Another Sunday Bloody Sunday as Rockies are shut out
The Colorado Rockies dropped their 14th straight Sunday game and looked listless doing so, losing 7-0 to the Arizona Diamondbacks and falling a season-high 11 games behind.
The Diamondbacks scored all their runs in four straight innings, the first three against Ubaldo Jimenez, who had won his past three starts and gave up five runs, the first three with two out. He began the third with two strikeouts but then gave up singles to Willie Bloomquist and Xavier Nady and Justin Upton’s two-run double.
With two out and a runner on first in the fourth, Jimenez walked No. 8 hitter Brandon Allen and gave up a run-scoring single to Micah Owings, a very good hitting pitcher. Nady led off the fifth with a single and scored when Upton, who went 4-for-4 with a walk, two doubles, a triple, three RBI and two runs scored, tripled off fence in right field.
Jimenez then hit Chris Young with his first pitch. After Jimenez struck out Miguel Montero, he got Sean Burroughs to hit a grounder to second baseman Jonathan Herrera. He hesitated and took a few steps before throwing home and Upton was able to slide in ahead of Herrera’s wide throw.
Matt Belisle gave up two runs in the sixth. With one out, he hit Nady with a pitch, and Upton doubled. Young’s single scored both runners.
The Rockies were held to five hits by Owings, who pitched five innings, and Zach Duke, who earned his first save in the big leagues. The Rockies had a chance to do some early damage but failed. Herrera singled with one out in the first, and Todd Helton walked, but Troy Tulowitzki grounded into a double play.
Two walks enabled the Rockies to put runners on first and second with one out in the third, but Herrera flied to right and Helton grounded to second. After Ty Wigginton doubled with two out in the fourth for the Rockies only extra-base hit, Ryan Spilborghs grounded to shortstop.
Other highlights:
_ The Rockies, who last won on Sunday April 17 when they beat the Cubs 9-5 at Coors Field. In their 14 consecutive losses, the Rockies have been outscored 88-38. They twice scored eight runs, meaning they have scored 22 runs in the other 12 losses. They have been shutout twice and lost three games by one run and three by two runs on Sunday.
_ The Rockies have been shut out five times, the others coming April 29 against Pittsburgh, May 8 at San Francisco, June 7 at San Diego and July 10 at Washington.
_ The Rockies are 3-10 in rubber games, including 1-5 on the road. They are 10-21 in the final game of a series and started the season 5-0.
_ Closer Huston Street pitched the eighth to get work, having not been in a game since Wednesday against the Braves.
_ Upton went 9-for-12 in the series with four doubles, a triple, a grand slam, nine RBI and four runs scored.
Didn’t see the game (I golf on Sundays with buddies) so don’t really know enough to comment but from reading the line-up thread this was not a good day, regardless of the score. We were talking on the course and we (8 of us, including season ticket holders) agree this season is over and someone fiery and new like a Sandberg is needed. There is no accountability on this team. Changes to roster and leadership needs to happen (read manager/coaches).
And maybe the GM also needs to go. Because not only are the Rockies not a good team, but I don’t think that the minor league system is that great either. The holes that we have on the Rockies are not going to be quickly fixed by calling up minor leaguers.
The only thing that is going to solve this team is $$$$$$.
Monforts need to spend some to add players. GOOD PLAYERS.
You can’t get better if you don’t want to add to the roster. The Rockies solution to everything since a World Series appearance has been a misguided belief in “addition by subtraction”:
maybe Jayson Nix will be better than Kaz Matsui or Jamie Carroll
maybe Ian Stewart will be better than Garrett Atkins
maybe Seth Smith will be better than Brad Hawpe
maybe Chris Iannetta will be better than Yorvit Torrealba (or Miguel Olivo)
maybe Manny Corpas and Franklin Morales will be better than Brian Fuentes
maybe Esmil Rogers or Greg Reynolds will be better than Jason Marquis and Jeff Francis
Doesn’t this team get tired of replacing veteran players with rookies? Are we going to have a never ending revolving door of B and C grade rookies for the next several years?
I share both Prog’s frustration and his dismal outlook. After a great start that seemed like it took place in another decade, the team has resembled a lost tribe, roving from town to town losing ballgame after ballgame whether at home or on the road. The picture looks bleak, worse if you look at what appears to be a paucity of talent at the higher levels of the minors, mostly due to lackluster drafts. I’m looking forward to trades, but only if they bring in some relief for the same old same old predictable two-out whiffs with RISP and poor outings by starting pitchers. I can forgive U’s bad day today because he has largely been fine of late, but the others? After an inning or two this afternoon’s game was completely unwatchable.
