continues to hit. Maybe he’ll start getting some of those Helton day off starts at 1B?