Rockies Register

The 2011 season is in the books and it’s interesting to see how the Rockies fared in 2011.  Coors Field was a big time hitters park again and that helped boost the Rockies offense to put them as the second best in the NL.  They finished fourth in batting average but third in OPS.

Troy Tulowitzki led the way with another great seaosn.  He belted 30 home runs and drove in 105 despite missing some time.  Carlos Gonzalez was also on the shelf but he hit 26 home runs and drove in 92.  Todd Helton had another nice season with an .850 OPS in 124 games at the ripe age of 37.

Mark Ellis once again missed quite a bit of time and he was ineffective at the plate.  He hit just six home runs in 70 games and with an .317 OBP.  Ty Wiggington also struggled and he had an OPS of just .731.  That probably doesn’t sound as bad as it does considering he plays in Coors Field.

So the Rockies were good, but some of that was because of the park.  If they can get another big bat to complement Tulowitzki and Gonzalez, it would go a long towards the Rockies contending in 2012.

SAN FRANCISCO — Colorado salvaged some of their season in the final regular season game against the San Francisco Giants.  They avoided getting swept for the third time in their last four series as they defeated the Giants 6-3 Wednesday afternoon.

The game had little meaning as the defending champs had been eliminated from the division and wild card last week.  But Colorado needed this win to have something positive to head into the offseason than dropping 11 of their last 14.

Colorado jumped out early and never looked back in the regular season’s finale.

Eric Young hit the first pitch of the game to right field for a lead-off triple.  Dexter Fowler then singled to drive in the first run of the day for Colorado.  Later in the inning, Kevin Kouzmanoff doubled to advance Fowler to third, allowing Seth Smith to groundout to second base, scoring Fowler for a 2-0 lead.

The Rockies doubled their lead in the fifth as both Kouzmanoff and Jordan Pacheco hit RBI-singles, giving Colorado a 4-0 lead over the former World Series champions.

However, in the bottom of sixth, San Francisco crawled to within a run of the Rockies as they piled up three runs in the inning.  Justin Christian led-off with a double and Jeff Keppinger brought him home on his RBI-single.  Brett Pill hit a two-out double to put runners in scoring position for Mark DeRosa and he delivered a two-RBI single to center as the Giants now only trailed 4-3.

In the seventh though, Kouzmanoff and Pacheco drove in two more runs as the Rockies doubled up the Giants 6-3 in the final regular season game of 2011.

The Rockies will have to reevaluate a lot of things after this season.  Their rotation will look very different without Ubaldo Jimenez in uniform in mid-February.  Another concern is Todd Helton.  He is getting old, 38, and maybe not be able to be an everyday position player.  His best option now would be to join the American League as a designated hitter.

In addition, the Rockies need better production out of Troy Tulowitzki, Ty Wigginton, and Carlos Gonzalez for an entire season.

DENVER — Colorado closed Coors Field on sour note.  In their final three game series in front of their home fans, the Rockies got swept by last-place San Diego, losing for the seventh straight time.

The Padres oddly enough won each game against the Rockies with all-around solid pitching.  They allowed a combined total of three runs in the series, shutting out the Rockies in the finale.

Colorado managed just one extra-base hit that came at the hands of Dexter Fowler who also broke the no-hit bid San Diego starter, Anthony Bass, had thrown through 3 2/3 innings.  The Padres starter pitched five-innings of two-hit ball for his second win.

San Diego’s offense was no surprise as they compiled four of their nine hits in the first alone en-route for a four run inning.  Those would be the only runs the Padres would score the rest of the game as aside from Cameron Maybin’s leadoff double in the first, San Diego never had another batter go for extra bases.

Jeremy Hermida took four sinkers from Aaron Cook and headed to first on the walk.  Chris Denorfia followed with a bunt groundball for a single, loading the bases for Chase Headley with nobody out.

Headley drove in the first run of the afternoon on a sacrifice fly to left-field.

Another walk from Cook to Luis Martinez loaded the bases again and Alberto Gonzalez took advantage of the runner standing at third, driving in Hermida for a second sacrifice fly.  Anthony Rizzo and Andy Parrino both followed by hitting back-to-back RBI-singles for the third and fourth run respectfully before Bass even stepped on the mound.

Both teams have six games left with the Padres closing PETCO Park with two three game sets with the Dodgers and Cubs.  Colorado also takes on a NL Central foe in the Astros before heading to San Francisco in what may be the last games played at AT&T Park this year.  Colorado could end the Giants playoff hopes if San Francisco somehow manages to win or sweep their series with Diamondbacks this weekend.  But I see champagne being unleashed Saturday night in Phoenix.

DENVER — Welcome to the major leagues Drew Pomeranz.

In Sunday’s finale with the Cincinnati Reds, and Colorado eliminated from playoff contention, it was time for some minors to get big league experience.  Pomeranz joined three other rookies on the field as he made his first major league appearance.

