Saturday, April 28, 2012

Rock Solid Recrap: Elusive Third Outs Haunt Rockies In Loss

Mets 7, Rockies 5 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: Pretty simple. Guillmero Moscoro and Edgmer Escalona failed to finish off their innings strongly. On three separate occasions (twice against Moscoso, one against Escalona), the Mets were able to make something out of nothing with a two-out rallies/cheap runs.

In the third vs. Moscoso: New York used back-to-back singles from Ruben Tejada and Daniel Murphy and a David Wright double to create a two out run that gave them a 3-1 lead.

In the fifth vs. Moscoso: After the first two Mets were retired quietly, that same trio along with Lucas Duda singled consecutively to create three runs this time. Three runs that immediately answered Colorado's three run fourth, and gave New York a 6-4 lead.

In the ninth vs. Escalona: Mike Baxter started the inning with a double and was standing on third after two outs had been recorded. That's when Escalona uncorked a wild pitch (some confusion with the scoring on this... I'm going wild pitch) giving New York what proved to be a cheap yet valuable insurance run (7-4). 

Now, a portion of that credit goes to the middle of New York's order for their refusal to give away at-bats or go out quietly, but just as much discredit goes to the Moscoso and Escalona for simply not the big pitch to shut down an inning when they had the opportunity to do so. And for two guys looking to make a positive impression and stick around for awhile, this wasn't a strong statement game.

Turning Point(s): Hat tip to Ruben Tejada, who was the pivotal hitter in two of those innings and now has seven hits through two games in this series. Needless to say he has been a professional pain in the Rockies this weekend, so if he could just please go back to being Ruben Tejada tomorrow instead of Jose Reyes, it would be greatly appreciated.

Lineup Card: Rockies vs Mets 4-28-12

Colorado Rockies (10-9)
  1. Marco Scutaro (2B)
  2. Jonathan Herrera (3B)
  3. Carlos Gonzalez (LF)
  4. Troy Tulowitzki (SS)
  5. Todd Helton (1B)
  6. Michael Cuddyer (RF)
  7. Wilin Rosario (C)
  8. Dexter Fowler (CF)
  9. Guillermo Moscoso (P)
When an offense erupts for 18 runs on 19 hits the night before, might as well stick with that same template. That's exactly what Jim Tracy has done here, with Wilin Rosario sliding in at catcher for Ramon Hernandez being the only change.

I think it's also safe to say that Chris Nelson has become the odd man out in the infield, and is now a possible DFA candidate the next time Colorado looks to tweak their roster.

New York Mets (11-9)
  1. Kirk Nieuwenhuis (CF)
  2. Ruben Tejada (SS)
  3. Daniel Murphy (2B)
  4. David Wright (3B)
  5. Lucas Duda (RF)
  6. Scott Hairston (LF)
  7. Ike Davis (1B)
  8. Josh Thole (C)
  9. Dillon Gee (P)
If Guillermo Moscoso can hold Scott Hairston in check, then... 

Alright, let's not kid ourselves, he's not holding Hairston in check... so he might want to do a better job than Drew Pomeranz, Esmil Rogers and Josh Roenicke did of holding the other Mets in check. Otherwise, another 11-run inning will be required.


Rock Solid Recap: Another Coors Field Thrill Ride Leads To 18-9 Victory

Rockies 18, Mets 9 (boxscore)

Yup. just another one of those nights at Coors Field.

You know...
  • 27 runs 
  • 36 hits
  • 7 errors (6 by the Mets - thank you very much) 
  • 5 home runs (4 by the Rockies including a Ramon Hernandez Grand Slam) 
  • 12 pitchers (6 for each side) 
  • 1 Scott Hairston cycle (which comes as no surprise to Rockies fans) 
  • A 5-RBI inning (Carlos Gonzalez) 
  • Oh, and 1 catcher's interference on a pitch out. (Watch)
Mhm. No big deal.

Winning Player(s): So many of them tonight. If forced to pick just one, I think I might actually go with Marco Scutaro for the spark (4 hits and 4 runs) he provided at the top of the lineup. Then again, how do you overlook the big night (and inning) Carlos Gonzalez had? Watch his home run And then there's Todd Helton (3 hits), Jonathan Herrera (3 runs) and Ramon Hernandez (only 1 hit but 5 RBI).

You know, Matt Reynolds and Matt Belisle were pretty damn important as well, each recording at least three outs in relief without allowing a run. (If that doesn't sound like a big deal to you, please start this Recap over.) So honorable mentions to them with a giant hat tip to Belisle for striking out Scott Hairston with a pair of runners on base in the seventh. Big moment.

Turning Point: Of course, if I wanted to narrow it down to one moment, Eric Young Jr. would be the winning player, because once again his speed, hustle, desire, want to, whatever else you want to call it, changed the game positively for the Rockies.

After the Mets had scored four in the top of the fifth to take a seemingly commanding 6-2 lead, Young was summoned to pinch-hit for Esmil Rogers leading off the bottom half. On the third pitch, Young bounced one feebly back to Mets' fill-in starter Chris Schwinden. Now, for most professional baseball players, what follows are 5-6 token jog steps towards first base before taking a left or right turn back to the dugout. For EricYoung Jr., though, it means busting your ass down the line like you just laced one in the gap.