The Colorado Rockies picked up a nice come from behind win on Wednesday night as they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3. The Rockies scored the winning run in the top of the ninth inning to break a 3-3 tie thanks a steal by Matt Holliday and a rbi single by Brad Hawpe.

The Rockies offense was helped out in the game by the Dodgers commiting four errors as well. Hawpe lead the Rockies offense with three rbi as he went 2-4 with a walk. Troy Tulowitzki had the other rbi for the Rockies as he hit a solo home run in the fourth inning.

Jeff Francis allowed three runs in the first inning but then he settled down to pitch six innings. Francis gave up nine hits and three runs (one earned) as he got the no decision in the game. Taylor Buchholz ended up getting the victory and is now 6-3 while Brian Fuentes picked up his 24th save in the ninth inning.

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The Rockies need a big win and they got it last night. The bats came alive with an 8-3 win against the Dodgers in LA. 

Ubaldo Jimenez pitched a good game, and got some support from the rest of the team. He pitched five innings and gave up three runs on eight hits. He looked good and only had one little breakdown in the fourth when he gave up two runs to give the Rox only a one run lead. Jimenez has improved greatly from the beginning of the year and will hopefully keep on winning. 

After the Rockies scored two runs in the first, Brad Hawpe came up in the third and hit a bomb out to dead center to score two runs in the top of the third. Hawpe has pulled out of his slump and really come through when the team needs him. Matt Holliday had a great game going four for five and hitting a solo homerun in the eighth to put the Rockies up by two. The big man of the night was Ian Stewart who went two for three and hit a three run homerun in the eighth to put the game away for the Rox. Stewart definitely improved from his last stint with the Rockies and it showed last night with his long homerun off of Kuroda, a lefty on lefty match up. With the team putting up some runs the pitching has less stress and performs just as well.

Luis Vizciano, Manuel Corpas, Taylor Buchholz and Brian Fuentes all came in and pitched an inning and gave up no runs. Vizciano gave up one hit and Corpas gave up a pair but other than that the bullpen looked solid. The Rockies bullpen is usually pretty solid, but it is nice to see a hand full get into a game and do well.

The Rockies take on the Dodgers again tonight and will hopefully have the same outcome. Jeff Francis is on the mound for the Rox tonight and can hopefully keep the Dodgers at bay. 

ROCKSTAR of the game: IAN STEWART

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)  

The Rockies are playing some good baseball; they have won their last four series (unless you count that one game against the Braves as a series then it’s four out of five). They are finding ways to win and  are catching up in the NL West. The Rockies took game two of the Indians series winning 4-2 tonight.

Jeff Francis was on the mound and pitched a great game. He gave up 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings. The pitchers have really been stepping up lately for the Rockies, especially the starters. Francis got the win and now is 3-6, closing in on that 500 mark. With a rough start to the year, Francis is coming around and starting to look like the ace he was last year. 

The rest of the Rockies lineup is also starting to play like the National League champions. Jeff Baker and Omar Quintanilla both had another great game. Baker was 2 for 4 with a homerun in the 4th and Quintanilla was 2 for 3 with 2 of the Rockies RBI’s. These two created the winning run tonight in the 6th when Baker got on first with a fielder’s choice and, two batters later, Quintanilla singled to bring Baker home. It is going to be hard to decide who to send down to AAA when Troy Tulowitzki and Clint Barmes come back with Quintanilla and Baker playing so well. 

The bullpen was once again doing its job. Jason Grilli, Taylor Buchholz, and Brain Fuentes all came out of the pen and kept the Indians at bay. Combined, they pitched 3 innings and gave up 0 runs on 1 hit. Fuentes only faced 3 batters, which is unheard of for him. The bullpen has really helped out the team lately and will hopefully keep this going. 

 The Rockies have really been shutting down the Indians. Well, most of the Indians. Former Rockie Jamie Carroll is playing like he is at his home field and, let me tell you, I wish he was.  We are still looking for  a true second baseman to take on a full time position. Carroll had two doubles tonight and batted in 1 run. 

