The Colorado Rockies are THE hottest team in baseball…this week…since Monday….
But what a fun week it has been! And wouldn’t ya know it, EYj was again in the thick of the win as only he could be.
But more on that in a minute.
The lineup looked a little different today than it has, with Cuddyer at first and EYj in center instead of right field, where he’s been the rest of the week. Johnny Herrera also took to the field in place of Josh Rutledge, who hasn’t started in three of the last four with a sore left quad, and Herrera committed hist first error of the season for his efforts.
The game looked like it would hinge on wild pitches and a bad call, with the first run of the Rockies coming from a wild pitch and missed call on LeMahieu. The Marlins answered the wild pitch in the top of the fourth by taking advantage of an Alex White wild pitch to score their own, running the score to 2-1 in favor of the fish.
The score would hold until the sixth, which included a crushing blow of a home run from Mike Giancarlo Stanton, which was matched and raised by a two run shot from Cuddyer, playing in his first game back from the DL. Cuddyer finished 1-4 with 2 RBI’s and 3 strikeouts.
Up until the road trip that started in LA last week, any game the Rockies were ahead on the scoreboard, the knowledgeable fan would just wait for the tides to turn, losing at any point was just expected and comebacks rarely seen. Such has been the luck of the draw. What changed was the fact that the team just started winning, and winning by playing hard and getting breaks, finally, go their way. As bad as losing is to the psyche, winning breeds winning and the spark in the whole mess this past week has been none other than EYj.
EYj had a part in the walk-off yesterday, scoring the winning run on a Tyler Colvin double. Today he helped put the game out of reach in the seventh when he laid down the perfect squeeze bunt to score Josh Rutledge from third, the final run of the game which was an insurance run thanks to Rutledge’s triple that scored LeMahieu.
Rutledge was really the hero of the game with his go ahead pinch hit RBI that was a very nice piece of hitting. He looked to be over-matched, not having played much this week, missing and then fouling off the first two pitches, both sliders. But he adjusted like a pro and knocked the ball just over Stanton’s head for the triple, breaking the 3-3 tie and coming in to make it 5-3 thanks to EYj.
Amen to that brother!! This is a fun group!!
Another excellent write-up, Mike, I mean Jaredean. Very cogent observation how up until the last wk no matter how good things looked, you knew we would figure out a way to blow-it, the essence of being a “bad” team.
Rutledge out w/ a sore quad + tripling? That sounds kind of frightening.
Nah but it is just another example of how the Rockies are so far out of it that they pull them out of the line up or even put players on the DL without any serious reasons – Giambi and Cuddyer as just a couple of examples.
or because they are out of it they can be more cautious with the players, keeping them from getting worse with play…Cuddy was hurt according to his wife, but not 15 day hurt – just 6-7 day hurt – so why not rest him a bit longer and give someone like McBride a chance to see what he can do.
Just think, if Tulo didn’t go on the DL but just toughed it out, we might not have the awesomeness of Rutledge…plus having Cuddy out and Giambi out we get EYj playing more…i don’t doubt that sometimes it is a “hangnail 15 day DL”, but i’d rather that players get right for sure instead of pushing it, plus love seeing what the replacements can do and hopefully they will surprise us!
I gotta say, DJ is the one big surprise lately – i’m still not sold on him completely, but he has come through clutch in the last few games…
Mike?
Your Stanton reference…
ah, got it! i typed that at 1:25 in the morning and was pretty beat…couldn’t remember what i’d said the next day (almost like a game hangover)
Off topic here, but a few weeks ago Barry Bonds mentioned he wants to get back into baseball in some capacity. In light of the Giants having two players test positive for PEDs so far this season (Mota & Cabrera), is it possible the Giants have already hired Bonds as their PED specialist without anyone knowing? Hmmm.
I’m starting to like DJ more cuz I noticed his swing is much better. I think the Rox worked with DJ the same way they did with Colvin. It worked for both guys. Only difference was Colvin fixed his swing last winter and Rox waited until July/August to fix his swing.
