The Colorado Rockies were rocked at home by the San Diego Padres on Monday night. The Rockies had ten hits in the game but the pitching staff gave up eighteen and the Rockies lost 11-5. A six run third inning by the Padres put the Rockies in a big hole that they were never able to come out of.

Greg Reynolds was awful as he only lasted two innings after being charged with nine hits and seven runs. Reynolds took the loss and is now 2-7 on the year. Jason Hirsh gave up two more runs as he pitched 2 1/3 innings of relief after Reynolds was taken out of the game. Matt Herges and Steven Register both gave up single runs later in the game as well.

Four of the Rockies five runs came in the fourth inning when Troy Tulowitzki hit a grand slam. The final run for the Rockies came on a Chris Iannetta solo home run in the eighth inning. The Rockies offense just couldn’t keep up with the Padres.

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Well, I was embarrassed last night. Most people who know me know that I am a diehard Rockies fan, and last night was their time to shine on national television, but they choked. I am a firm believer in ESPN’s East coast bias, and I was hoping to prove that the Rockies could hold their own; but instead they got shutout (again), losing 7-0. 

Mark Redman did not pitch his best. He only pitched three and 1/3 innings and gave up eight hits and five runs. The Rockies need to get some healthy pitchers. It was hard to watch Redman as he struggled every at bat. Ryan Speier made his way back to the big leagues but didn’t help out much; he gave up two hits and two runs in one inning pitched. Matt Herges, Luis Vizciano and Brian Fuentes all pitched an inning and shutdown the Mets but it was little too late. 

The offense was absolutely dormant last night. Although it was better than the night before last’s one hitter. The Rockies ended the night with five hits and NO RUNS. Seriously they couldn’t score in eighteen innings in New York. Brad Hawpe went two for four and Joe Koshansky got his first hit that wasn’t a homerun, but no one could bring them in. It was pretty pathetic, I stopped watching after the seventh inning. 

Last night could have been a way for the Rockies to get noticed and get some recognition, but they blew it. I am hoping that the All Star break will help get the team geared up and ready to get back in this. Right now the team could use a couple days to regroup and get ready for the four game series against the Pirates this weekend.

After the first game I was thinking hey, the Rockies are back! But after last night I held myself back and realized they have a long way to go. Last night the Rockies lost 7-3 to the Brewers. It was one of those games that they could have easily won, but couldn’t bring in the runners. 

Mark Redman started for the second time since Jeff Francis was put on the DL. He didn’t look as bad as the score did. He pitched five innings and gave up four runs on five hits. He made one mistake to Braun who took advantage and homered scoring three runs. His pitches looked good, but he just didn’t have the run support. 

After coming off of a huge fourth of July weekend the Rockies seemed to have used up all their hits. There wasn’t a lot of offense in last night’s game for the Rockies. Garrett Atkins was the only player on the team who had two hits raising his average to .311. Matt Holliday kept his hitting streak alive with one hit last night, it was this 11th straight game with a hit. But other than that there really wasn’t much. In the early part of the season the Rockies were having trouble with scoring runs and I am hoping this was just a one night deal, and they have it out of there system.

The bullpen also needed some help. Matt Herges, who usually shuts down the other team, struggled last night. He thew for one and 2/3 innings and gave up three runs on two hits. Before Herges gave up the three, the Rockies were only down one. It should have been tied at that point, but when the bases were loaded and Yorvit Torrealba hit a ball down the right field line, Ryan Spilbourghs pulled up rounding second and stopped at third in obvious pain. It was later reported that Spilbourghs strained an oblique. 

Injuries have really been plaguing the Rockies lately. With Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki and Francis on the 15 day DL, Jeff Baker out for a couple games with a wrist problem and now Spilly out for awhile, the team is starting to look like the Sky Sox. I don’t know who the strength and conditioning coach is, but something isn’t working. Earlier in the year Holliday, Brad Hawpe, and Tulowitzki were all out with quad problems. The Rockies need to keep their team healthy in order to pull ahead in the NL West. 

They are going against the Brewers ace (well at least he was there ace before Sabathia) Ben Sheets tonight. It would be nice to see another win for the Rockies at Miller Park, we need all the away wins we can get. 

ROCKSTAR of the game: GARRETT ATKINS

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 

The Colorado Rockies had trouble in the late innings on Thursday night as they lost to the Chicago Cubs by the score of 8-4.  The Rockies had two errors by pitchers late in the game that really hurt them as the Cubs scored five runs in the seventh and eighth innings to pick up the win.

Matt Herges took the loss and is now 2-2 on the season after giving up two runs in the seventh inning.  Taylor Buchholz then gave up three runs in the eighth inning as the Cubs blew the game wide open.

Rockies starting pitcher Jeff Francis lasted five innings and gave up six hits and three runs.

Willy Taveras led the Rockies at the plate with two rbi while Ian Stewart and Yorvit Torrealba both had one rbi in the game.

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The Colorado Rockies continued to play terrible baseball on Wednesday night as they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 6-1.  The Phillies had no problems sweeping the Rockies in the three game series.  After the terrible series, the Rockies are now 20-32 on the season.

Greg Reynolds pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up five hits and six runs as he took the loss.  Reynolds is now 0-2 on the season.  Jason Grilli and Matt Herges both pitched in relief with out giving up a run so atleast that was a good thing.

Todd Helton had a rbi single in the third inning.  That was the only run for the Rockies as they continue to swing the bat bad.

The Rockies will now fly to Chicago and begin a four game series with the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.

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The Colorado Rockies were ahead 2-0 heading into the ninth inning but Rockies closer Brian Fuentes gave up two runs to the San Francisco Giants as they tied the game and sent it to extra innings.  In the tenth inning, it was Matt Herges turn to give up a run and the Rockies lost to the Giants 3-2.

Rockies starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez earned a much better decision then a no decision as he tossed seven innings of shut out baseball.  Jiminez only gave up three hits and two walks through seven innings.  Taylor Buchholz pitched a scoreless eighth inning before Fuentes and Herges messed the game up.

The Rockies scored a run in the first and second innings of the game and after that they did nothing at all.  Matt Holliday had a ground out to the pitcher in the first inning that scored Willy Tavarez and then in the second inning, Jeff Baker had a sac fly to center field to score the Rockies second and last run of the game.

Talk about a disappointing way to lose the game.  Blow the save, and then lose in extra innings. Hopefully it won’t hurt the Rockies too much and they get some much needed rest on Thursday before they start a series with the New York Mets.

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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.

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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.

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The Colorado Rockies battled back to tie the game 5-5 in the eighth inning but then went onto give up another run in the to of the ninth inning on a weird play as the Cardinals defeated the Rockies 6-5.  In the top of the ninth inning Albert Pujols scored from second base on a groundout to second base.  Jonathan Herrera lofted the ball to Todd Helton and Pujols ended up just running all the way home instead of stopped at third base like most runners would have.  Helton was unable to get the ball home in time and Pujol slide in under the tag to give the Cardinals the go ahead run.

Brian Fuentes took the loss and is now 0-2 on the season.  Pujols said he took the gamble because Fuentes is so hard to get hits off of usually.  Ubaldo Jimenez started the game for the Rockies and tossed seven innings while giving up seven hits and four runs.  Matt Herges pitched two scoreless innings before Taylor Buchholz pitched an inning and gave up a run.

Brad Hawpe led the Rockies at the plate with a home run and two RBI.  Ryan Spilborghs and Helton both had RBI’s in the game as well.

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