Recap: Rockies 3, A’s 1
Turning point: Huston Street gave up singles to the first two batters he faced after relieving starter Aaron Cook with no out and a runner on first in the ninth. But with runners on first and third and the Rockies ahead 3-1, Street struck out pinch hitter Nomar Garciaparra and Mark Ellis and ended the game and earned his 19th save by getting Adam Kennedy to fly to left. Street was making his third appearance in three days, having been forced to throw 17 pitches and close out Saturday’s 11-9 win after meltdowns by Alan Embree and Juan Rincon.
At the plate : Troy Tulowitzki scored two of the Rockies three runs. He led off the second with a single, took third on Ian Stewart’s single and scored when Chris Iannetta grounded into a force out. Tulowitzki led off the sixth with a walk and with one out, stole second and took third on catcher Landon Powell’s throwing error. Carlos Gonzalez brought Tulowitzki home with a two-out double. …Gonzalez’s walk in the second, moved Iannetta to second base, and he scored on Seth Smith’s double.
On the mound: Cook left after giving up a leadoff single in the ninth to Kurt Suzuki on his 110th pitch. It was the ninth hit allowed by Cook, who held the A’s 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. He gave up consecutive one-out singles in the second to Ryan Sweeney and Powell but struck out Ellis and got Kennedy to fly out. In the fifth, Cook gave up a leadoff double to Ellis, struck out Kennedy and then drew a throwing error on a pickoff attempt when the ball went through Ellis’ legs and past shortstop Tulowitzki. But Cook stranded Ellis at third by striking out Jack Cust and getting Matt Holliday to ground out to third baseman Ian Stewart. In the sixth, Cook allowed consecutive one-out singles to Suzuki and Orlando Cabrera but got Sweeney to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Numbers game 5 series sweeps for the Rockies, who also swept three games from the Pirates last weekend in Denver, three games from the Mariners June 12-14, three games at Milwaukee June 9-11 and four games at St. Louis June 5-8.
Very minor detail. The Rockies also swept Seattle this month.
HUGE series with the dodgers coming up. What an amazing month of June!
Correction noted, Townie. Thanks for catching the mistake.
I am sure Street and CarGo left the ballpark with an especially big smile today. Good series win but a big test starts Monday. Go Rox!
I was a little suprised that Tracy stuck with a starter again after cook had thrown over 100 pitches and pulled him anyway after the leadoff single. I understand him pulling cook after the single but why trott him back out there with a high pitch count? Do you think that is due to the fact cook had been pitching extremely well or so you think that’s due to maybe a little mistrust in the bullpen besides Street???
Hey Elliotlc,
I think it’s because, well, that’s the way Tracy manages baseball.
Let the players play.
He almost, almost went one step too far today with Cook.
I really don’t want Tracy to go all conservative on us. On the other hand, taking chances when chances don’t need to be taken can bite a team in the butt.
Tracy seems to be a real smart guy; savvy and a good fit with this team. I think both he — and Cook — will file what happened today away, and play it a little differently next time.
Rockies earned the win, and at this point in the season and the standings, that’s the important thing. On to Los Angeles.
Tony Benjamin,
Loveland
ps: If the series doesn’t grind on Matt Holliday, it should. I really like his style and ability. I’m not too high on his agent.
I have lost faith in myself…completely. Prior to this weekend I thought there was no chance that Matt would ever wear a Rockies uniform again.
After catching glimpses of the interplay with his old teammates, the state of his numbers, the state of the A’s, the economic pressures on most teams and our return to competitiveness – I am not completely sure we have seen the last of him.
What a great month it’s been. The series of events that transpired to get the Rockies to the point of contention – something that I, at the beginning of the season, vehemently believed they should be capable of. What’s even better about this, is that they are playing fundamentally sound, yet aggressive baseball. Hurdle was all about solid fundamentals, but Jim Tracy has a lot of the National League small-ball attitude about him. They will squeeze runs out of you. They will manufacture runs whenever it’s tight. They will power you into submission if they are behind. It’s a dangerous lineup.
But that’s not the best of it.
The starting staff has been nothing short of BRILLIANT. If you’d look at the numbers, you would think that this is a staff that should be coming out of the mid 2000s Braves (no true stud, but a well rounded and lower ERA staff, full of inning eaters.) Marquis has been a great acquisition, but I question his longevity in Denver. Regardless of where he ends up, this seems like his place of choice.
Under Tracy, more confidence has been shown in the starting staff, but I’m not sure we can start taking comfort in our middle relievers. Tracy will let the pitchers go for upwards of 130 pitches if they feel it’s right, and he’ll also let them get off the hill earlier than 100 pitches(De La Rosa) even if they are ahead. He is showing a lot of faith in them, and it’s paying off. They are throwing for more strikes than ever.
This is a lineup without Holliday, whom for years lead the team in slugging stats and overall offensive production.
This is a pitching staff without Jeff Francis. Francis has solid, strikeout quality stuff and he keeps the ball on the ground, making him an idea innings eater.
This is also a staff without setup man Taylor Bucholtz, who would have made a strong force in an anemic bullpen.
It’s a team that needed a little bit of humanity pushed into them; it was a team that was struggling for life. Now, it’s a team flourishing despite its prior shortcomings. This upcoming series with the Dodgers will be quite fun to watch. I hope that everyone in Rockies nation give this team a look.
This is a team that’s even better than the ‘07 Miracle squad.
Can we PLEASE put to bed the notion that Holliday will ever return to the Rockies? It’s never going to happen- period, end of story! That ship sailed when he was traded to Oakland. Quite frankly I’m not sure you’d want to invest that much of the team payroll on him when you already have Helton’s contract to contend with for a few more years. Besides, what’s wrong with the production the Rockies are getting in left from Smith/CarGo/Spilly? My guess is Holliday will eventually land in Anaheim at the beginning of next year. He’s dropped those hints already and he did move his family to that area last off-season. It’s a perfect fit for him with the Angels probably not signing Vlad in the off-season.
Jack – no correction was needed. You mention the sweep of the Mariners; that is Seattle.
Rockies need to take two of three from LA – BEAT LA! BEAT LA!
I would be very surprised if the Rockies, went after Holliday they have enough depth in the outfield already. The money that would be spent on Holliday is going to do much more for the team solidifying the bullpen. I like the way the team is shaping up and with Francis and Buckholz back next year, this team is only going to get better. The more I watch CarGo play, the more comfortable I am with him filling left for years to come.
I like the way Gonzalez plays the field, and his bat is waking up. I am VERY concerned about the middle relief, like everybody is, and agree with a post in a previous article that the starters and Street may get run into the ground (even though I also like Tracy’s willingness to let the starters go deep…..psychologically that’s a good thing, but I worry they will wear down).
All in all, though, this is a very good team! The one we thought we had when the season began!
I think Tracy is running into a side effect of winning baseball, and that is your closer is heavily used. I think he was taking a shot at giving Street the day off by letting Cook go deep, but no such luck.
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