With two anchors, two free agents and two others coming disappointing seasons, the Colorado Rockies have nearly as many possible answers as they do questions for the 2011 starting rotation.
The Colorado Rockies again struggled to scored and their season ended with a thud with a four-game sweep by the St. Louis Cardinals. They lost their eighth consecutive game and 13th of their final 14.
With three left-handed pitchers and two key members of their bench becoming free agents, the Colorado Rockies will have some tough decisions to make in shaping their 2011 team.
Esmil Rogers will start Sunday when the Colorado Rockies close the season at St. Louis, taking the turn of Jeff Francis, who hasn’t pitched well in three starts since returning from the disabled list Sept. 13.
Their eighth loss in the past nine games eliminated the Colorado Rockies from both the NL West and wild-card races as the Braves and Giants both won. Two-run homers by Todd Helton and Dexter Fowler in the seventh enabled the Rockies to overcome a 6-2 deficit, but Octavio Dotel gave up two runs in the eighth.
What started as a promising road trip for the Colorado Rockies ended in disaster as they were swept by the last-place Arizona Diamondbacks, who kept adding to a big lead and withstood two late rallies.
The Colorado Rockies’ 10-game winning streak ended. They fell behind 5-0, helping the Padres score three two-out runs in the fifth with two errors but got within a run in the bottom of that inning when Troy Tulowitzki hit a three-run homer before being held scoreless by six Padres relievers for 4 1/3 innings.
Francis will start Monday for the Colorado Rockies against the first-place Padres at Coors Field. Manager Jim Tracy said he didn’t know whether Cook, who suffered a fractured bone in his lower right leg, was done for the season.
Aaron Cook’s likely out for the rest of the regular season as he recovers from a non-displaced fracture his right fibula. So who should take his place?
The Colorado Rockies will bring their active roster to 33 players Tuesday when they add outfielder Jay Payton and right-handed reliever Edgmer Escalona.
Colorado Rockies left-hander makes successful rehab start at Triple-A Colorado Springs where reliever Matt Daley also works one inning.
The Colorado Rockies added reinforcements as the major-league rosters expanded Wednesday, recalling infielder Chris Nelson from Triple-A and activating right-handed reliever Taylor Buchholz from the disabled list.
