Rockies Register

LOS ANGELES — Seven was not a lucky number for the Colorado Rockies in their loss to the Dodgers’ Friday evening.

The Rockies’ led by one-run before surrendering six in the seventh as they lost 6-1 in Los Angeles, ending their five-game win streak.

Ted Lilly, who has struggled more than anticipated since the trade from Chicago, got the start for the Dodgers and pitched a great game.  He went seven innings of three-hit baseball.  His only mistake was a pitch to Carlos Gonzalez that left the park.  But that would be the only run Colorado would score the remainder of the game.

Even in the seventh though, it looked bleak that the Dodgers’ could win this one.  Both Andre Ethier and Aaron Miles were issued walks to start the inning and Rod Barajas followed that with a single to load the bases with no-outs.

But, Jamey Carroll hit it to shallow center field and Dexter Fowler threw a cannon to home to get Ethier out for a double-play.  A rare feat took place as the Dodgers’ proceeded to score six two-out runs en-route to a 6-1 victory.

With runners at second and third, the Rockies decided to walk Tony Gwynn to load the bases with two-outs to apply the force out.  In less than 24-hours, this same decision would prove to be destructive and potentially considered stupidity as it would lead to another loss for Colorado.

Justin Sellers was the batter with the bases juiced and before anyone could blink, the game was tied 1-all as Esmil Rogers was called for the balk allowing all three runners to advance.  Sellers then hit a bases clearing single for a 3-1 Dodgers lead.

However, the drama was far from over.  Rockies manager, Jim Tracy, would get ejected after arguing with the umpires after a second balk was called in the inning.

The balk though did not impact whether or not Sellers would come home; James Loney determined that outcome as he sent a two-run home run to right center for a 5-1 lead.

Los Angeles went back-to-back in the inning on Matt Kemp’s ensuing solo home run to give the Dodgers’ their sixth-run of the inning.  The blast also gave Matt Kemp his 30-homerun, making him the second Dodger in franchise history to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season.

Kemp deserves the NL MVP award just like Felix Hernandez deserved and was rightfully awarded the AL Cy Young.  End of discussion.

DENVER — Ricky Nolasco can only be happy that he does not have to pitch in the high altitude that is Coors Field.

The Florida starter got hammered by the Rockies’ through just three-innings.  Nolasco gave up a five spot in the opening inning and followed that by surrendering six in the third.  In his worst outing of the season, he gave up 11-hits for 11-runs with all 11-runs being earned runs.

Aaron Cook earned the win as the offense gave him all he needed to last 7 2/3 innings without any worry of losing this one.

Where has all this offense been that finally appeared against the Marlins’?  I wish I knew too.

Twice the Rockies’ batted around the order as they scored eleven runs over the course of the first and third innings.

Carlos Gonzalez got the ball rolling for the Rox as he opened the beat down with an RBI-single to drive home Dexter Fowler who led off the inning with a single.

With the bases loaded, Chris Nelson hit a single past shortstop, Emilio Bonifacio, for another RBI and a 2-0 lead.  But the Rockies’ were not quite finished as Chris Iannetta followed with a bases clearing double to give Colorado an early 5-0 lead over the Fish.

However, after the bats were quieted in the second-inning, Todd Helton must have lit a spark that ignited them to erupt again in the third.

Both Helton and Seth Smith hit back-to-back singles and advanced a base on Nelson’s groundout.  The next two ensuing batters, Iannetta and Cook, hit RBI-singles for a seven to nothing lead.  With two-outs, Mark Ellis kept piling on the runs with an RBI-single too, pushing the Rockies lead further at 8-0.

Gonzalez, the eighth batter of the inning, then brought everyone home as had occurred in the first, but his left the park for a three-run blast to give Colorado an 11-0 lead after three which would end Nolasco’s night.

From that point on though, Colorado’s bats were kept in check till they added a solo run in the eighth on an Eric Young RBI-single that scored Fowler.

The Marlins’ got five-runs over the course of the final two-innings, but would still find themselves losers in this slaughter fest as they would never get closer than seven-runs once the final out was recorded.

