The Rockies laid into Hiroki Kusoda, but couldn't generate a win in Game 1 versus the Dodgers
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It’s gut check time for the Rockies.
Yes I know it’s only May, but check the schedule… May is the toughest month of the year by a wide berth. 16 road games vs. 13 home games, 15 division games, 8 plane trips, and 3 series against 2009 playoff teams. If the Rockies survive the month of May they stand a better than good chance of coasting to the division title.  Keep in mind that it is a well-documented fact that the bats in Colorado don’t warm up until the temperature does.
To borrow parlance from another sport, right now the Rockies must ice the puck.
Of course, there is an obvious benefit to winning outright right now. A series win would deliver the Rockies their first winning road trip of the 2010 season. And it would put the Dodgers definitively in the basement. (Oh how I hate the Dodgers.)
As far as current game judgments go, Hiroki Kuroda has been the best (strike that… only) pitcher for the Dodgers so far, and it’s a tall order to get more than 3 runs on him or knock him out before the 6th. The bats probably don’t stand a chance tonight the way they’ve been working lately.
Esmil Rogers, on the other hand, probably will have a better outing than last time. He’s a location guy and that requires focus. It’s tough to focus if it’s your first start in a while. I think he’ll be sharper today. Of course, he’ll need to be about perfect if the bats don’t get going.
Top 1st
Kuroda is a pitcher a lot like Aaron Cook. He doesn’t nip corners, or blow it by you, or trick you into chasing pitches outside the zone. He pounds the strike zone with a heavy sinker and waits for the ground balls. So far so good for him; 2 ground outs and a strikeout on Todd Helton.
Bot 1st Tied 0-0
With Manny Ramirez out of the lineup with a re-strained right calf (or maybe you could call it a “haven’t done steroids in a while†right calf) the Dodgers have put Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier next to each other. I’ve always thought they should do this.  (Don’t tell them.)
But Rogers is spot-on in the first.
He is a corner-nipper and he pitched like he intended to. It took him a batter to find the strike zone (walk), but after that he was ahead in the count with corner strikes for the next three batters. Strikeout on Kemp, flyout on Ethier on the first pitch (he swings at the first pitch too much (don’t tell him)), and a strikeout on James Loney.
Top 2nd Tied 0-0
Troy Tulowitzki may be getting a name for himself as a good enough player to get the break on close calls. He stayed off a full count high slider that looked like a strike (even according to the Fox Sports computer) and got a ball/walk. Gary Darling totally botched the call in Tulowitzki’s favor. And then got the call on a Stolen Base attempt. That one was too close to know for sure but he might have been out. Add a Sacrifice and a Sacrifice and that’s the first run of the game.
In other news, add in 2 two-out ground ball hits against Kuroda that go to waste with a Rogers foul out. I didn’t see his first game but he looked like he swung the bat well. Kuroda soused him out quickly though. He can’t tell the distance of the plate and will swing at pitches just outside.
Bot 2nd Rockies 1-0
Jason Blake is the type of hitter who is useless when you serve the ball right up the middle and amazing when you give him an impossible pitch. Rogers locates a fastball pretty well at the hands and Blake finds a way to fit it through the hole at third base for a double.  Then after a Sacrifice and a Pop out, Rogers made his first mistake of the game. He left a fast ball up over the plate to Jamie Carroll for a single.
Top 3rd Tied 1-1
The best way to work Helton has always been to go inside, outside, inside, outside.  (Yeah I know he can hit it any direction at any time, I didn’t say it was a good way, I said it was the best way. The best way can still be bad.) That’s just what Kuroda does and manages a strikeout on a very well-placed Sinker on the inside. We’ll see what Tulo does, but runs may be hard to come by after this. Kuroda is dealing.
Bot 3rd Tied 1-1
Rogers made another mistake after something bad happened that wasn’t his fault.
This time an errant throw by Ian Stewart on a Kemp grounder gave up a base. Then, after a stolen base, another fastball left up in the zone is hit by Ethier (poorly hit) and finds the second base hole. Rogers seems to be having trouble dealing with the base runners. Or maybe he’s unable to gather himself immediately after he gets the shaft for doing nothing wrong. Either way, that’s two runs on fastball pitch mistakes; his only two fastball pitch mistakes.
Top 4th Dodgers 2-1
They just flashed a Hot Zone breakdown for Tulo after his double off Kuroda’s hanging slider. It’s a “Tâ€. He hits everything down the middle and everything high and nothing else. I wonder if that’s a sign.
After a fairly lucky bloop single to tie the game by Carlos Gonzales, Darling lets the world know that the call Tulo got in the second is nothing special. Kuroda cannot get the high drop-in slider to fall for a strike (even when it does). That’s his K pitch. If the Rockies get that call all game, it will severely limit (and probably mess with) Kuroda.
Further proof of the preceding: Rogers put together a pretty good two-out 7-pitch at bat before a ground-out deep in the SS hole. Kuroda threw another high slider I thought was strike 3. It was called ball 3.
