When no major news is actually good news, you know you are either defusing a bomb or rooting for the Rockies.
Well, no major news isn’t entirely true.
There is the great news that the Rockies didn’t roll over and give Strasburg his seventh straight win. Plus the record-setting temperature of 100° was pretty major. Scutaro getting hit by a Strasburg fast ball to the nugget and walking away was pretty major, even though the walk was to the dugout as a precaution.
Oh, and the Rockies actually winning a game thanks to excellent pitching and handing Strasburg only his second loss of the season? Well, that is pretty major news after all.
Scutaro, post game, was said to be “fine”.
The 4-2 win, although not officially, should be pinned to Jeff Francis’ excellent pitching. He actually made it through the fifth inning, the key to “being on the hook”, in under 75 pitches. Unfortunately for Francis, the Rockies only had one run on the board, compared to the Nationals two, so he wasn’t in line for the win.
But Francis did show that he can hang with the best pitcher in baseball, Strasburg and his quiver of sick pitches, and that he still has some movement of his own. His final line (5 ip, 5 hits, 2 runs and 5 strikeouts) was extremely respectable for a Rockie starter. He dropped his ERA from 8.56 to 7.23 in the process.
The turning point for the game was in the bottom of the sixth. Dex pulled a Strasburg changeup down the right field line and let his long legs lead him to third.
Next up was Marco Scutaro, only one day removed from the base-running, rally killing play in Arlington. He was dropped by a 95 mph fastball that, thankfully, met with his helmet, but he was mighty shaken up and removed from the game.
In a very questionable move, Jim Tracy decided to put Chris Nelson in to pinch “run”. Nelson, who tweaked his ankle against the Rangers, showed he wasn’t up for the base-running task as he hobbled to second on a RBI single from CarGo. He was moved over on another single by Michael Cuddyer, and had he been out there without a bum leg, he might have made it to third on the CarGo hit or home on the Cuddy hit.
Thankfully it didn’t matter because Helton came through in the clutch and hit a sacrifice to center, scoring Nellie the Gimp.
Strasburg, obviously angry at himself, got out of the two on, one out jam by getting Wilin Rosario to strike out and Johnny Herrera to ground out.
But the damage was done, Strasburg didn’t come back for the seventh, and the Rockies bullpen again proved why they aren’t the red-headed stepchild of the pitching staff. Roenicke, Belisle and Betancourt combined for four scoreless and the Rox gave high-fives all around.
This quote from Strasburg after the game sounds like he is talking about ANY team but the Rockies:
“It just seemed like they were hitting it right beyond our gloves,” Strasburg said. “They did a good job of battling up there, weren’t trying to get too big and take what was given to them.”
A throughly professional,”leadership”start from a guy I’ve always liked and glad to have back.Even if only a fifth starter for next year,I want him on the team,in the clubhouse,and mentoring the young lefties!
Got to agree with you on this. A home grown product, that wants to be here, that understands Coors, that can be had for reasonable $$$$$$$ versus someone like Jamie Moyer (whom I actually like quite a bit). Just seems like a no-brainer.
I have to say……..as dark and hopeless as this season has been to this point, there is some glimmer of hope for next season if we can get the correct leadership. Keep Francis, get Chacin back healthly, get De La Rosa back healthly……….2 or 3 of the young guys emerge in the 2nd half. Tulo and Cargo healthly at the same time. Work on the 1st base situation in the offseason. It’s not the stuff of World Series Champions, but the potential is there for a nice turn around. Of course……..key words are “correct leadership” and “healthy.”
Beats being down by four after two. Let’s see if Friedrich was watching.
Any season ticket holders available to cover the interactive conference call with Monfort and O’Dowd for the site?
How many times will Francis be pulled after pitching 5 good innings because he’s close to 75 pitches? He said all the right things last night but he was clearly ticked off. You think it’s hard to get veteran pitchers here before this 75 pitch limit, how many will want to come here and be rewarded with an “atta boy” and then try to get a contract and being told well you only won 5 games and you can’t throw more than 75 pitches before they take you out. We may win a few more battles this way (and I really doubt that) but we are going to lose the war.
If he’d have pitched the sixth, AND the team did what they did (without him giving up more than 1 run) he would have gotten the W…yes, i agree, we are making a location that is extremely unattractive to Free Agents even worse…
Apodoca is gone as pitching coach. He has been reassigned. DoD says that it was Apodoca’s idea.
Taken at face value, that means that neither O’Dowd nor Tracy is enough of a leader to have told Dac to take a hike.
It’s the right outcome, but still doesn’t warrant any hope they are capable of turning things around.
Is Mike Maddox still out there looking for a challenge?
The Colorado Rockies made a surprising roster decision Tuesday, promoting Double-A pitcher Edwar Cabrera to the major-league roster. Cabrera is likely to pich Wednesday in Alex White’s vacated spot.
Cabrera was recently selected to the minor-league all-star Futures Game, after helping Tulsa to a first-half division title.
The left-hander led all of minor-league baseball in strikeouts last year. He has enjoyed a strong season in Tulsa this year, relying on a sinker and the organization’s best changeup.
“I made it my goal to reach the big-league’s this year. I was surprised when they told me. But I have been pitching with all of my heart and all of mind to get here,” said Cabrera, who will wear No. 46 with the Rockies.
He’s 8-4 with 2.94 ERA and 82 strike outs, but he has allowed 15 home runs in 98 innings pitched.
Read more: Edwar Cabrera called up by Colorado Rockies from Double-A Tulsa – The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/rockies/ci_20943190/edwar-cabrera-called-up-by-colorado-rockies#ixzz1ywAHjHbT
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First off………I wanted Apodaca gone for a while now, but if you think about it, this is a screw job equal to what they did to Ubaldo before the trade.
Instead of being men and doing the right thing, even if difficult, they put them in compromising situations just to fuck with them.
For Ubaldo it was sticking him into the game knowing he would be traded and making him pitch.
For Apodaca, they institute this 4 man rotation as a good bye gift. Why couldn’t they time his leaving with the start of the 4 man experiment? Hmm?
Anway, hopefully this is the first of many moves the next 6 months+.