Needless to say, the southpaw did not display his nerves to the fans or opponent.  The lefty pitched five-innings as he was limited to a 60+ pitch count by manager, Jim Tracy.  For those five-innings, Pomeranz did nothing but impress the fans and coaching staff, allowing just two hits to a team who earlier in the season was competing for the NL Central crown.

His counterpart, Edinson Volquez lasted five-innings too, but gave up the runs to Colorado that would lead to a Rockies victory.

Scoreless through 3 ½-innings, Ty Wigginton put Colorado on the board with his solo home run to left.  The very next inning, Eric Young hit a grounder up the middle for a one out single.  Young would steal both second and third before Jordan Pacheco, another rookie, drove in the Rockies second run of the afternoon.

Young singled again in the seventh, and once again, stole second for his third steal of the day.  He later advanced to third as Fowler followed with a single, putting runners at the corners with no outs.  A wild pitch by Ramon Hernandez with Pacheco batting gave Young the easy opportunity to score while advancing Fowler to second.

Fowler later took third on Pacheco groundout, scoring on Kevin Kouzmanoff’s groundout for a four-to-nothing lead through seven.

NL MVP, Joey Votto, broke the scoreless innings for the Reds, as he sent home run number 28, a solo shot, into the right field stands.  But starter, Jason Hammel pitched the final four-innings after Pomeranz debut, earning his first save of the season.

Colorado could do their division foe, the D-backs, a favor if they can pull out some victories over the Milwaukee Brewers.  With just games left in the regular season, the only competition left in the National League is to determine who will get home field advantage after the Philadelphia Phillies, where they posses home field throughout the post-season unless they get knocked off.  Gotta love the Midsummer Classic mean so much for post-season play.

DENVER — For the first time in a long time this season, the Diamondbacks bullpen was unable to preserve a lead, falling to the Colorado Rockies after allowing seven unanswered runs to score in the eighth.

The D-backs led 3-1 through 7 ½-innngs, but entering the bottom half of the eighth, the bullpen was throwing beach balls to Colorado batters.  Arizona’s relief pitcher, David Hernandez got the first and third batter out on ground outs, but after the second out, the Rockies had the next nine batters reach safely, despite two outs already recorded.

Arizona got its offense going in the first after Aaron Hill and Justin Upton both hit one out singles to begin the first.  Miguel Montero then followed by grounding out to the second baseman, allowing Hill to score the first run of the game.

The Rockies tied the game in the fifth on Jordan Pacheco’s groundout to third.  Seth Smith scored the tying run as he tripled to leadoff the inning.

But over the next two innings, it seemed guaranteed that Arizona was going to win this game with the confidence they possess as division leaders.  Paul Goldschmidt led-off with a double in the seventh, advancing to third on a wild pitch.  Gerardo Parra hit a one-out RBI-single to break the tie, giving the D-backs a slight 2-1 advantage.

Montero tried to give his D-backs some insurance support by singling home Hill, who doubled earlier in the inning.  Leading by a pair of runs in the late stages of the game, there is no doubt Arizona was calm and cool and did not expect what was about to come in next few minutes.

With two outs in the ninth, and Dexter Fowler at first, things looked bleak for the Rockies as they have all season.  Colorado has struggled to score runs all season, while Arizona’s bullpen has been strong in late game situations in the second half of this season.  Must have been Opposite Day at Coors Field.

Colorado proceeded to score seven runs in the eighth as nine straight batters reached as a result of a hit, walk, or hit batsman.  Troy Tulowitzki smacked a two-run homerun to give Colorado a 5-3 lead.  Smith would get an RBI on his triple that kept the lineup moving.  With the bases loaded, the twelfth batter of the inning, Fowler, took a seven-pitch at-bat that eventually led to the seventh run being walked in.

Arizona starter, Josh Collmenter, had a solid effort as he went 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on five-hits.  His counterpart, Jason Hammel, however went 7-innings, surrendering just two-runs in that span.

Arizona could not buy a hit off Colorado’s, Rafael Betancourt, who got all three batters he faced to fly out to Smith in left-field.

SAN DIEGO — San Diego was shutout yet again.  For tenth time this season, the Padres suffered to score runs in front of their home fans as Colorado blanked them through nine.

Kevin Millwood pitched for the Rockies, and went seven shutout innings as he allowed seven-hits while striking out eight.

Aaron Harang (12-5), the Padres best pitcher by far this season, struggled with his command against a sub-par season from Colorado.  He gave up three runs through seven, striking seven.

It was a pretty clean game through three-innings, but in the fourth, Colorado broke the tie for two-runs.  Dexter Fowler tripled to leadoff the fourth, scoring on Jonathan Herrera’s ensuing RBI-single.  A throw to the plate allowed Herrera to take second and later advance to third on a wild pitch.  Tulowitzki’s groundout scored the Rox second run of the night.

Tulowitzi would drive in a second run on a single to right in the sixth in increase Colorado’s lead, 3-0.

San Diego had eight hits in the game, but the reason for zero runs was due to the fact that not one of those hits went for extra bases.  Singles do not win games and San Diego found that out last night in a 3-0 loss.

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.