Monday, May 30, 2011

Rock Solid Recap: Why so mad?

Rockies 14, Dodgers 11 (boxscore)

Todd Helton led the way with three hits as the Colorado Rockies outslugged the Dodgers...

Oh, hold on.

Sorry, that was the hits column.

Let's see here.

Dodgers 7, Rockies 1 (boxscore)

That explains that. So I guess this is a recRap then.

(I just gave the Rockies their next slogan there. Total accident.)

UPDATE: I see Purple Row's Bryan Kilpatrick used a variation of the same bit. I didn't steal or borrow, and I'm too lazy to rewrite, so we'll just go with great minds think alike.

-- Can this please be rock bottom? Please? Fourteen hits, four walks and one run. Only the Rockies. Well, the Cubs could probably pull that off just as easily, but this is a Rockies blog. So ONLY the Rockies.

The Rockies had the lead-off man reach base I believe it was seven innings in a row? None of those scored. The lone run came on Ty Wigginton's solo home run in the fourth, which was perfectly timed right after a Seth Smith GIDP.

Overall the Rockies went 1-for-12 with RISP. An ugly number. And there was little to no bad luck involved here. Just a lot of terrible at-bats and swings with expected results.

Honestly, I'm tired of hearing the unlucky bit. Yes, Troy Tulowitzki hits baseballs hard and they get caught sometimes. He also pops up all the time and hits Taylor made double play balls. Yes, umpires blow calls. Yes, weird things happen, but weird things always happen to everybody. Every team gets screwed now and then.

They get magnified when you're not doing the little things right. The Rockies simply aren't doing the little things. And they aren't doing a lot of big things right either. Throw out any stats that may suggest differently. The team is a mess right now. It's that simple.

-- Jason Hammel made some good pitches to Andre Ethier with the bases loaded in the third, but that piece of garbage Joe West screwed him. There's no other way to say it. He screwed him. That was a strikeout two different times, but Cowboy Joe was too busy being his usual arrogant self. Embarrassing the game of baseball.

Then Ethier hit that ball right back through the box than Hammel couldn't handle, and the route was on. Unfortunately Hammel unraveled, but when you're making good pitches and not getting calls, that's what will happen. Chad Billingsley faced the same problem. He allowed a career hit 11 hits. The Rockies did nothing with them.

-- The Fowler/CarGo Play

Center fielders are taught to take every ball they can get to. It was left-center, Fowler got there, it looked like he called, so Gonzalez has to clear out. Yes, Gonzalez has the better arm, but they weren't throwing anyone out at the plate from that depth. Fowler wasn't in the wrong there. It's tough to come down on Gonzalez though. They are both centerfielders in mind and ability, and he wanted to make a play.

-- So the Rockies lose 20 in May. 20 recraps in a single month, with a good chance for 21. Talk about challenging a blogger to stay engaging, interesting, motivated, funny and creative. Good lord. Thanks a lot!

Lineup Card: 5-30-11 Rockies @ Dodgers

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 60-90 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you.

Links

Yesterday's Recrap: Dreadful homestand concludes

Quote of the day

"I wasn't expecting anything like that pitch. I was sitting on something like the sliders he'd been throwing," Carlos Gonzalez on the final at-bat in Sunday's game

Hey, um, you know, if you're looking for something and you don't get it on a 0-0 count, don't swing. Same for 0-1. Like, if you're sitting on a slider, why are you firing at a fastball? Either you're not seeing the ball at all out of the pitcher's hand, or your discipline is at level zero right now.

That was a pretty scary quote to read from a guy who led the league in hitting just last season, but it sure does help explain the lousy at-bats he's piling up this season. Yikes.

Lineups

Colorado Rockies (25-27)
  1. 2B Eric Young
  2. CF Dexter Fowler
  3. LF Carlos Gonzalez
  4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
  5. 1B Todd Helton
  6. RF Seth Smith
  7. 3B Ty Wigginton
  8. C   Chris Iannetta
  9. P   Jason Hammel
We'll just get Chris Nelson that first start about Friday... when he's good and cooled of. 

Los Angeles Dodgers (24-30)
  1. SS Rafael Furcal
  2. 2B Jamey Carroll
  3. RF Andre Ethier
  4. CF Matt Kemp
  5. LF Jay Gibbons
  6. 1B James Loney
  7. C  Rod Barajas
  8. 3B Aaron Miles
  9. P   Chad Billingsly