I just would like to see the Rox play .500 ball the rest of the way just to restore their confidence and give them motivation for 2013. I’m hoping that we would go younger next year wtih the exception of Cuddyer. Keep running EYJ and LeMahieu out there to give us trade baits in EYJ and Nelson (DJ showed he can play 2B). I don’t mind making Pacheco a permanent fixture at 3B; I don’t believe you must be a power guy to be at 3B – I just want a great RISP avg and plenty of RBIs – RBIs doesn’t have to be done via the HRs. The way the youngsters are playing, we are overstocked at the infield positions. Arenado, Rutledge, Tulo, LeMahieu, Pacheco, Cuddyer (1B), Herrera, Nelson. The OF (Fowler, CarGo, and Cuddyer/Colvin) is playing well that we can use EY and the minor leaguers (Blackmon, Wheeler, Parker) as trade baits too.
But before we go into the winter breaks, I want someone different to do the transactions to bring in the pitchers that we need. Golden Rule is DO NOT ACQUIRE FLY BALL PITCHERS!!!! Nor get anyone that throws less than 93 mph fastballs. Neither do we need a 30-plus year old pitcher.
good points RMH and the rest of you.
I have to believe that Nelson may be on the way out. I prefer his defense at 3B over Pacheco but overall, I think Nellie is expendable. Finally got to see a win at Coors last night and we were discussing bench players. When you see Sparkplug’s skills and presence when he is in the game, that really defines what you look for whether coming off the bench or starting. He comes in the game and really looks comfortable (yeah, his first error was pretty funny watching it hit the railing and sailing upward).
I guess we shouldn’t get too attached to all of our younger players…trade bait comes to mind when you are rebuilding…or retooling. DJ does look really comfortable now…he could factor in somewhere..
GO ROX
The Rockies have several redundant pieces. I don’t see both DJ and Rutledge being on the team next year, unless one of them can play 3rd. Colvin and Cuddyer also are functional twins, don’t see both staying around. Nelson and Jonny Herrera, one will stay but probably not both. Blackmon is knocking at the door, and with Dexter’s much greater trade value, moving him and putting Blackmon in CF would bring more in return. I’m not sold on Pacheco at 3rd, but no one knows yet if Arenado is better. I agree — hope someone is hired who can evaluate pitchers to get in a trade who can actually perform well here. How about looking at guys who have consistently pitched well here when visiting? And I’ve changed on EYJ, he’s the first real lead-off hitter we’ve had in years. Hope he stays and plays.
Totally do not understand the under 30 requirement.
Was it just me or did anyone else laugh out loud after the squeeze play when one of the Root crew (can’t remember which one) said, “if a manger does call for the squeeze, something Tracy likes to do, then it is usually on the first pitch.”
???????
Something Tracy likes to do??? Ok, don’t know the stats, but I’m pretty sure whatever the league average is for calling squeeze plays, he is the BOTTOM end of the scale – probably the outlier that gets tossed out because it is a statistic anomaly…
by the way Drew, George and Jeff – Going on contact IS NOT a squeeze…
Safety squeeze is when the runner waits for contact.
Suicide squeeze is when the runner goes with the pitch.
All of my comments have to do with bunting…sorry, i need to add that one word to mine to make it make more sense…a squeeze is a bunt play, so a safety/suicide all have to do with bunting – i re-read what i typed and didn’t put that…you are right about the difference of the two, but going on contact (something Tracy calls a lot) isn’t the same as a squeeze because it isn’t a bunt they are going on – they are going on a normal swing contact…
Oh yeah, I understand your context now. I agree, just because they call “go on contact” doesn’t equal the more gutsy decision to bunt/squeeze.
Oh that is so funny! Didn’t see much of the game (had company), but I did hear that comment + was like WTF???
Tonight we will hear about how the BIB’s grand strategy is finally brilliantly playing out.