No rest for the worst.
On paper, before the game, this looked to be a pretty exciting lineup. With suggestions from RWO faithful possibly ringing in the mind of Coach Tracy, the Rockies took to the field with Josh Rutledge playing second, Wilin Rosario at first and Jordan Pacheco behind the dish. Rutledge more than likely will become the constant 2nd baseman when Tulo returns, so getting him some time there makes sense. Pacheco behind the dish also makes sense with the team down to one catcher, so seeing if Jordan has the skills needed to step up is again a wise move.
And then you have baby bull at first.
Rosario is like that kid in class that can do no right. The teacher is always pointing out the fact that he is talking, passing notes and pulling on girl’s hair. She sends him to detention, moves him around and still he has issues. In a case of putting him in the corner, but still allowing him to listen to the lesson, Tracy had Wilin covering Helton’s home away from home.
Let’s just say first might not be his position either. He seems best suited to hitting DH, better than Giambi that’s for sure.
It’s true, he is young and this is just his first season, but the promise of an amazing bat doesn’t preclude the errors that allow runs to be scored.
The Rox meltdown inning was the fourth. De La Rosa pitched pretty well for coming off of Tommy Johns. He even had an RBI single in the top of the fourth which tied it up 2-2. He was only responsible for one of the two runs thanks to an error by none other than Wilin, who had a hard time catching a pop-up right over first base.
The bottom of the inning summed up the season perfectly: errors, bad pitching and just plain bad luck. Hector Sanchez singled and Xavier Nady followed it up with another single. Then the DLR got Arias out on a line drive and Zito out on a sacrifice bunt. He was one out away from getting out of the inning with his single earned run and his RBI. As fate would have it the last out didn’t come until a six spot was put up. The first run came on a wild pitch. Then Pagan walked and Scutaro came up. This time the out was lost in the dirt as Nelson threw a one-hopper to Rosario across the diamond to get Scutaro. The throw beat the runner, but the ball was never caught, in fact it was booted, and Scutaro went to second with Nady scoring. Now, it was a pretty tough throw, but not any worse than one we’ve seen Helton suck up in the past. The blame landed on Nelson since the throw did bounce.
Exit De La Rosa, enter Escalona.
What happened next was painful, but pretty much par for the course. Kung Fu Sandoval crushed a three run shot and was followed up by a Buster Posey home run and six runs later the team finally left the field after Pence struck out.
De La Rosa looked pretty good on the mound, but his line is more of a reflection of passed balls and Escalona giving up the three run shot, two charged to De La Rosa. He left after 3 2/3 with seven hits, six runs (five earned) and one walk, strikeout and home run to his name. His pitch count was 70, but he didn’t look labored. Just frustrated.
The defense had some tough plays. I have to do a better job. I felt normal out there. There wasn’t too much adrenaline. I just didn’t make enough good pitches.
Jorge De La Rosa
More bad luck hit the team as CarGo left after hitting into a double play in the first. He said that he will most likely miss a few games with the tight hamstring that plagued him at the beginning of the week.
OTHER NOTES:
- The Rockies haven’t been swept in a four game series in San Francisco since 2003
- Tulo will have an “intense” workout at Coors on Friday and might join the team during their homestand
- The Rockies have 13 chances to win five games or else face the 100 loss pied piper
Way to roll over and play dead against the Giants Rox.
Fall Training (noun): (1) an early version of baseball’s Spring Training, beginning in early September, in which a team plays games that only count for the other team. Perfected by the Colorado Rockies in 2010, with exhibition game characteristics becoming more pronounced in each subsequent season.
With that in mind, today’s Fall Training game was quite enjoyable, as we saw Wilin Rosario and Jordan Pacheco swap gloves in the manner of some legendary encore in which Ringo picked up a guitar and Paul sat behind the drum kit. Jorge De La Rosa got in some work as the Rockies stretched him out to 70 pitches to build up strength while he awaits final approval of his upcoming trade to the Dodgers. Matt McBride got to swing the bat; maybe his parents came out to San Francisco or something. Nice gesture. Josh Rutledge got in some work at second base to prepare for the thrilling final game return of Troy Tulowitzki, who continues to work hard to be ready for the highlight of every year, working out in Vegas with a 40 year old former muscleman in a golden thong. Some locker room hijinks followed the game; clubhouse leader Michael Cuddyer had the memory card pulled out of his camera and flushed down the toilet because what happened in San Francisco really should stay in San Francisco. Alex White knocked down a few as he tried to get over his demotion to the bullpen, not understanding why he isn’t getting more chances since his 5.15 ERA is, after all, better than Tyler Chatwood’s. Thankfully, CarGo grabbed Alex’s car keys and the boys took on the hills of San Francisco, Steve McQueen style, in CarGo’s Ferrari.
It was a great time. Fall Training is so … relaxing …
One of your best of all time Ag!
love it! i hear The Onion is looking for a sports beat reporter…
It’s very unfortunate how Seth Smith has ruined the clubhouse culture of the Oakland A’s.
Yeah, the culture of wanting to play every day just ruined the Rockies. Unlike the culture of asking not to play like Giambi.
Yeah, where would we be without veteran leaders who’ve been there before in September? Thank goodness for Cuddyer and Giambi.
Seth Smith this year (in a pitcher’s park): .249/.347/.440, 14 HR
Cuddyer (in an extreme hitter’s park): .260/.317/.489, 16 HR
It all adds up to 1.9 WAR for Seth, 1.1 WAR for Cuddyer. At 1/5 the price …