NICASIO: from Greek, Spanish for "Victory". How sweet.
A breath of fresh air, Juan Nicasio made his Major League debut tonight against the St. Louis Cardinals. He surrendered 6 hits and one run (unearned), walking two and striking out two. He pitched effectively, keeping the Cardinal hitters off-balance with 97-MPH fastballs and decent command of his off-speed offerings. He had the luxury of pitching with a lead, a really big lead, as the slumbering lumber for the Colorado Rockies awoke to build a 12-0 lead after only four innings. Nicasio's big-league career began with a base hit by lead-off hitter SS Ryan Theriot on the game's first pitch. LF Jon Jay followed with a sharp grounder up the middle, as Nicasio managed to just get a finger of his glove on the ball, slowing it down enough for Rockies' SS Troy Tulowitzki to grab, step on second and fire to first baseman Todd Helton for the Rockies' 52nd double play of the season. The first inning continued, as Nicasio walked 1B Albert Pujols on four pitches, RF Lance Berkman continued his torrid hitting by singling to right. Last night's main Rockie tormentor, CF Colby Rasmus, flied out meekly to left field to end the inning, sigh of relief.
It did not take long for the Rockies to provide rookie Nicasio with a lead to work with. 2B Eric Young, Jr. bounced a high-hopper over the outstretched reach of P Jaime (hi-mee) Garcia and into the chest of Theriot just behind the mound. Theriot was charged with an error, and EY proceeded to steal second, the first successful stolen base for the Rockies since, well since Moby Dick was a fucking minnow. CF Dexter Fowler walked, LF Carlos Gonzalez singled, plating Young and sending Fowler to third. Gonzalez took second on the throw from the outfield. Tulo dribbled a slow roller to third that Dexter scored on, and forced CarGo to remain at second. Remarkable, as my daughter Alison pointed out, that a Rockies runner actually did not get thrown out at home on the contact play. The contact play is so named when the runner on third, with less than two outs and a force play not in effect, is directed to break for the plate if the batter makes contact. Frustrating as this play has been in the recent weeks, Dexter scored easily, as he got a great read on the slow tapper, and Tulowitzki barely beat the throw to first from 3B Daniel Descalso. 1B Todd Helton then muscled a single to shallow right that loaded the bases, with still nobody out. Now, this is where the Rockies of the last three weeks would have meekly found a way to waste a golden opportunity to widen a lead with a strikeout and a double play. Well, 3B Ty Wigginton struck out, and I said out loud, "uh oh, here we go." Well, take this Saki: RF Ryan Spilborghs gutted out a 9-pitch at-bat and drew a walk from the beleagered Jaime (hi you) Garcia. That drove in CarGo with the third run of the opening frame, still only one out. C Chris Iannetta stroked a single to center, chasing home Tulowitzki and a speedy (?) Todd Helton. Rookie Johnny Victory then did the smart thing, don't fuck up the rally by doing something stupid, like ground into a double play. Cheers to manager Jim Tracy! He signalled third base coach Rich Dauer to signal Nicasio to weakly attempt to bunt three times, and return to the dugout to rest up. Well Done! Two outs, and up comes EY-JR for the second time in the inning. Young raked a single through the hole at short, driving in Spilly with the sixth run of the game. Another rarity: the two-out RBI! No matter that Fowler ended the home-half of the first by grounding out, the Rockies were off and running. 5 singles, 2 walks, an error, six runs. Plenty enough for the Rockies to skate through the game, especially as Nicasio allowed only one harmless tally by the Cards through 7 innings.
The Rockies scored a single run in the second, then blew the game wide open in the fourth. They score 5 more, and were a single shy of the team cycle, as Carlos Gonzalez doubled, Ryan Spilborghs tripled and Chris Iannetta crushed the first of his two dingers on the night. 12-0 after the fourth, enough even for the Rockies bullpen to cruise. Righty Greg Reynolds took over in the eighth, and had a forgettable outing. He surrendered a lead-off walk and three hits that led to three runs for the Cardinals. Iannetta pounded his second homer of the contest in the bottom of the eighth to drive in Ty Wigginton ahead of him. 6 RBIs for Iannetta, a career high for one game. Finally, a 15-4 lead that Huston Street could protect. He pitched the ninth, giving up two hits, as the rain began to fall. I had absolutely, positively, all the faith in the world that Street would not blow this lead (Matt Reynolds was warming up in the 'pen, so Tracy did have a security blanket, just in case. Just sayin')
Great way to begin a career Juan. One start, seven quality innings, zero ERA, one and oh record. Alison and my sister Meri and my Mom (Mabel, G-Ma to you all) are very, very happy. They have gotten to know Nicasio over the last several spring trainings, and by all accounts, a very nice young man. Is he single, Alison?
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