Rockies Register

I’ll keep it short, but man this was bummer.  I guess I know how Tigers’ fans felt last year when they had that huge run only to get spanked by the Cardinals.  Still, it’s hard to be sad with how the Rockies did this year, you just wish they would have made more of an impact in the Series.

The offseason will be an interesting one.  The Rockies still need an arm or two and then there’s the question of Helton’s huge contract, although I have a feeling he won’t be going anywhere.

The Rockies are down 2-0 and they’re in unfamiliar territory.  The last time they lost back to back games was well over a month ago on September 14-15.  Still, the Rockies have to get their offense going quickly or this series is going to be over sooner rather then later.

The Rockies lone run came in the very first inning.  Willie Taveras scored on Todd Helton’s ground out and after the first inning, the Rockies couldn’t manage a single run.  In all, the Rockies managed just five hits with four of those coming off of the bat of Matt Holliday, who was a perfect four for four.  Brad Hawpe had the only other hit.

Ubaldo Jimenez got through the first few frames fairly easily but he ran into trouble in the fourth and fifth innings when he was tagged with a run in each frame.  Matt Herges came up huge when he got the final out in the fifth inning to strand all three baserunners but it didn’t seem to matter much because the Rockies couldn’t score any runs.

The series now moves to Denver and it’ll be Josh Fogg going up against Dice-K.  It’s now or never and the Rockies need to get something done tomorrow if they want to have a chance in this dream season.

Well, the Red Sox completed their comeback so they’ll be the Rockies’ opponent when the World Series kicks off.  The opposing pitcher will be the red hot Josh Beckett and you have to think the Rockies will go with Jeff Francis.  Let’s get it on.

The Rockies continued their historic run as they won their seventh straight playoff game to complete a four game sweep over the Diamondbacks to advance to their first ever World Series.  The Rockies got it done with the big inning and it was fourth in which they scored all of six of their runs in a 6-4 in.  Seth Smith put the Rockies on the board with a two run, pinch hit double while Matt Holliday capped off the inning with a huge three run blast that turned out to be the difference maker.  Holliday had two of the Rockies six hits and if you take away that big inning, the Rockies were held to zero runs on three hits.

The Diamondbacks made one last push in the eighth inning when Brian Fuentes was shelled for three runs.  That ended his impressive playoff run but Manny Corpus came in to put out the fire.  Matt Herges picked up the win with two solid innings of shutout relief.

Now, the wait begins because the Rockies don’t play for well over a week.  Game one of the World Series is Wednesday and you hope the layoff doesn’t shatter the Rockies spectacular momentum.  Still, the break will be nice and it’ll allow the Rockies to get some much needed rest at a time in the season where that can be at a premium.

The Rockies took care of the Diamondbacks in game three 4-1 and they now have a commanding three games to zero lead in the National League Championship series.  They did it behind a very good start by Josh Fogg, who held the Diamondbacks to just a single run on seven hits in a game that saw the rain fall for most of the time.  Apparantly the league has their mandate on finishing games because this one was a nasty one because the guys had to play in rain that ranged from light to heavy throughout the entire thing.

Matt Holliday put the Rockies on the board in the first inning with a solo homer before Mark Reynolds tied it up in the fourth with a solo shot of his own.  Then Yorvit Torrealba put the game away with a three run blast in the sixth inning.

Jeremy Affeldt, Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpus once again got the job done out of the pen with a shutout inning a piece.  Brian Fuentes has been simply awesome in the postseason.  He’s pitched in every game and he hasn’t allowed a run with nine strikeouts and three walks in 5 1/3 innings.

The Rockies can lock things up as early as tonight.  It’ll be Franlin Morales going up against Micah Owings.

The Rockies took a commanding two games to zero lead with a dramatic eleven inning victory over the Diamondbacks last night.  Ubaldo Jimenez gave the Rockies five solid innings and he held the Diamonsbacks to a single run and he left with the Rockies up 2-1.  Yorvit Torrealba singled home a run in the second inning and then Todd Helton drove in a run with a sac. fly in the top of the fifth inning.

Matt Herges, Latroy Hawkins and Brian Fuentes each threw a shutout frame until the Diamondbacks finally got to Manny Corpus in the bottom of the ninth when Chris Young scored on a fielders choice to tie the game up and send it into extra frames.  Corpus threw a shutout tenth though and the Rockies struck in the eleventh.  Ryan Spilborghs led off the inning with a single and then Troy Tulowitzki flew out.  Brad Hawpe drew a walk to put two men on and then Torrealba popped out to make it two outs.  Jamey Carroll drew a walk to load the bases up and then Willie Tavares drew the third walk of the inning to drive home the winning run.

