Sunday, July 17, 2011

Rock Solid Recrap: A night of frustration, fail and fury

Brewers 8, Rockies 7 (boxscore)

Where do we begin?

Frustration: The ninth inning. The same destructive pattern that always seems to get Huston Street got him again. Not the one where he gives up a lead-off single. He responds well to that pressure. It's the pattern where he retires the first two batters easily, walks the third hitter, and then allows a painful home run.

Happened in Florida and Pittsburgh last season. Happened once or twice this season. That's how he gets burned. But I'd much rather have this happen once every six weeks than watch what's happening in Chicago, St. Louis, Minnesota, Baltimore, so on and so forth. And it's not like walking Prince Fielder there is a bad idea there either, so it is what it is. Weeks beat him. Tough loss.

Also, I know I promised I wouldn't go over the top to defend players because it's backfired on me so much in the past, but this has to be said about Huston Street.

If he hasn't won fans over by now. If he hasn't earned their respect as the best closer the Rockies have had in 20 years (which he is by a significant margin), then he never will. For a guy like me that has lived through Jose Jimenez, Brian Fuentes, Darren Holmes, the list goes on, it's difficult to grasp why he's not more appreciated or respected. It disappoints me to a degree, but I understand fans need a lightning rod. Closer is always the best position to find one.