Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Rock Solid Recap: Alive And Well Enough

Thanks largely to Troy Tulowitzki.

(RBI Single) (Home Run #1) (Home Run #2)

Troy Tulowitzki is a strong man. Strong enough to put the entire Rockies franchise on his back and carry them towards the finish line.

The numbers are sick.

10 HRs in 13 games. The franchise record for a single month is 12. He already has 11 in September... and there are still 13 games left in the month. 27 RBI in his last 15 games.

He is not of this planet right now. Maybe he never was, but he certainly isn't now.

Oh, and yeah, he's still the best defensive shortstop in the National League.


As seen in the highlights above, Tulo did the bulk of the heavy lifting this afternoon. He did have some assistance though.

Jorge De La Rosa saw his value rise one more time with 7 1/3 innings of what ended up being five run baseball. (Joe Beimel served up a three-run to Adrian Gonzalez that inflated DLR's solid line.) Just getting into the 8th inning after this recent string of poor starting pitching was a major relief for Jim Tracy and his taxed bullpen. So statline aside, DLR was a winner in my eyes just based on that.

He was also rewarded with a stat W as Huston Street closed the door in the 9th.

You know what Carlos Gonzalez did today?

He broke another bat. He collected a couple knocks. He drove in two more runs (106). And he also scored a pair of runs.

But you already knew all that was going to happen before the game started.

Something I didn't know was going to happen? Jay Payton going 3-for-4. With Troy Tulowitzki cleaning up everything in front of him, and Miguel Olivo doing nothing behind, Payton didn't score or drive in a run, but THREE hits. Awesome story. And hey, good gut feeling by Jim Tracy to put him in the lineup today.

But then with Jonathan Herrera, we can't give Jim Tracy credit for playing a gut feeling, Instead we can openly question why Herrera doesn't play more. Many fans have been clamoring for just that, and Johnny didn't disappoint us today. Three hits (two singles, double), two runs scored and competent defense at the hot corner.

A professional pain in the ass offensively that can be play three infield positions. Yeah... no value in that guy.

Tomorrow

Day off! I'm taking it right along with them! We'll chat at you folks again on Friday night.

Lineup Card: Rockies vs Padres

Survival Mode: On

Rockies Lineup (79-66) (Courtesy @RockiesReview)
  1. 2B  Young
  2. 3B  Herrera
  3. CF  Gonzalez
  4. SS  Tulowitzki
  5. 1B  Giambi
  6. RF  Spilborghs
  7. LF  Payton
  8. C    Olivo
  9. P    De La Rosa
How about Jay Payton getting a start in a must win game?  I like it.  The pitching matchup should allow him 2-3 quality ABs before turning it over to Dexter Fowler defensively late in the game.  That is assuming the Rockies are holding a lead at that point.  

Padres Lineup (82-62) (Courtesy @RockiesReview)
  1. CF  Cunningham
  2. 2B  Eckstein
  3. SS  Tejeda
  4. 1B  Gonzalez
  5. RF  Ludwick
  6. 3B  J. Hairston
  7. LF  S. Hairston
  8. C   Torrealba
  9. P    Richard