Saturday, August 18, 2012

Rock Solid Recrap: Tyler Chatwood's Rough Start Too Much To Overcome

Marlins 6, Rockies 5 (boxscore)

What Went Wrong: Well, getting behind 6-0 in the first two innings is never a good recipe for success.

Also, they should probably consider pitching around Giancarlo Stanton when there's a base open (homered in his 6th straight at Coors Field - a three-run shot), or at the very least do something to back him off the plate. That won't happen, of course, because there's a real fear among Rockies pitchers about leaving one hanging middle in.

That might be a leftover nugget from the Bob Apodaca era, but I can't prove that to be true.

Tuning Point: Stanton's three-run homer capped a four-run 1st inning. That was a crusher. But so was the Jose Reyes two-out, two-run triple in the 2nd inning that made it 6-0. Despite their best efforts against Miami's bullpen, that's the hit Colorado couldn't overcome.

Tyler Chatwood's Line: 4 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 71 pitches (48 strikes)

Chatwood fooled no one in the first two innings. That's bound to happen at the big league level, especially when you're talking about a 22-year-old pitcher still finding his way. What I liked is that Chatwood continued throwing strikes despite the rough start and finished the outing strong with two scoreless innings. That's always good to see (and something I value greatly), but obviously we need to see a lot more improvement and more consistency from Chatwood going forward.

He still has plenty of time.

Bullpen's Line: 5 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 K

Another good night for the bullpen led by two scoreless innings from Carlos Torres. He was followed by Will Harris (1 1/3 IP), Matt Reynolds (2/3 IP) and the legendary Guillermo Moscoso (1 IP). Hats off to them because their good work nearly paid off with a come-from-behind win.

Highlight of the Night: Tyler Colvin continues coming through with timely hits. That includes his two-out hit in the 9th that allowed the winning run to hit.

Well, I guess a game-tying home run would have been a little more clutch, but still, that was a good at-bat.

What's Next: Series finale with Miami begins at 1:10 on Sunday. Drew Pomeranz (1-7, 5.04) is on the mound for Jim Tracy. He'll be matched against Josh Johnson (7-9, 3.73), who is coming off a 1-0 loss in Philadelphia last Tuesday and has a 1.60 ERA over his past five starts. Could be a tough day for the offense.

Final Thoughts: These really are the dog days of summer. This game tonight especially was a snoozer for first seven innings or so, though I guess that has a lot to do with falling behind 6-0 and the Rockies bats being slow to respond. Also didn't help knowing Carlos Gonzalez (bereavement list) was not in the ballpark to do something spectacular.

Oh, and yes, also not easy to sit through games in a lost season when there's a ton of football — preaseason or otherwise — on television. I'd be lying if I said that didn't take at least 70% of my attention tonight. 

That said, the Rockies didn't mail the result in this time around. They continued with good at-bats and made it interesting against the floundering Heath Bell and Miami's new closer Steve Cishek. They also played another clean game in the field. So yes, it's a loss, but at least the majority of the recent losses have come in a similarly acceptable form.

Sadly, that only shows how far the organization has fallen when you have to pat them on the back for such things, but that's pretty much where we are until ownership gets serious about changes.
