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 

Post info: By claplante on July 1st, 2008
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The Rockies have been the only National League team dominating the American League this year. Tonight’s 6-3 win against the Indians was for the sweep and although the Rockies have won four of their last series it  was the first sweep of the season. The Rockies have won their last five games. 

Jorge De La Rosa got the start tonight and pitched a good game with three runs on four hits in six innings. He stayed calm after giving up 2 runs in the first off of a Francisco homerun. The next run wouldn’t come until the sixth off of a Blake homerun. He also had a career high number of strikeouts tonight with ten. His work on the mound was a huge part in the win.

Another player who was once again a huge part in the win was Jeff Baker. He hit the go-ahead run in the sixth with a bomb out to left center field. Baker even got his first intentional walk of the season. His defense on first base could use some work but he definitely made up for it in offense. Matt Holliday had an RBI tonight along with Brad Hawpe who had two. 

The man of the night was Doug Bernier who was brought up from AAA for only three games. Tonight was his first major league start and although he didn’t get that elusive first hit he played some good defense. He assisted Yorvit Torrealba on a pick off play in the third and got the first out in the ninth by running out to center and making a catch. He must have been good luck for the Rockies, who won every game he was brought up for. He will most likely go back down tomorrow but it was a nice cup of coffee for Bernier, who has spent seven years making his way to the show. 

The Rockies start a series with the Mets tomorrow at Coors Field and hopefully the Rockies can keep up the winning. 

 

In other news the Rockies signed their first round draft pick, Christian Friedrich, today. 

 

ROCKSTAR of the game: JEFF BAKER and DOUG BERNIER

 

Post info: By claplante on June 20th, 2008
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Jorge De La Rosa had an amazing start after his total bomb against the Phillies. The close games lately haven’t been going the Rockies way but today it was a different story. The Rockies finished the game with more offense than the White Sox and the pitching couldn’t be touched.

De La Rosa pitched 5 innings and only gave up 1 hit. Something just clicked tonight with De La Rosa and he looked like a true major league pitcher. It might have been less stressful for him being in the American League and not having to bat, but whatever it was he was a different player than his last start.

De La Rosa wasn’t the only pitcher for the Rockies shutting down the offense. Jason Grilli, Taylor Buchholz and Brian Fuentes all did their part to earn the team a much needed W. All together they gave up 2 hits and no earned runs. The bullpen was looking like it did last year, solid. If the bullpen can keep healthy and perform like they did today the Rockies should be getting closer to that 500 mark.

The offense wasn’t producing much tonight but thanks to the pitching that didn’t matter. Only one run was needed but the Rockies got a little insurance. The first run was scored in the top of the 7th with a ground rule double by Jeff Baker and a sac bunt by Yorvit Torrealba to move the the runner up, and with 2 outs a little blooper hit just beyond the second baseman by Willy Taveras brought Baker in for the winning run. Taveras had a great night tonight after being in a little slump. He went 2 for 4 and had 5 stolen bases, just short of the Rockies record of 6  by Eric Young. With Taveras getting back into the grove hopefully all the Rockies will follow suit and the team will break out of their losing record.

Tomorrow is Fathers Day and the final game of the series in Chicago and the Rockies will go for the win. I am banking on a Rockies win tomorrow because I haven’t gotten a present yet for my dad and a Rockies win would be perfect for my budget as a college student. So, GO ROCKIES!

Rockies Blog

Post info: By claplante on June 14th, 2008
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The Colorado Rockies were rocked out in Los Angeles on Monday night as they lose to the Dodgers 8-2.  It was the eighth straight loss for the Rockies who are playing terrible baseball right now.  If they don’t turn things around soon, we are really going to see a lot of trade rumors etc happening as they have already started up some.

Greg Reynolds was the loosing pitcher for the Rockies on Monday night as he tossed five inning.  Reynolds gave up seven hits and six runs (four of the runs were earned), as he dropped his record to 0-3 on the season.  Reynolds needs to keep the ball down unlike on Monday when he gave up two home runs.

Jorge De La Rosa came in to pitch the next two innings for the Rockies and also had trouble as he gave up two runs and a home run.

Garrett Atkins had gotten the Rockies a 1-0 lead with a rbi single in the first inning that scored Ryan Spilborghs.  The next run for the Rockies didn’t come until the ninth inning when Yorvit Torrealba doubled in Todd Helton.  You are not going to win very many games when you only score two runs.

I don’t know what the Rockies problem is right now.  It appears that they have no confidence, and why should they when they just lost their eighth game in a row?

Rockies Blog

Post info: By Cliff on June 3rd, 2008
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The Colorado Rockies have won three games in a row after they defeated the San Francisco Giants by the score of 4-3 on Monday night.  The Rockies still have a long ways to go to get back into contention, but this is a good start and they will be playing a lot of games at Coors Field in the next 30 games so they should be able to pick up some ground in the division I would think.

Jason Grilli picked up the win and is now 1-0 on the season.  Grilli pitched 2/3 of an inning after Jorge De La Rosa was taken out after 5 1/3 innings.  De La Rosa gave up four hits and three runs in the game to get the no decision.

Matt Herges and Taylor Buchholz pitched the seventh and eighth innings without allowing run to cross the plate.  Brian Fuentes then came in to record his sixth save of the season.

Yorvit Torrealba had the big hit for the Rockies when he had a two run double in the sixth inning.  Torrealba tried to stretch the double into a triple but was thrown out at third base on the play.  Clint Barmes hit a solo home run while Garrett Atkins had a rbi single in the game.  Todd Helton went 0-4 in the game as he is kind of struggling on the season with a .268 average.

Rockies Blog

Post info: By Cliff on May 19th, 2008
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The Colorado Rockies tried to come back with two runs in the eighth inning but they still fell short by one run as they lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks by the score of 4-3.  The Diamondbacks just seem to have the Rockies number right now as they seem to always beat them.

Jorge De La Rosa started the game for the Rockies and only lasted 4 2/3 innings while giving up seven hits and four runs.  He walked three batters and struck out six others.  De La Rosa is now 1-2 with a 9.42 era on the season.

Scott Podsednik had a two run single in the eighth inning to lead the Rockies at the plate.  Other then that the only other Rockies run came in the seventh inning on a Ryan Spilborghs rbi single.  The Rockies had 12 hits in the game but left 23 runners on base as they just coudln’t come up with a big hit to knock in the runs.

The Rockies will try to avoid the sweep as they play the Diamondbacks once again on Thursday.

Padres Homeplate is currently seeking a Padres fan that would like to write game recaps for the games.  Recaps can be done right after the game is over or the next morning.  If you are interested be us the contact us link at the top of the site to email us.

Post info: By Cliff on May 15th, 2008
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The Colorado Rockies rockied St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Lohse around with four runs int he first inning alone as they went on to beat the Cardinals by the score of 9-3.  With the win, the Rockies were able to manage a split in the four game series with the Cardinals.

Jorge De La Rosa pitched 5 2/3 innings to pick up the win for the Rockies.  He allowed five hits and two runs in the five plus innings of action.  Manny Corpas tossed 1 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball in relief of De La Rosa which was nice to see.  Matt Herges came in for Corpas and pitched one inning while allowing one run.  Taylor Buchholz pitched the final inning without allowing a run.

Garrett Atkins and Chris Iannetta both finished the game with two rbi.  Iannetta continues to hit the ball very good at the plate for the Rockies.  Todd Helton, Ryan Spilborghs, Clint Barmes, and De La Rosa all had one rbi in the game.

Rockies Blog

Post info: By Cliff on May 8th, 2008
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