Rockies Register

The Rockies played Jeckyl and Hyde this week in their three game set with the Mets. In the first two, the Rockies scored a total of two runs.  Then in the finale today, the Rockies exploded for eleven runs on twenty hits to avoid the sweep.

Taylor Buchholz took the loss in the opener on Monday.  He gave up four runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in six innings.  Matt Holliday drove in the only run for the Rockies andhe finished with three hits.  Todd Helton went two for four in the 6-1 loss.

Yesterday, the Rockies got a great start from Aaron Cook but it was wasted in a 2-1, twelve inning loss. He gave up just six hits and two walks with two strikeouts in seven shutout innings.  Brian Fuentes gave up a run in the tenth to blow his first save of the season and Ryan Speier gaveup the run in the twelth to lose it.  Troy Tulowitzki drove in the only run for the Rockies and Yorvit Torrealba went two for four.

Then this afternoon, the Rockies got enough offense for a couple of games in an 11-5 win.  John Mabry homered and drove in four runs while Todd Helton went four for five with two runs and three RBIs.  Willy Taveras was a perfect five for five and he scored twice with an RBI.  Josh Fogg was the beneficiary and he gave up just three runs on eight hits and one walk with five strikeouts in seven innings.  He picked up his first win of the season with all of the run support.

The Rockies get a day off tomorrow and then they host the Braves for three games.  Jeff Francis will throw against Chuck James in an interesting matchup of yong pitchers.  Maybe with a solid series, the Rockies can creep out of the cellar.  Then again, maybe not.

Well, the Rockies are in last place and that’s where a lot of people had them.  It doesn’t make it easier for the fans though and you wonder if they’re there to stay or whether they can build on the win in the finale with the Padres and maybe put together a run.

Friday’s game was the toughest loss.  Josh Fogg was hammered for eight runs in just three innings and he dropped to 0-1 on the season.  Even worse, the Rockies managed just a single run on four hits. The lone run of the game came in the second inning when Yorvit Torrealba drove home Matt Holliday in the 11-1 loss.

Saturday’s game was closer but not much better.  This time it was Jeff Francis who took it on the chin and he gave up six runs and thirteen hits in six innings.  Garrett Atkins went three for four with two RBIs and a run while Todd Helton had two hits, an RBI and two walks in the 7-3 win.

Finally, the Rockies picked up a win yesterday.  Jason Hirsch pitched a very nice game and he gave up just two runs on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings of work.  Matt Holliday was a homerun short of the cycle and he both scored and drove in a run while Garrett Atkins finished with two hits and a run in the 4-2 win.

It doesn’t get any easier because the Mets and their high powered offense roll into town.  It’ll be Taylor Buchholz throwing tonight in the first of three games.

I guess a split with the Dodgers in their two game series isn’t so bad considering the Dodgers have the best record in baseball.  And it’s fun seeing the emergence of Matt Holliday as a bona fide superstar.  In the 7-2 win yesterday, he went three for four with two runs and then he went one for three this afternoon to give him a very nice .344 batting average.

Rodrigo Lopez threw just four innings in the 7-2 win and he hit the DL today.  He gave up just one run on four hits with one strikeout.  Taylor Buckholz picked up the win in relief and he was one of four relievers who held the Dodgers in check.  I already went through Holliday’s solid game but Brad Hawpe was also solid at the plate.  He went two for two with two walks and two runs.

Today’s game didn’t go nearly as well as the Rockies were held to just one run on five hits.  The lone run came on an RBI single by Garrett Atkins in the sixth inning in the 8-1 loss.  Aaron Cook gave up five runs on six hits and four walks with four strikeouts in six innings of work and he dropped to 0-1 on the season.

It doesn’t get any easier as the Padres roll into town for three this weekend.  No Jake Peavy though, so that’s nice.  The Saturday matchup between Clay Hensley and Jeff Francis should be a good one.

The Rockies had a mixed series against the Giants this week but at the end of it all, the Rockies were back out of the cellar.  Things didn’t start off well though as the Rockies lost their third straight game on Monday.  Barry Zito shut them down other then Todd Helton, who had three hits, none of the hitters did much of anything in the 8-0 loss.  Jeff Francis was hammered in his worst start of the season.  He gave up seven runs on nine hits and three walks in five innings. 

Yesterday looked like more of the same as Matt Cain shut down the Rockies through seven innings.  Then in the eighth, the Rockies took it to the Giants pen and scored five runs in 5-3 win.  Yorvit Torrealba had the big hit with a bases loaded clearing three run double that put the Rockies ahead.  Jason Hirsch threw a solid game and he gave up three runs on six hits in seven innings but it was Ramon Martinez who picked up the win.  Brian Fuentes then did his job in the ninth and he saved his third game with two strikeouts in the innings.

Next up is two against the Dodgers, who happen to have more wins then any other team in baseball.  Rodrigo Lopez gets the ball in today’s opener and he’ll try to match up with Derek Lowe.

