…and then it went away again.  We could clutch hit all of a sudden for two games, but the moment Aaron Cook stepped onto the mound, the bats stopped cracking. It’s just that simple, and yet it makes no sense whatsoever. On the positive side the Rocks have won their 5th series in a row, and gone 8 series without a loss; they’re playing above .500 for the first time since April 13th; and the bat came alive for a little bit. Maybe this is a harbinger of the stellar offense that’s about to become the norm. First though, we got to hit with base runners 90 feet away.Â
Game 1:
Rockies 12, Devil Rays 2Â
What is it about Rodrigo Lopez that makes our hitters want to hit? If he’s on hill, everyone contributes. He pitched 6 innings with 2 runs, which is good, but he left the game with only 81 pitches. We need him to last longer, and with fewer base runners. I suppose the ability to pitch well with runners on second or third base is a good thing, but if happens too often, it will burn you sooner or later (more on this phenomenon in my game three wrap up).  Two things I’m a little concern about with Lopez: In the 4th, Wigginton leading off, he hung a curve ball on the outside of the plate and Wigginton blupped it to left for a single, and four pitches later he hung the exact same pitch to Pena who sent it to the wall. Wigginton scored from first. Then in the 6th with the bases empty and two outs, he poorly located a high fastball Young sent over center wall for a solo homerun, and three pitches later he poorly located the exact same high fastball to Gomes who singled. Fortunately, we got the out and Gomes caused us no damage. The point: I can forgive singular mistakes, but fix them, and if you can’t, don’t throw that pitch anymore. Affeldt, Corpas, and Martin each pitched a scoreless inning, though Affeldt pitched the best of the three, as his fastball location was near flawless, popped out a righty, grounded out a lefty, walked a righty, and struck out a lefty. Pretty good inning for a left handed pitcher.
Shields pitching for Tampa did a decent job in his first trip to Planet Coors, one bad inning and a one fluke play, other than that he was solid. That 1st inning buried him though. Taveras took a second pitch fastball to the gap in right center for a double. Hurdle had Tulo sac bunt to move over Willie (actually a good move by Hurdle). Helton slapped a hanging curve to score Taveras (Coors Field is no place for weak pitchers). And then came the big blow, he tried to put a fastball outside on Atkins with a full count and didn’t get it to move left far enough, 2 run homerun to center. And if that weren’t bad enough he tried to put a fastball outside on Hawpe with a 1-1 count and didn’t get it to move right far enough, solo homerun to center. After that he took control, retiring 14 batters, mostly with pop outs (which are skill at Coors, fly outs are luck). Then came a weird play. With one out in the 6th, Holliday broke the hitless streak with a double, Helton up. Holiday moves on the hit-and-run while Helton hits a chopper SS Harris, Holiday is safe at third but Helton could be safe at first too if he legs it out. Harris fields it sloppy and throws recklessly to first. Helton is safe but Holiday, who got a great jump on the ball turned wide at third and when he saw Harris field it so badly, and wind to throw to first without paying any attention to him he kept going right on through to home. By the time the ball went to first and home Holiday was safe by 15 feet. It was awesome, but you can’t count a base runner scoring from second on an infield hit. After that inning the bullpen took over for Tampa and the brutalizing began. The 7th saw clutch hitting from 4 Rockies: with one out and runners on first and second Taveras infield single to load the bases (he’s so fast), Tolu single to short center to score one, Holiday single to short right to score two (Taveras scoring form second [he’s so fast]), and Helton sac fly to score Tulo. Nice sequence to finish off the Devil Rays. But the Rockies weren’t done. In the 8th with one out, the Rockies took a walk, an error, and hit by Baker to load the bases, then Taveras got another infield hit to score one (he’s so fast), and an out later, Holiday sent a hanging slider to the wall to score two more. Great day for Rockies offense.
