Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Rock Solid Recap: Speechless

Well, almost. I have to say something.

I don't know what today's amazing victory will mean in the grand scheme of the 2010 season. It may mean nothing. It may mean everything. The bottom line is, there is nothing more exhilarating than watching your favorite team never give up, and then complete a mission that seemed impossible.

Nothing.


When you break this thing down and start handing out individual accolades, the only place you can start is with lefty sensation Matt Reynolds.

The kid has pitched his ass off all season, beginning in spring training, continuing through a dominant campaign at Colorado Springs, and he's now showing us firsthand that the hype was legit. Sometimes a guy has the ability, you hear the hype, he shows up and then promptly wets the bed.

Not Matt Reynolds.

The importance of his three shutout innings, on so many levels, simply cannont be measured. There's no stat that can be created that measures what a single performance like this means to a baseball team. Not to mention his patience AB that resulted in a walk and led to three run 5th inning rally. Reynolds did it all on a Wednesday afternoon.

The same praise can be heaped on Joe Beimel and Matt Belisle. That's nothing new for them, though. That's why they have routiniely ranked in the top 5-6 when I do Rockies player rankings.

The Offense?

So many clutch hits.

Dexter Fowler's Little League home run... (Highlight)

Ryan Spilborghs' pinch-hit 2-run double... (Highlight)

Carlos Gonzalez ties the game... (Highlight)

Troy Tulowitzki with another game-winning RBI... (Highlight)

Todd Helton provides the insurance... (Highlight)

And how about CarGo's web gem to end it?  Solid.  (Highlight)

Amazing display by the Rockies. I definitely feel better about this team now than I did a week ago, but that's always the case when they're at home. I need to see this team win a road series before I get too excited about a playoff run.

Or a series win over the Dodgers would be a start as well.

Tomorrow

Rockies get to spend the day with the family.

Friday

Ubaldo Jimenez vs Clayton Kershaw

I'll be back with you on Monday after a nice weekend away from the homestead.

Lineup Card: Rockies vs Braves

Rockies Lineup (55-50)

  1. 2B  Young
  2. CF  Fowler
  3. LF  Gonzalez
  4. SS  Tulowitzki
  5. 1B  Helton
  6. 3B  Stewart
  7. RF  Smith
  8. C    Iannetta
  9. P    Rogers
It's really nice to see Jim Tracy stick with a consistent lineup... but, umm, aren't we supposed to be guarding against Todd Helton wearing down?  

Probably not.  After all, he used Huston Street again for a three straight game.  I'm sure if the Rockies lead late again today we'll see him again.  Conventional wisdom be damned, one of these times Huston Street will fight through the fatigue and throw seven days in a row without losing effectiveness.  

Braves Lineup (73-53)
  1. 2B  Infante
  2. RF  Heyward
  3. 3B  Prado
  4. C   McCann
  5. 1B  Lee
  6. LF  Cabrera
  7. SS  Gonzalez
  8. CF Ankiel
  9. P    Jurrjens