Rockies come through in a rain-soaked series.
- Image by Getty Images via @daylife
It wasn’t the kind of home stand that makes legends. Stories of this conquest will not be passed down from generation to generation of wide-eyed children, begging their grandfathers to tell more stories from Rockies lore.
In the end, it was a homestand that started horrifically, and ended respectably, with a torrential downpour in between to make things interesting.
After Jason Hammel put down the Astros in the series opener, the hapless Rockies offense and shaky bullpen went and dropped three in a row at Coors to the Astros, a team not exactly destined for post-season glory, at least in the near future. It was with this memory, and possibly a fair amount of desperation, that the Rockies entered their first interleague contest of the year with the Toronto Blue Jays, a solid team with a great offense whose major flaw is playing in the AL East with New York, Boston, and Tampa.
Game One – Ubaldo sports webbed feet, escapes with a semi-CG win
Friday night, the spring storms were a force to be reckoned with in Colorado. While I gave up on it by abandoning my outdoor seat on the upper deck of Lodo’s Restaurant, Ubaldo and the Rockies stayed the course and came away with a rain-shortened 6 inning victory. Ubaldo wasn’t his normal sharp self, possibly having grip issues thanks to the deluge from the skies. But in the end, the offense came through, putting the ball in play and allowing the Rocks to come away with the victory. Looking back at replays, the game probably should have been stopped earlier than it was, there’s no possible way that last line drive could have been seen by the shortstop. But either way, 6 innings is an official game, and the bullpen got its day of rest, and Ubaldo became the first pitcher in the bigs to notch his 12th victory.
Game Two – Old School Pitching Duel, Hammel stands strong
Saturday, with the conditions much more acceptable but still a bit chilly, Jason Hammel finally decided he’d had enough. While he was certainly laughing and joking in his post-game interview saying “I’ve got to do everything around here”, there’s just enough truth in that statement for the rest of the team to cringe. Hammel threw 8 innings of shutout baseball, allowing only three hits. Corpas mopped up the save, but the real story here was again the inability of the Rockies offense to generate any sort of scoring. It’s a good thing that one run was all they needed, because that’s all they got, thanks to a Carlos Gonzales sac fly that scored… that’s right, Jason Hammel, who had drawn a walk earlier in the inning.
So while what we all really want to do is admire Hammel’s performance (and make no mistake – his performance was quite admirable), most Rockies fans are left shaking their heads wondering why the offense seems so intent on hibernating when the dog days of summer are just around the corner.
Game Three – Bats wake up
So, in game three on Sunday afternoon, the Rockies bats finally awoke. Granted, Blue Jays starter Jesse Litsch was making his first start since returning from Tommy John surgery, but either way, this was the kind of team effort we expect from the Rockies. Jeff Francis threw seven innings, looking in command of his pitches for the majority of the day. While you wouldn’t call his outing dominant, he allowed only 5 hits over those seven innings, and pitched very relaxed, as you might expect when your offense spots you a four run advantage in the first inning.
Ryan Spillborghs went yard twice, while Todd Helton notched three hits out of the 2-hole, and Iannetta and Barmes each added 2 RBIs each.
The 10-3 victory allowed the Rockies to complete the sweep of the Blue Jays and salvage a 4-3 record on the home stand, saving June from being a complete disaster. As it stands, they sit only 4 games back of the division leading Padres, although LA and SF are both nipping right at the heels of the surprising San Diego squad. The Rockies now head to Minnesota for a tough 3-game road set at the new Target Field in Minneapolis before stepping back into the NL for a 3-game weekend series against the Brewers in Milwaukee. With the Red Sox and the always tough Angels on the docket following Milwaukee, not to mention a massive divisional matchup against the west-leading Padres to close out the month, the Rockies need to play some complete baseball. The pitching seems to be strong, although the bullpen is hit or miss. If the offense can hit its stride, the next several series provide some games against tough opponents that will likely give us the most realistic barometer yet as to the viability of this  year’s Rockies. There are no slouches left in June (that’s what the series against Houston was for), and the Rockies have their work cut out for them to keep pace in a tough NL West division.
