The Colorado Rockies will host the San Diego Padres for a three game series this weekend, starting tonight at Coors Field. Jeff Francis (0-1, 7.23) will start for the Rockies against the Padres’ Jason Marquis (3-7, 5.67), a standout for Colorado in the playoff season of 2009, when he went 15-13 with a 4.04 ERA and handled 216 innings.
San Diego arrives in Denver following a split with the Houston Astros in Texas, rallying for 6 in the ninth inning of a 7-3 victory on Thursday afternoon. The Padres trail Colorado by 2 1/2 games in the National League West, and could move into 4th place with a sweep of the Rockies this weekend.
Colorado is also coming off a series split, with the Washington Nationals, scoring in the bottom of the 11th to win 11-10 Thursday after giving-back an early 7-0 lead. The Rockies are trying to establish some stability after a week that featured pitching coach Bob Apodaca’s resignation as Colorado’s starting pitchers struggle through historically bad ERAs amid the institution of a controversial 4-man/75-pitch rotation concept.
The Rockies are hosting their annual Independence Day fireworks display after the games tonight and tomorrow, as they head to St. Louis after Sunday’s game for the actual mid-week holiday. Typically volatile late-afternoon summer weather is expected for game-time, with a chance for thundershowers (large raindrops, widely spaced), with winds from the west-southwest at just under 10 mph. Temperatures are expected to drop into the low 80s with conditions stabilizing as the game progresses. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 pm MDT, with TV on Root Sports and radio KOA am 850. The lineups:
| SAN DIEGO (28-49) RF Chris Denorfia 2B Logan Forsythe 3B Chase Headley LF Carlos Quentin 1B Yonder Alonso CF Cameron Maybin SS Everth Cabrera C John Baker P Jason Marquis |
COLORADO (29-46) CF Dexter Fowler SS Marco Scutaro LF Carlos Gonzalez 1B Michael Cuudyer RF Tyler Colvin 3B Jordan Pacheco 2B Chris Nelson C Wilin Rosario P Jeff Francis |
Jeem you are the MAN – great intro to the game and the weather!
Thanks! And I’m also trying to be certain the weather reports are WRONG.
Cuddyer is in a wretched slump (7-for-52)…why bat him cleanup?
Classic Aaron Cook tonight. CG shutout, 2 hits, 28 batters faced, 81 total pitches.
Jeem, I took the family to tonight’s fireworks game. Weather report: occasional large raindrops, widely spaced. Nice prediction.
Is this the 2013 lineup with the exception of Tulo playing SS instead of Scutaro? I hope so, because I like it.
Oh, yea, the fluffy white clouds float in off the mountains, gather in a mass of gray, then black. Lightning rips the sky. Wind whips the air, tearing flags asunder from their masts. Thunder claps. The four horses of the apocalypse assemble at the edge of the abyss. Then. Plop. Plop plop. Plop plop plop. Plop. Plop. OK: play ball!
And yes. That’s the lineup moving forward. Not that it can’t be further strengthened as the Arenados + Rutledges mature, but you’ve plugged the holes at 2nd + 3rd, gently slid your hall of famer to the bench, + generally assembled a group that rakes one through eight. I like it too. Now if we could just get into the second inning not trailing by four!
Hope you and the fam had a great night at the game. You saw a well played one for a change. And I’m sure the ‘works were spectacular as always. They DO know how to do that right!