They’re pathetic. .500 would be a miracle.
You know what they say, ” you quit once, it gets easier & easier”. After the last 2 weeks last year I’m very afraid of the next 2+ months with this current team.
Sorry Prog. Right now it’s starting to look like the best thing that happened to Morales was getting out of Denver.
That being said, I absolutely do agree with your point about Brian Fuentes.
Today? I guess I would use my best Charles Barkley impersonation and just say “TERRIBLE”
“Ubaldo Jimenez may have pitched his last game as a Rockie. Rumors aplenty.”
SOURCE: ESPN 9:55 p.m.
We may not be totally burnt, but can somebody please use the pop-up mechanism on the toaster?
2 hits off Micah Owings? A combined shutout by Owings and Zach Duke? Just pathetic.
Prog, your point is well taken. But remember that the decision to replace those veteran players when they got expensive was perfectly defensible. Stewart has been a big disappointment, but he’s been close to a minimum salary disappointment. Atkins could’ve stayed and, if he had, would be collecting something like 7 million bucks this year to play golf — he’s out of baseball entirely. And Seth Smith is better than Brad Hawpe. That’s not because Smith is great; it’s because Hawpe is awful. And Iannetta is better than Torrealba and Olivo based on the same reasoning. So the problem wasn’t in letting those guys go. It was in the farm system’s inability to produce even one single better than league average for his position player since Iannetta took over in 2008. (Yes, Iannetta is clearly better than average.) Smith? At best average for a corner outfielder. Fowler? At best average for a centerfielder. Stewart? Below average for a third baseman. Nix/Herrera/whoever else they’ve thrown out there at 2B — no need to comment on that mess. Pitching? It only gets worse. Reynolds? Bust. Friedrich? Right now looks like a marginal prosepct. Weathers? Bust. Rogers? Appears to have hit a wall. Chacin is the only clear success story. The jury’s still out on Nicasio, Matt Reynolds, and Brothers.
So the problem isn’t in dumping nonproductive yet expensive veterans. That’s smart (although sometimes the decisions came too late). The problem is in not developing the talent to fill in those spots. Ask the Broncos — after a few seasons of bad drafts you’re gonna have some problems …
Couldn’t agree more Agbayani.
When in doubt, the cheapest salary to replace is the manager – it’s worth a shot. The talk of trading Ubaldo is making me sick, absolutely the dumbest thing this franchise could do.
Gentelmen please-Prog I feel ur pain but you are getting NUTS!The Monforts were praised to the heavens on this site before spring training for spending ridiculous amounts of money to take us to the promised land!Now we all are exhibiting buyers remorse.Tulo,and Cargo will make or break this team for the next seven years.We control the “CHIEF” on the cheap for three more years and there is no one out there with that much talent at that bargin price!They all must get better next year and they should[I hope].The real story for the rest of the season is how they handel the reality of this years failure.We,as posters,are doing a really lousy job of adjusting to the facts so far.If the team quits like last year,we are all screwed for years to come.If they try,learn,grow,and vow to improve then there may still be joy in “cowtown”[mudville]down the road.
Agbayani, I agree on many of those decisions it was a valid decision on the Rockies part to let Hawpe or Atkins go, but my problem was that instead of spending a little money to improve the position on all of those cases they relied upon rookies to or 1 year veterans to fill the gaps. Contending teams don’t do that unless the prospect is Freddie Freeman or Dominic Brown or another stud.
Like I have said several time before, this season was lost in the offseason.
-Should have got the deal done with Mike Young.
-Should have signed either Berkman or Willingham.
Instead they took a chance with Jose Lopez and Wiggs. Wiggs was an ok signing but should not be an every day starter and wouldn’t be on a good team. I have never been more ready for football.
I’ve always liked Berkman, but let’s be real. He looked done last year – couldn’t play – he is back in a big way, but we must look at the February Berkman, not the Berkman this sprng.
favre good luck with that if you are a broncos fan… i just cant really think how are the rockies will rebuild(if that was the plan), we do not have any player besides U that will really bring quality prospects in return… the rockies are looking more like the lastros than the phillies
It’s starting to seem like the Rockies are the team you leave to revitalize and re-stert your career, not the team you go to re-start and revitalize your career. I say give serious thought to dumping DOD and Tracy. This team is totally gutless.