The Rockies dropped another series and the only thing keeping them out of the cellar are the Giants, who are actually playing about as worse as you can.  Things went well enough in the opener on Friday.  Josh Fogg had a decent enough start and he pitched six solid innings and then three late runs pushed the Rockies to a 6-3 win.  Todd Helton, Brad Hawpe and Matt Holliday all picked up two RBIs and Jeremy Affeldt picked up the win.

After that, the pitching was just poor enough to lose.  On Saturday, the pen blew a 4-3 lead and the Rockies lost 5-4.  Todd Helton drove in two more runs and Matt Holliday and Kaz Matsui each had two hits.  LaTroy Hawkins took the loss and he blew a decent start by Aaron Cook.

In the rubber game, the pitching failed the Rockies again.  Byung-Hyun Kim was roughed up in just three innings and he took the loss while Todd Helton drove in two more to make it six RBIs in the series.  Helton also hit his first homerun of the season.

And speaking of the Giants, it’ll be a battle of the bottom feeders in a two game series as the Rockies host the Giants.  Jeff Francis will get the start tonight against the struggling Barry Zito.

The Rockies were above .500 for one game before they dropped two straight to the Dodgers.  Man, the NL West should be a good race and it’ll be interesting to see if the Rockies, who nobody thought would be there, could hang around and make some noise.  So far, so good even with the two straight losses.

Garrett Atkins hit a big three run shot in the series opener as the Rockies won 6-3.  Jeff Baker had three hits, a run and an RBI and Brad Hawpe had two hits and two runs.  Jeff Francis outdueled Jason Schmidt and he picked up the win.  He gave up just two runs on five hits and three walks with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.

Then it went downhill as the Rockies failed to score enough runs.  On Tuesday, they lost 2-1 with the lone run coming on Yorvit Torrealba’s RBI single and a solid start by Rodrigo Lopez went to waste.  Yesterday was even worse because the Rockies were shutout and this time it was Jason Hirsch who saw a solid start go by the wayside.

And there’s no better way to make up some ground then to take on the leader and that’s what the Rockies are doing this weekend.  They have a travel day today and then they play three at Arizona against the Diamondbacks.  Two of three would push us back to .500 and also pull the Diamondbacks down a bit.

All three games in this series were decided by one run and the Padres got the best of the Rockies in their three game series.  Things got off to a nice start on Friday when the Rockies got to Greg Maddux for a 4-3 win but it went down hill from there.  On Saturday, the Rockies lost it in the bottom of the ninth and a nice start by Josh Fogg went to waste.  Then on Sunday, the Rockies ran into Jake Peavy and they managed only a single run in ten innings in another game that was decided in the final at bat of the game.

Now the Rockies head to LA to take on the Dodgers.  I can’t argue too much with a 3-3 record. It definitely could be worse.

Matt Holliday got it done today with a great game as the Rockies won their first series of the season.  The left fielder went four for five with a double, a homerun, four RBIs and two runs.  Jamey Carroll, Garrett Atkins and Todd Helton all had two runs while Carroll and Yorvit Toorealba each had three hits.  In all, it was an eleven run, eighteen hit beatdown.

Even better, Rodrigo Lopez was sharp in his Rockies debut.  He gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits with five strikeouts in seven innings of work. 

The Rockies go from one extreme in Coors Field to another in PETCO this weekend.  They get a day off and then it’s three against the defending division champs.  Jason Hirsch, who makes his tenth career start, will go against Greg Maddux in his 674th career start in the series opener.

This game was certainly exciting.  The Rockies took a quick lead with single runs in each of the first two innings before the Diamondbacks tied it up with two runs in the fifth.  Then neither team scored until the eleventh when Byung-Hyun Kim gave up an RBI single to Stephen Drew to give the Dbacks the lead.  Then the Rockies stormed back in the bottom half of the eleventh.  Troy Tulowitzki singled in a run to tie it and then Tulowitzki scored when Callapso couldn’t handle Chris Iannetta’s grounder.  So it was a walk off no RBI error that did it.

Matt Holliday was the only Rockie with two hits.  He also drove in a run.  On the mound, Jeff Francis threw seven strong.  He gave up just the two runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts.  Kim picked up the win despite giving up the go ahead run and four other relievers combined for four shutout innings.  It was a nice job by the pen in this one.

Rodrigo Lopez makes his Rockie debut today in the rubber game.  It’d be nice to take the opening series against the team many think is the best in the west.  Doug Davis throws for the Dbacks. 

The Rockies lost today 8-6.  Aaron Cook had a pretty poor start but the bats kept him in the game and when he left after the sixth inning, he was actually set up to win the game despite giving up six runs.  Latroy Hawkins wouldn’t let it happen though and he gave up three runs in the eighth as the Rockies lost a game where they had the lead late in the game.

The good news is the Rockies put up six runs on eleven hits.  Brad Hawpe had three hits and two RBIs and Jeff Baker went yard with a pinchhit solo homerun.  Willy Taveras had a tough time though and he struck out four times.

Jeff Francis throws for the Rockies tomorrow.  Maybe he can hold the Rockies and the pen can actually hold on to win it.