The Rockies are going for the sweep tomorrow night, and this time it is going to happen. 

ROCKSTAR of the game: JEFF BAKER and OMAR QUINTANILLA

Although the Rockies did not, once again, get the sweep, they took 2 out of 3 games against the White Sox. It would be nice for them to finish a series with 3 or 4 W’s but I will take just winning out right; beggars can’t be choosers. Today’s game was not won without drama.

Aaron Cook had another great outing on the mound. He pitched 6 innings and gave up 3 runs on 10 hits, 2 of  which came off of a Dye homerun in the 5th. Cook had some offensive help today from former White Sox Scott Podsednik who drove in 2 of the Rockies 4 runs. This was a key game for Podsednik who has struggled lately. The Rockies started out hot today scoring 2 runs in the first, with Podsednik bringing Willy Taveras home on a double and on the next pitch, Matt Holliday doubled in Podsednik.

After the White Sox tied up the game in the 5th off of Dye’s homerun, Brad Hawpe, who is an internet celebrity for his sewer pipes and instructional video (on youtube search Brad Hawpe), took Contreras deep in the 6th and gave the Rockies the winning run. Chris Iannetta added an insurance run in the 9th with a bomb off of Logan.

The bullpen threw another great game. Ryan Speier, Taylor Buchholz and Brain Fuentes all came in and combined threw 3 innings -each threw 1 full inning- and only gave up 1 hit. Fuentes’s outing was a little scary for the Rockies because he loaded the bases off of a single and 2 walks with 2 outs.

And that’s not all, Rockies fans cringed as Holliday and Omar Quintanilla both were running for the last out, a popup by Crede. At the last second Quintanilla dropped off and almost ran right into Holliday who by some miracle bobbled the ball and then caught it bare handed. It was an unconventional out but it counted and the Rockies won by 2 runs.

The win today was a good Father’s Day present for my dad, who sits and watches every game with me. I know that the Rockies were winning it for him and all their dad’s back home. Tomorrow is another day and the Rockies have a one game series- a make-up after the snowed out game in April- against the Braves. Chipper was cooling off today and hopefully the Rockies can bring him below .400.

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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!

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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 will take their win over the San Francisco Giants no matter if the game winning run crossed the plate on a balk call.  Giants starting pitcher Tim Linecum was called for a balk in the seventh inning and it gave the Rockies a 3-2 lead which they held onto as the beat the Giants.

Aaron Cook improved his record to 4-1 as he picked up the win.  Cook tossed seven innings and gave up ten hits but only two runs off of those ten hits.  Taylor Buchholz and Brian Fuentes pitched the final two innings for the Rockies.  Fuentes picked up his second save of the season.

Chris Iannetta had the only recorded RBI for the Rockies has he had a solo home run in the second inning.  Iannetta was the runner that scored on the balk as well.  Matt Holliday added a run for the Rockies when he hit into a double play in the first inning.

Lets see if the Rockies can get any momentum going and go on a nice winning streak after beating the Giants on Tuesday night.  What do you think?  Rockies Blog

The Colorado Rockies lost at home on Monday to the Philadelphia Phillies by a score of 9-5 putting the Rockies at 9-10 for the series.  The Rockies bullpen just couldn’t stop the Phillies in the eigth and ninth innings as the Phillies put up five runs in the final two innings of the game.

Mark Redman opened up the game for the Rockies pitching for five innings giving up six hits, four runs, and no walks.  The Rockies brought in Matt Herges, Taylor Buchholz, Brian Fuentes, and Micah Bowie to pitch the last four innings with Buchholz picking up the loss putting him at 1-1 for the year.  Bucholz gave up two earned runs, and Bowie gave up three earned runs.  Bad performance by Bucholz and Bowie.

All five of the Rockies runs came off of home runs.  Yorvit Torrealba hit a three run home run in the second inning and Garrett Atkins hit a two run shot in the fifth inning.

The Rockies will face off against the Phillies one more time again tonight at home for the 2nd game of the series.

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