Game 2
Rockies 10, Devil Rays 5Â
It’s a good thing that the bats were going because the pitching sure couldn’t beat them. Hirsh has his moments of brilliance and his moments of ineptitude; this game was more of the later. The first two innings went swimmingly, and the 3rd inning wasn’t terrible. With Iwamura on first via walk, he threw a high fastball Harris sent to the left center gap. Not that bad a pitch, Harris just guessed perfectly. He got a double, while speedy Iwamura scored from first base. No big deal, these things happen, but Hirsh seemed like he wasn’t the same. The next inning, he just couldn’t keep the ball down in the strike zone, giving up three consecutive hits and then an RBI ground out; the first hit was a first pitch fastball homerun by Pena. In the 5th inning he couldn’t fix it, giving up a 1-1 fastball homerun to Harris, plus a single and walk. At this point Hurdle had had enough, and good thing too. Buchholz closed the inning, and the bullpen never wavered for the rest of the day.Â
The Rockies side was much better. A walk, a double, a strike out, and an intentional walk to load the bases. After that, Sonnanstine appeared to right the ship popping out Atkins. But then on a 2-2 count, much like the night before, he tried to put a fastball outside on Hawpe and didn’t get it to move right far enough, grand slam. In the 3rd, Sonnanstine fell behind Atkins 2-0, two out, Holiday on first. Everyone in the park knew a fastball was coming, including Atkins. Homerun. Part of Atkins recent hitting streak has been getting ahead of the pitcher, so I think the guy should stay away from first pitches until they start giving him fastballs. In the 4th, bases empty, two outs, Taveras worked himself into a full count. Sonnanstine threw a curveball inside for an obvious ball 4, Taveras swung anyway. Golf type swing, sent over the left field wall, homerun. I won’t nit pick results, but next time, take the walk. In the 6th, a walk, a single, a fielder’s choice sacrifice, and a pinch-hit single by Spilborghs scored one. These are my favorite type of runs, just consistent good play to move a guy around the bases. In the 7th, Atkins scored Holiday from second on a hanging curve, and Helton came home on an error.
Game 3:
Devil Rays 7, Rockies 4Â
Kazmir pitched a decent game and got the win in another “Aaron Cook’s on the mound so the bats will take the night off†affair. But Aaron didn’t play that well either. Kazmir fell behind Matsui in the first 3-1 with the bases empty and 1 out, so everybody in the park knew a fastball was coming, including Matsui. He sent it over the left field wall. In the 2nd with one out, bases empy, Tulo legged out an infield hit. Pretty good for a guy who doesn’t run that well. Then he stole second because the catcher, Navarro, couldn’t get the ball out of his glove. Rookie catcher, Iannetta, brought him home with a double. One guy who can’t run well killing ‘em on the bases, and one guy who can’t hit well killing ‘em with his bat. In the 3rd with one out bases empty, Holiday’s killer instinct was worth a run. First pitch fastball crushed to the façade on the third deck. In the 8th, Glover fell behind lead off hitter Hawpe 3-1 in the count, so everybody in the park knew a fastball was coming, including Hawpe. He sent it into the rock garden. Now all this sounds pretty good but there are a few things I haven’t told you about the Rockies hitting yet. In the 5th the Rockies loaded the bases with a bunt single, a sacrifice, a walk and a walk, Atkins up. Atkins fell behind in the count and was forced to swing. Ground out double play. In the 7th, the Rockies loaded the bases with and fly out, a single, a fly out, a walk, and a walk, Atkins up. Atkins fell behind in the count and was forced to swing. Ground out fielder’s choice. If Atkins makes one of these hits, we win; and he makes these hit if he gets ahead in the count. Reyes came in the 9th, and pitch a beautiful inning, with a strike out of Taveras, a fly out of Matsui, and 3 pitch strike out of Holiday.
Aaron had a bad and unlucky day. During the first 5 inning, he got 11 of the first 15 outs via the ground ball. I’ve mentioned before how brutal Aaron’s sinker can be. Not much damage either. In the 2nd, with two outs runner on second, Gomes homerun on a first pitch fastball. In the 5th, with one out, Gomes on second, Kasmir single to left scored Gomes. The pitch was a sinker that didn’t sink. This one pissed me off a little bit. Pitchers will burn you for a hit every once in a while, but no AL pitcher should ever get an RBI. I think Aaron got a little cocky. All in all pretty good start, but in the 6th the wheels came off. Aaron got out of trouble with a lineout double play during a hit-and-run, but couldn’t close the inning. Pena hit a homerun on a 1-0 fastball with the bases empty, Young singled on a 1-2 sinker that didn’t sink, and Gomes hit a homerun (again) on a 2-1 fast ball. Aaron Cook only had 75 pitches on the day, so he couldn’t have been tired. I think he got cocky and lazy, two big hits on sinkers that didn’t sink. Also, too many base runners. Coors field’s outfield is too big; runners will hurt much more on Planet Coors. Lastly, Affeldt gave up a run on a poorly located fastball, but the game was looking like it was over already.Â
Next Series:Yankees 35-32Â
The first game features Josh Fogg vs. Mike Mussina. If Fogg can hold down the Yankies, we can hit Mussina. I smell a high scoring game though, with the better bullpen winning. Game 2 is an interesting one, Jeff Francis vs. Andy Pettitte. Both pitchers will have their work cut out for them, but I’m leaning toward Andy. Game 3 has Rodrigo Lopez vs. Roger Clemens. Roger has had some good games and some bad games in Denver, but I’m going with Lopez until he blows one. The hitting should be good on both sides since both teams are staked from top to bottom in the lineup. This will be a tough one for me since the Yankees are my AL team.
Prediction:
Rockies 2 – Yankees 1Â
I’m giving the Rocks the series because they’re at home, but the Yanks would win in New York.