Ryan Speier threw a perfect ninth and the rest was history.  The Rockies have a day off today and then it’s back at it on Sunday.

The Rockies got off to a rocky (I know, bad pun) start when Jeff Francis was tagged for a run in the bottom of the first inning but he didn’t allow a run the rest of the way and the Rockies got the bats going in their 5-1 win.  Troy Tulowitzki hit into a double play in the second that scored Todd Helton to tie it at 1-1 and then Kaz Matsui singled home a run and Brad Hawpe singled home two in the third to open the game up.  The Rockies scored another run in the eighth inning on Conor Jackson’s erro but at that point, the run was unneccesary.

Hawpe reached base three times with two singles and a walk.  Oddly, none of the eight Rockies hits were for extra bases, they just managed to bunch them up in that third inning when it counted.

Francis gave up the one run on seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.  Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas once again got through the eighth and ninth respectively without giving up a run.

Game two is tonight.  It’ll be Doug Davis for the Diamondbacks and Ubaldo Jimenez will throw for the Rockies.  A 2-0 lead with both wins on the road sure would be nice.

The Rockies are in the NLCS and they won the first playoff series in the franchises history as they finished up a three game sweep over the Phillies.  Once again, the Rockies pitching staff came through even playing the hitter friendly Coors field and a rookie starter and the pen held the Phillies to just a single run on three hits.

Ubaldo Jimenez picked up the win with 6 1/3 solid frames.  He gave up his share of walks (four) but he gave up just the one run on three hits and he struck out five.  Matt Herges got the Rockies through the seventh and then Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpus did their jobs in the eighth and ninth.

Kaz Matsui put the Rockies on the board in the fifth inning with an RBI triple.  Jimenez then gave up a trying run when Shane Victorino took him deep for a solo homer but the Rockies got it done in the eighth inning.  With two outs, Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe singled to keep the inning alive and then Jeff Baker belted a pinch hit RBI single to give the Rockies the run they needed to walk away with the win and the series.

With the sweep, the Rockies now have until Thursday to play their next game.  The Diamondbacks also swepth so the Rockies opponent is decided.  That’s just an awfully long time to plan.

This was the battle of the lead off hitters as Kaz Matsui and Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins combined to drive in nine runs.  Fortunately, Matsui drove in just half of the Rockies ten runs while Rollins provided pretty much the bulk of the Phillies offense.  Matsui’s big grand slam came in the fourth inning which gave the Rockies their second and most important lead of the game.  Oddly, Matsui needed just a single to hit for the cycle but he came up short in two at bats.  Still, he played a roll in six of the Rockies ten runs.

Matt Holliday and Troy Tulowitzki belted back to back solo homers in the very first inning to put the Rockies on the board.  Holliday finishe the game with two hits and two RBIs while Yorvit Torrealba doubled, drew a walk, drove in two and scored two runs.

Franklin Morales was gone after he gave up three runs through three innings.  Josh Fogg pitched two shutout games and he picked up the win while Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas combined to hold the Phillies scoreless in the final 1 2/3 innings to close out the game.

Game three isn’t until Saturday and the Rockies will go for the sweep.  It’ll be another rookie in Ubaldo Jimenez getting the start for the Rockies while veteran Jamie Moyer gets the nod for the Phillies.

Jeff Francis was the team’s ace throughout the 2007 season and this carried over into the playoffs as he pitched the Rockies to a 1-0 lead in the first game of the NLDS.  He gave up four hits in six innings but two of those went over the fence as Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrell hit back to back jacks in the fifth innings.  That was all the Phillies could manage though and you also have to give some kudos to the pen.  Latroy Hawkins, Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas all pitched a shutout inning a piece to carry the Rockies to the win.

The Rockies big inning was the second and that was the undoing of Phillies ace Cole Hamels.  Todd Helton led off with a triple and he scored on Garrett Atkins double.  Brad Hawpe struck out and then Ryan Spilborghs drew a walk.  Yorvit Torrealba then singled home Atkins before Jeff Francis bunted over both base runners.  Then Troy Tulowitski singled home Spilborghs to make it a 3-0 lead.

The Phillies cut it to 3-2 but Matt Holliday gave the Rockies a big insurance run in the eighth inning with a solo homer.  Torrealba was the only Rockies hitter with two hits while Spilborghs drew two walks.

Rookie Franklin Morales will make just his ninth big league start as he gets the nod in game two.  The Phillies have a rookie going as well with 10-4 Kyle Kendrick throwing tomorrow.  Same time, same place.