Rockies Fail to Score Against Felipe Paulino

Rockies 0, Royals 5

Does that name, Felipe Paulino, still give you the willies like it does me? His specter haunts the early months of the Rockies’ 2011 season. And now he’s  back, in a Royals uniform, to continue making life hard for us. It never ends.

Dazzling

Drew Pomeranz took the hill for his second start of the spring, and he was just as good as he was on Saturday. This time out he lasted three innings, and did not surrender a run. He allowed a runner in each inning, but didn’t let things spin out of control, and he was paying close enough attention that he was able to pick off Lorenzo Cain in the 2nd. Perhaps most importantly, Pomeranz threw just 5 balls in his innings, and he got quite a few called strikes. That’s promising.

Our reliable Matt Belisle threw six pitches today, and only one of them went for a hit. Two became immediate hits; three were swung on and missed by Clint Robinson. He’s a keeper. And so is Edgmer Escalona, who threw 9 pitches and allowed one runner on a walk. Nice to see both these guys still in top form.

Nolan Arenado and Hector Gomez are the only guys I’m going to give any offensive credit to today. They both had a single plate appearance and used it to knock a double. Not their fault nobody else could move them over or score them.

Disappointing

All the blame for today’s pitching falls on the shoulders of poor Josh Outman, who wasn’t especially great on Saturday either. In his disastrous 4th inning, he allowed 4 runs, including a solo shot to Yunieksy Betancourt. Whenever anybody lets that guy homer, it’s not a good day. And this was a very tough inning for Outman. From where I sit, he starts the season in Colorado Springs.

Jordan Pacheco had a rare tough day today, going 0-for-2 and grounding into an inning-ending double play in the 1st. With Felipe Paulino on the mound, so I don’t need to tell you that that’s embarrassing.

Tyler Colvin also grounded into a double play off Paulino. There were 2 men on and no outs. Thanks to Casey Blake watching three strikes sail over the plate in the next at-bat, the whole inning was a wash. Come on men! 2 men on and nobody out? That was a guaranteed 3-run inning for the opposing team when Paulino was a Rockie! Lord help us.

These jokers combined for 7 K’s and 4 double play groundballs. Weak effort today. Let’s hope for better tomorrow when the A’s come to Scottsdale.

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