On a day filled with bad news (Nicasio out for season, Nelson in hospital for irregular heart beat), the sky’s have begun to rain upon Coors before tonight’s first of three with Clint Hurdle’s Pittsburgh Pirates.
Colorado comes into this series having lost four-straight three-game home series. Following this series the Rockies will have an off day on Thursday, then travel to San Diego to begin a 6-game road trip at SD (7/20-22) and at ARI (7/23-25).
Jim Tracy has altered his usual lineup by moving Carlos Gonzalez to cleanup behind Pacheco, who will be batting third.
Left-handed pitcher Jeff Francis will make his eighth start of 2012 tonight for Colorado. Francis is 2-1 with a 2.77 ERA (26.0 ip, 8 er), 3 walks and 16 strikeouts in his last five starts, since 6/21.
The Pirates will start right-handed pitcher Jeff Karstens. Tonight will be just his seventh start of the season. He is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA (20.0 ip, 8 er) in three starts since returning from the DL on 6/25. This will be Karsten’s first career starting assignment against the Rockies, as each of his previous three appearances vs. COL came in relief.
This 3-game series vs. the Pirates will wrap up the season series between the two teams. Pittsburgh took the first series of 2012 2-games-1, 4/23-25. The Rockies and Pirates played a doubleheader on 4/25, with the Rockies winning game one, and the Pirates winning game two. The Rox are 83-79 all-time vs. PIT, however, Colorado has dropped each of the last two series these two teams have played at Coors Field, since 2010. The Rockies are 45-31 all-time vs. PIT in Denver.
DEXTER TIME
Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler had two hits yesterday for the second-straight game. In fact, yesterday was Fowler’s sixth multi-hit game in his last seven games total, since 7/5. Since 7/5, Fowler has hit safely in six of his seven games with a a batting average of .464 (13-for-28) with 1 double, 1 home run, 2 RBI and 3 runs scored. Fowler’s hot streak can be stretched back as far as 6/20 at PHI. Since that date he is batting .390 (32-for-82) with 4 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, 7 RBI, 12 runs and a 1.073 OPS (.451 OBP, .622 SLG). Fowler has reached base safely 41 times in the 22 games since 6/20, the 4th-highest total in the NL behind two Pirates (Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker) and former Rockie Matt Holliday.
• Fowler owns a .924 OPS this season, as he ranks 9th in the NL in both on-base percentage (.387) and slugging percentage (.536). Fowler’s .924 OPS is the 5th-highest OPS among MLB center fielders.
• Fowler also owns a .901 OPS since after the All-Star break in 2011. His .901 OPS since 7/14/11 (first day after 2011 All-Star break) is the 3rdhighest for a MLB center fielder.
ROCKIES LINEUP
Dex [CF]
Scutaro [2B]
Pacheco [3B]
CarGo [LF]
Cuddy [1B]
Colvin [RF]
Rosario [C]
Rutledge [SS]
Francis [LHP]
Tarp still on field, but they should have ball…stay tuned…
Looks like tarp off field…
Agreed jare. I was hoping he would smack him around. Interesting that the 75 pitch count cap was not suppose to get out. Internal Only. Also found it interesting when Mr. O’Dowd stated this was not an experiement or “trying something”. This is the Rockies game plan and it is here to stay. Weird.
Did you like how he defended it by saying “well if this were the 70′s going to a 5 man rotation would be in question”?
Yeah, i thought that was pretty much a cop-out justification – saying that there used to be only four-man rotations in the past…but, they also didn’t have anything like a pitch count in the past either – pitchers just went until they were done…you can’t take one piece without taking the other…selective justification…
I think if they do ditch the four man then they will also let DOD go, so as far as he is concerned it is a long term thing…
EY comin’ through again…go pooter!
So far one of the most fun games to watch in a long time…at least the last two innings…
Just tuned in and saw the replays of Pacheco making 2 good defensive grabs. Maybe I should diss more of the Rockies like I did Jordan two days ago, so they come back strong. If that would work, I’d be very glad to be wrong. I know he can hit, what do the rest of you think, is he really a good third baseman?
jaredean…can’t thank you enough(again) for this site. Will send more funds your way! good interaction, good articles(by most).
Curious on everyone’s thoughts…to what degree are we fans…those faithfull to a fault who think WS victories every year? Those who support regardless of record? Those who bail if the team falls out of contention? We all want the best..that is the good fan in all of us.
Go ROX!
Thanks my friend, I appreciate you thinking of me…there were some great donations when the site first launched, but they dried up (about the time the team started to stink – possibly a coincidence?
)
I was hoping to get a few bucks from the one ad i run on these pages, but they bring in a whopping 5 bucks a month…there goes my retirement fund!
OMG, I suddenly realized from above that I have yet to contribute financially to this site. Jaredean, please send me an e-mail and let me know the best way to submit funds to you. Won’t be a enough for you to throw a party, but I will help what I can.
No worries Bob, it is never too late
There is a link to donate on the top menu (http://www.roxwalkoff.com/donate/)…let me know if that works for you. I appreciate anything you can give – it goes to a good cause!
Wow, that was a fun game – the HR coming out of the rain delay wasn’t fun…but the walk-off is ALWAYS fun!!! Man, we had some amazing glove work tonight…
Fortunately our seats in Club Level are under the overhang of third deck and protected from the elements. Terrific game until Betancourt and Brothers imploded in the ninth.
We left about half an hour into the delay, but got home in time to see Fowler’s game-winning sac fly on tv. Terrific defense by Fowler and Pacheco, while Roenicke was sensational in backing up Francis’ five effective innings. Rosario still has trouble on the receiving end, but two hits and a bullet throw to foil a steal attempt. Nice to see EYJ continue his hot hitting off the bench.
Hope Nelson has a complete and speedy recovery.
Big Dexter fan here, as I have always thought that he played centerfield defensively better than anyone else in baseball. However because he is so tall and lanky, his swing at the plate has always looked really awkward, and the batting slumps and hot streaks have always been there too. Maybe Dex will follow Cargo’s lead and sign that long term contract with or without his agent’s recommendation?
Is it normal for outfielders to take some time to find their groove in the MLB or does it just seem that way with Cargo, Dexter and Colvin (even Holliday took a couple years to get comfortable in the Show)?
Another random thought, who becomes the fourth starter when Guthrie is traded? Not a great group to pick from with Chatwood, Moscoso, Outman, White, Cabrera, etc. It just occurred to me that the Rockies will have basically lost 80% of their projected mid-season starting rotation with prolonged injuries to DLR, Chacin, Nicasio and Guthrie (yep a lot more than just the injury).
It would also seem that the Rockies will now classify their pitchers in three groups:
1. Starters (75 pitches and usually 5 innings)
2. Piggybacks (2-3 innings)
3. Late Inning Guys (1 inning or less)
Just guessing however I think DanO was planning this “4 man” rotation thing back in the off season when he was acquiring seemingly a dozen new starting pitchers (guys like Guthrie, Moscoso, Outman, Schmidt and even Pomeranz, White and Gardner.
Have admit that I thought this “4 man-75 pitch” thing was a terrible idea originally, but it actually starting to grow on me to the point where it might actually work (albeit with the right pitchers).
A huge THANK YOU to the three RWO’rs that donated last night/this morning!!! Donations are very appreciated and needed (and scarce since spring training
)!