Bot 4th Tied 2-2
Say what you will about Rogers’ stuff… he certainly challenges well when he needs to. A Walk to Russell Martina and then three ground outs; one battling back from 2-0, one working with an 0-2, and the final an easy pitch served to the dreadful .000 average of Kuroda
Top 5th Tied 2-2
Dexter Fowler MUST begin to threaten bunt at any time. This inning held the point and case to that argument. Fowler put the bunt down foul on the first pitch and every following pitch Casey Blake played in. The result: soft ground ball through the hole at SS goes for a double. Blake possibly could have turned it into a double play had he played back. At the very least he could have stopped the runners at one base. Add in a Sac (to an already Sac heavy game) and the Rocks have the lead back.
Bot 5th Rockies 3-2
A pair of very well thrown pitches that go for doubles set up Rogers’ final mistake of the game.
First, a fastball outside that somehow Xavier Paul gets a hold of goes for a double and then Ethier does what he does with an impossible to hit low and away changeup for a double. That scores one.
Then with two outs Rogers lets a low fast ball drift to the center against Blake who singles up the center. Immediately following, Martin finds the Second base hole with a ground ball for another run. 2 runs he could do nothing about and 3 runs due to fastball mistakes.  He could be a very good pitcher if he just finds some control.
Randy Flores comes in to clean up the mess and gets Blake DeWitt to foul out on the second pitch.
Top 6th Dodgers 5-3
Eric Young Jr. needs to be playing Major League Baseball not AAA baseball.
So far all he has done since his call-up is get on base and then burn around the bases. On the first pitch of his one-out at bat he puts the ball in the right field corner (literally, not bounce around in the corner, I think he made the ball stop in the corner) and legged out a triple.
Seth Smith hits a nice little single to left center to score EYJ, and then Dex follows my instructions. He lays down a bunt into the first base line no man’s land on the first pitch of his at bat and Kuroda unwisely throws the ball into right field. That’s 4 bases today (6 if you count the two bases Seth Smith got) on Dex’s bunt threat. And he knocked Kuroda out of the game.
George Sherrill comes in to pitch and it’s Helton’s turn to Sacrifice. Tie game again and Sherrill’s taking a seat on the bench. Three pitchers used in the 6th inning in the first of a 3 game series. This is a very good inning for the Rockies’ bats.
Jeff Weaver put an inside fastball on the low corner and Gonzales grounds out, but damage done to both the scoreboard and the long-term LA bullpen.
Bot 6th Tied 5-5
Good pitching countered by great hitting is the story of the 6th.
Matt Daley puts a great pitch in on the high inside corner on leadoff hitter Carroll, and Carroll somehow finds a way to get the ball fair down the right field line. Then with 2 outs Kemp takes an inside ball to the opposite field (?) for a triple. How he wasn’t jammed I don’t know.
Joe Beimel throws one pitch for an Ethier ground out.
Top 7th Dodgers 6-5
The deep curve ball pitcher Ramon Troncoso comes in to pitch the 7th. Sometimes he can get that curve to go for strikes, sometimes he can’t. Tonight he can’t but it doesn’t hurt him.  Long story short: Strikeout, Walk, Fielder’s Choice, Infield single, and then Seth Smith gets a hold of a poorly placed fastball and hits right at Loney at first base.
It would have been a tie game if it had been hit anywhere else.
Bot 7th Dodgers 6-5
Matt Belisle pitches a pretty boring inning; 9 pitches (none of them anything to write home about) 3 ground outs. I kinda like boring pitchers though.
Top 8th Dodgers 6-5
Rough night for Helton: 0-4 with 1 sac and 2 Ks. The Rockies can’t find a way to get even in the 8th against Troncoso, which means they must score on Jonathan Broxton.
Bot 8th Dodgers 6-5
Once again, there is nothing interesting about Belisle except that he gets quick outs. I look away from the screen for maybe 20 seconds and he goes from 1-1 with one out to 2-2 with two out. And he does this without throwing hard, throwing nasty, throwing with perfect location, or throwing with a funky delivery.
Top 9th Dodgers 6-5
Last chance Charlie for the Rockies against a pretty good hard-throwing closer. But he does have 2 Blown Saves on the year.
CarGo falls behind early against fastballs and then fights against sliders to stay alive. On the 11 pitch of the at bat he slaps a low and away fastball through the hole at SS. Runner at 1st.
On an 0-1 pitch to Stewart, CarGo breaks for 2nd and Russell Martin guns him down by 5 feet. One Out. Russell Martin is one of the catchers you just don’t try to steal on.
Stewart falls behind on fastball too, but cant’ fight off the sliders. K. 2 Out.
Jason Giambi pinch hitting. Falls behind chasing outside pitches. Can’t make the bat find a high fastball.
Game Over. Dodgers 6-5
This is about as close a game as you will get… the Dodgers just got the breaks.
If I were to hang it on one thing, the clutch hitting against good pitching in the 6th is what this game hinges on. The Dodgers can’t do that night-in and night-out.  Also, Helton being useless at the plate hurt a lot.
But like I said, the Rockies need win only one game this series, and with Ubaldo Jimenez pitching Sunday we can feel good about the odds. This series probably hinges on Jhoulys Chacin vs. Charlie Haeger tomorrow. I’ll be watching and so should you. Jhoulys is a high-potential young starter for these Rockies.
