The Colorado Rockies are bringing back ex-manager Don Baylor. Baylor will be the teams new hitting coach news sources reported on Monday in Denver.

The team also brought in Jim Tracy to serve as the bench coach and Rich Dauer as third base coach. Jim Wright becomes the bullpen coach and Brian Jordan will be the strength and conditioning coach.

The only coaches that were retained from last year are first base coach Glenallen Hill and and manager Clint Hurdle.

Rockies Transactions

After losing their last two games in Pittsburgh the Rockies knew they needed to win to prove themselves. After giving up the lead in the last two games the Rox were able to hold on to the lead and end the game with a win, 7-4. 

Aaron Cook has become a pitcher that Clint Hurdle can count on for a good game. Last night he didn’t have his best game, but he came through and kept the Pirates at Bay. He pitched seven innings and gave up four runs on nine hits. He only had one bad inning; the Pirates scored all their run in the fifth. He did get the W, which now puts his record at 14-6.

Last night’s game had some good old Rockies offense, which is key for them when they win. Willy Taveras went two for five, and he needed it. Taveras hasn’t had the best on base percentage for a leadoff hitter. But one thing he does do best is steel bases and last night he got his total up to 48. Garrett Atkins also went two for five and added one to his RBI column. Troy Tulowitzki is making a comeback. He went three for four and got an RBI. He is now above the Mendoza line hitting .241. The difference in the game had to have been Chris Iannetta’s three run homerun in the fifth. He crushed the ball to dead center and put the Rockies in the lead to win the game. 

The bullpen was outstanding. Taylor Buchholz did struggle for a little while but is now back on track. He only gave up one hit in one inning pitched. He has fit in well as the eighth inning set up man for Brian Fuentes. Last night was a save situation for Fuentes, who recorded his 18th save of the season and 103rd save of his career. He now holds the Rockies recored for most saves. Fuentes has stepped up this year and proved himself worthy of the closer position. 

ROCKSTAR of the game: CHRIS IANNETTA

(The Rockies are now looking towards Dodgers, rather than the Diamondbacks, with their new left fielder Manny Ramirez)  

Tonight I guess you could say that I jinxed the team. I decided that I was going to once and for all see if my Rockies baseball cap is truly bad luck. It is. I wore it to all four games of the World Series, then my first game back from college and, for one last time, tonight with the 15-8 loss. The Rockies lost every single game, so I have decided to burn it and hopefully get the Rockies back on track. Right now the team could use anything to get them going again.

The night started off great for the Rockies who scored three in the first off of a bases loaded double by Chris Iannetta. And then three more in the third with a Brad Hawpe bomb out to center field. The runs weren’t over for the Rockies who scored another one in the fourth and fifth. They had a five run lead going into the sixth and all was looking good. But just like the Rockies record things went downhill. 

Jorge De La Rosa pitched a pretty good game up until the sixth, he only giving up three runs. But as he threw more pitched the Padres got more hits. He gave up three in the sixth before he was taken out. It was the bullpens turn to take over. Ryan Speier came in and gave up two runs to tie the game. No lead is safe when it comes to the Rockies. After Matt Herges came in and shut down the Padres offense the Rockies had a glimpse of hope, but it was soon crushed by Brian Fuentes.

Fuentes is one of those closers that is either on or off with no in between and tonight he was as off as a closer can get. I could tell it wasn’t going to be a good outing when he gave up a lead off hit. After that first hit he gave up four more. The Padres scored FIVE runs off Fuentes, FIVE. It was not a pretty sight. After giving up those FIVE runs Clint Hurdle finally had to take him out and gave Luis Vizciano a shot at lowering his 8.00 ERA. But Vizciano ended up giving up two more runs. So after being up five runs the Rockies ended up being down seven. 

The Rockies couldn’t respond in the bottom half of the ninth going down 1, 2, 3. It was close to a sellout crowd tonight and it might be one of the Rockies last with the way they blew it tonight. As the Padres scored more and more runs the fans booed louder and louder, which is a sound rarely heard at Coors Field. Lets hope tomorrow night the Rockies can redeem themselves