I purposely waited until this morning, a full night's sleep, after last night's disappointing loss, to write this. I was too pissed to review the game right away. I have personally watched thousands of baseball games, and Friday evening's crushing crawl-off loss to the Milwaukee Brewers was like a black and white snapshot of this Colorado Rockies team.
Here's the tragedy in a nutshell:
Rockies' subs have to produce, as,
1) Todd Helton missed his second straight game with a stiff back, Jason Giambi fills in with another home run in the 6th inning to give the Rockies a 4-2 lead.
2) Carlos Gonzalez tweaked his groin in Philadelphia Thursday night, not seriously, but enough to rest on Friday. Ty Wigginton filled in admirably in left, going 3 for 6 with two doubles and 2 runs scored.
3) Troy Tulowitzki was ejected by home plate umpire Rob Drake in the eight inning for arguing Drake's apparent visual impairments. This led to personnel changes that required Jason Giambi to leave the game. Wigginton to first, Ryan Spilborghs to left. and Alfredo Amezaga to shortstop. Tulo is in a funk at the plate, 4 for his last 24 with numerous runners left on base when runs are at a premium for the Rockies. Seven one-run losses in May (so far) could keep them from playing into October.
4) Jose Lopez's defense at third almost makes me wish Ian Stewart were here. I mean the Ian Stewart of 2009, good bat, excellent glove. Lopez fields and throws like he hits - really good, or just terrible.
5) The relief staff needs to get schooled in the fine art of pitching inside, way inside. Get those hitters uncomfortable at the plate. Why waste a pitch that's way outside, when a pitch up and in would unsettle a hitter's timing? The Rockies lead the Major Leagues in wild pitches, by a large margin, and the wild ones are always outside bouncers, away from the batter, who is not even tempted to swing, while the runners merrily scamper into scoring position, or home with a gift-wrapped run. I'd just as soon see the pitching staff lead the league in hit-batters. At least teams would know ahead of time that they shouldn't get too comfortable at the plate, especially in late innings when they seem to know exactly what's coming, fat, juicy and down the middle.
The real culprit is the relief staff. Jason Hammel should have earned the win, well he pitched and hit well enough. Witness: 6-2/3rds innings, 2 earned runs and he blasted a two-run homer himself. The third run he gave up was because of Lopez's two-errors-on-one-play gaffe that Stewart would have gobbled up easily. But, then, Rafael Betancourt gives up a bomb to Casey McGehee in the eighth inning, his only fucking inning he's supposed to pitch in every fucking game. Betancourt has surrendered 11 hits in his last 6 appearances in the eighth innings of games that the Rockies either led or were tied. Throw in (literally) 3 balks, three bombs and three blown saves, and we wonder what he's got to do to maybe be demoted to the eighth inning in, let's say, TULSA!! Matt Reynolds, Matt Lindstrom, Matt Belisle and Matt Daley do excellent work to keep the Rockies poised to pull out the first extra-inning win of the year. (Wow, there's gotta be a nickname for a bullpen with 4 Matts that doesn't include floor matts, or door mats, just sayin'). The Rocks take the lead in the 13th with back-to-back two-out extra-base hits from Amezaga and Seth Smith. Our intrepid closer, Huston Street enters the game and promptly surrenders a home run to Yuniesky Betancourt (no relation to Rafael) who dug in against Street's assortment of 84 mph offerings and deposited one he liked deep into the cheap seats in left-center. Rockies scrambled to get a break by dodging a double play courtesy of Y. Betancourt's bobble of Chris Iannetta's easy grounder with Wigginton on first. Jhoulis Chacin pinch hits, to sacrifice bunt, only he sacrifices Wigginton at third with a very poor bunt attempt. Dexter Fowler comes through with a single to left that scores Iannetta with the winning run, right? Not so fast, Felipe Paulino, the literal last man in the bullpen, retires JJ Hardy, gives up a 4-pitch walk to Ryan Braun, and grooves a first-pitch 97 mph pitch right into Prince Fielder's wheelhouse, and he deposits the walk-off bomb deep into the night. Paulino's 4th loss of the year, opposing batters are hitting .383 against him.
Three Blown Saves and a Loss, in the same game, for the Rockies bullpen. Pathetic.
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