In the eighth, the Marlins’ went deep twice.  Jose Lopez hit a leadoff solo shot to get the Marlins’ on the board and four batters later, Mike Stanton hit his 29-homerun, a two-run rocket.

Florida added a pair of runs in the final inning on Dewayne Wise’s RBI-single and Lopez got the Marlins their last run on a sacrifice fly in front of 33,522 that finally witnessed what this offense is capable of doing day in and day out.

ST. LOUIS — The Colorado Rockies sit ten-games under .500 and do not seem at all capable of their historic second half division comebacks.  The Rockies made it pretty clear they have given up on this season when the traded Ubaldo Jimenez to the Cleveland Indians prior the trade deadline.

Their 6-1 loss in St. Louis have all but eliminated the Rockies from post-season play, now making strictly it a two team race in the NL West between the San Francisco Giants and the now first-place, Arizona Diamondbacks.

For a while, it appeared that Colorado had a chance against the Cardinals who are fighting against the Milwaukee Brewers for first in the NL Central with that division too becoming a two team race.

The Cardinals got their first run of the night on a David Freese RBI-single that brought in Lance Berkman who had doubled earlier in the inning.

In the top of the fourth, Carlos Gonzalez tied things up 1-all with a solo shot to right-center.  With a double by Todd Helton later with one-out, the Rockies had a solid chance to do more damage but did none.  Colorado even had two more batters reach base due to walks to load the bases in the fourth, but yet could not muster any more runs in the inning as starter, Aaron Cook, flied out to end any sort of threat.

Cook only allowed three-hits through five-innings and seemed to be on his way to a solid outing.  But then the wheels completely fell off as he then allowed five-runs in the sixth-inning alone, being yanked after recording two-outs for relief pitcher, Edgmer Escalona.

St. Louis got six straight batters to reach safely to begin the sixth and completed the inning with six-hits, one of which was an extra base hit, and one walk, scoring five-runs before having to play defense again.

The Cardinals had the top of the order to start the sixth with Rafael Furcal, Jon Jay, and Albert Pujols all singling with Albert’s single breaking the 1-1 tie.  Matt Holliday’s double scored Jay keeping runners in scoring position with still no outs.  An intentional walk to Berkman loaded the bases for Freese who also singled for 2-RBI’s, giving St. Louis a 5-1 lead.

Kyle Lohse’s RBI-single closed out the five-run inning romp as the Cardinals went on to defeat the Rockies 6-1.  The Rockies only had three-hits after the Gonzalez homerun.

Colorado plays another evening game in St. Louis with Jason Hammel taking the mound with the only role the Rockies can play at all the remainder of the season is the role of spoiler.

DENVER — Colorado dropped Sunday’s finale to the Washington Nationals to split the four-game series, going 2-5 on their home stand.

Colorado (53-62) was unable to match the offense they displayed the previous night as they blew out the Nationals 15-7.  Sunday afternoon the Rockies were kept in check, getting their only runs of the day in the seventh.

Jonathan Herrera walked to start the seventh, eventually advancing to second on Eric Young’s single.  Carlos Gonzalez would reach first on a fielding-error by Nationals first baseman, Michael Morse, which allowed Herrera to score while also putting Young at third.  Ty Wigginton then hit a two-out RBI-single to bring in Young for a 2-2 tie.

The Nationals quickly got on the board in the second-inning as Jonny Gomes two-run blast gave Washington a 2-0 lead.  In the eighth, the Nationals would break the tie to go up 3-2.

The Nationals Danny Espinosa led-off with a double, taking third on Ryan Zimmerman’s groundout.  With one-out, Jayson Werth hit the eventual game-winner to left, a single to bring home Espinosa for a 3-2 victory.

Both starters, John Lannan of Washington and Aaron Cook of Colorado, received no-decisions despite pitching through the sixth-inning.

Starting Monday, the Rockies will open up another four-game set, this time on the road against the Cincinnati Reds who were at one point fighting for first in the NL Central, now find themselves four-games under .500.  Colorado will look to take advantage of this struggling club when they send Jason Hammel to the mound.