Recap: Rockies 5, Diamondbacks 0
Turning point: In the fifth inning, Dexter Fowler dropped a little double down the left field line to score Chris Iannetta and give the Rockies a 2-0 lead. But Gerardo Parra’s throw to second went wide and rolled all the way to right field foul territory. Fowler never really stopped running, just slowed long enough for slide into second before popping up and continuing on his way to score a third Rockies run.
At the plate: Ian Stewart scored the Rockies’ first run on a towering home run to right-center in the second inning . . . Troy Tulowitzki doubled in the Rockies’ fourth run in sixth inning. He stumbled coming into second base, apparently injuring his ankle, but stayed in the game . . . Chris Iannetta was 2-for-2, raising his batting average to .239, the highest it has been since mid-May . . . The Diamondbacks’ Justin Upton struck out twice with runners in scoring position.
On the mound: Jorge De La Rosa, perhaps pitching to keep his spot in the starting rotation, pitched one of the best games of his career. De La Rosa pitched eight shutout innings, allowing four hits, four walks and striking out six to improve his record to 5-7 . . . Joel Peralta got the first two outs in the ninth inning . . . Huston Street, who hadn’t pitched since Sunday in Oakland, recorded the final out in the ninth by striking out Chad Tracy . . . Arizona’s Max Scherzer pitched a solid game but was given no help by his defense, which committed three errors behind him, including Chris Young’s dropped fly ball in center field and a bizarre play on a delayed steal by Ian Stewart, on which no one covered second base and catcher Luke Carlin fired the ball into center.
Numbers game: 21 doubles for Todd Helton, his highest total before the All-Star break since he had 24 doubles in the first half in 2005. Helton is eight doubles shy of becoming the 49th player in major league history with 500 doubles.
He said it: “There was a point in time in the game tonight where he was throwing four pitches for strikes. If you’re an offensive player and have to deal with four pitches for strikes, that’s a monumental task.”
Manager Jim Tracy on De La Rosa
FWIW, the tally from the other question:
B: DLR remains in rotation, Morales up, but to pen
3 votes
C: Morales up, in rotation, DLR to pen
6 votes
D: Morales to rotation, DLR off the roster
1 vote
B or C, depending on how DLR does tonight
1 vote
None of the above (leave Morales at AAA, DLR in the rotation for now)
1 vote
I think you have to leave the rotation as it is until either Morales forces the issue, or there is an injury. I don’t think Morales is quite there yet. If he wins 4 or 5 games in a month with a sub 2 or 3 ERA, then they have to find room. DLR has his flaws, but I don’t think he pitched his way out of the rotation. He showed tonight that he can have success under pressure, and he can maintain composure with men on base.
8 shut out innings will definetally get you another start in the bigs
Great tabulation there Mike. I didnt double check it but I will take you for your numbers on it. I sure did not see that start coming. DLR is just a funny case study in how he is made up. I bet a Sports Psych would love to delve into his pysche and see what they could further help with (if he already isn’t seeing one).
Great job last night. Was crazy to see the little league inside the park home run due to the error from the D-backs. How far have they fallen from 2007-08? Wow!
Karl, the Rockies do have a mind coach and he has put in a lot of time with De La Rosa. To De La Rosa’s credit, he gives Ron Svetich his due for the help he has provided. There are times, however, when Svetich will back off. The idea is to allow De La Rosa room to realize that it’s his ability, not anyone else’s advice, that is what makes De La Rosa so dominate. I would be surprised if De La Rosa is dropped. More likely will be the decision to initially use Morales out of the pen with the idea he is on hand if a need arises for another starter. Morales has the type of stuff and has shown command to work effectively out of the pen in an eighth inning role.
My thought is in line with Tracy, although Morales can possibly provide a spot start as could Fogg. I am surprised we haven’t seen Fogg more as he has actually pitched pretty well out of the pen. If/when they bring back Corpas/Speier/Morales, I hope Fogg stays. I would drop Rincon, Embree (eat the money), and Flores, in that order.
Is anybody else wondering why they traded Baker and didn’t bring him back and do something with Q? There may be details that I don’t know about in terms of the injury, etc, but it would seem to me that Baker brings more to the club than Q.
On Q over Baker:
Pitching and defense win championships. Q can play an above-average third, short and second. Baker can’t. You always take the better defensive utility guy over the sporadic power and sub-par defensive guy. Plus, Tulo wants good defensive guys around him.
Robb–I also wonder if the Baker move meant that the Rockies expect to keep Atkins. It could be totally unrelated, too, as Q or one of the Springs players could serve as 3B and 1B backups.
I wonder to what extent O’Dowd shopped both Q and Baker, and ultimately it was Baker whom O’Dowd traded because the Cubs had interest in Baker, and were willing to give up a pitcher with some potential for him.
Great outing by DLR last night. Clearly, he earned another start.
With the one-year anniversary since the club’s largest comeback, it made me rewatch some of that footage.
It’s too bad the NL West isn’t like last year. After our win on July 4, which was the fourth win in a row for the Rockies, the team was still 15 games below .500, but only 7 games out of first place.
I think the defense was a major issue. Rockies have other bats. More than that, though, Baker, throughout hyis career, has had problems with injuries. Teams have very little patience for bench playrs who can’t stay healthy.
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