Rockies Fall to 0-9 In Interleague

Rockies 2, A’s 8

I don’t whether you’ve noticed, but this is not the Rockies’ year. When they can’t even beat a couple of lousy American League teams in their own ballpark, it’s bad. Real bad.

It’s not even an interesting kind of bad anymore. It’s just the same stuff over and over. I felt like I was in the twilight zone watching Alex White pitch today, because it was so very much like watching Josh Outman yesterday and Jeremy Guthrie the day before that. They are all little earned-run-allowing monsters. Paging Jorge De La Rosa …

I suppose the responsible writerly thing to do is report some actual facts about today’s game, though there’s a very good chance the intense heat in which I sweltered throughout the game caused me to see things that weren’t there. For instance, Tyler Colvin at 1st base. No, not as a runner. As a fielder. It was actually the second game he’s started at 1st this season, but prior to that he’d had exactly two starts at the position in his career. I won’t judge Jim Tracy too harshly for that, though. The bottom line is Colvin’s got a hot bat right now, and if we have to shoehorn him into the lineup, so be it. His ineptitude at 1st was woefully evident, though. He didn’t commit any errors himself, but a couple of his teammates did, and he was unable to make something of them where Todd Helton might have. He was only 1-for-4 on the day but he was the only guy who got a hit with a runner in scoring position, so he’s excused.

Let’s talk about Wilin Rosario. I’m a fan of Wilin’s, ok? He’s got a lot of power and he’s absolutely the catcher of the future. But they key word there is future. I’m not sure where Omir Santos fits into the big picture or if he does, but I do know that Rosario is just not ready for the starting job. He still has too much to learn, about patience at the plate, but especially about how to field his position. He made a throwing error and had TWO passed balls today. There was a thing in the 9th that resembled a passed ball at first, but fortunately was scored as a wild pitch on Josh Roenicke. I don’t think I could have stomached three passed balls by the same guy in the same game. The way our pitchers throw balls in the dirt, he has to cover the plate better.

Back to White. Of the three starting pitchers I saw in this series, he was actually the best. Only 2 of the 4 runs that scored on his watch were earned. But he also walked 4 guys. In 4 innings. 2 were intentional but the fact remains that that’s just too many. I feel pretty good about White for the future, but the fact that his struggles so closely mirror those of the other guys in the rotation (too many walks, too many wild pitches, too many home runs, an inability to get the third out in the inning) makes me fear for his coaching. I’m sure Bob Apodaca is a very nice man, but I just think it’s time to see what someone else can do with this bunch.

What was weird about today is how the bullpen pitched. Guillermo Moscoso, who makes me tremble almost as much as Esmil Rogers used to, pitched 3 innings and got himself in some frightening situations, but didn’t allow any runs to score. Matt Reynolds did his thing and got 2 quick outs, but then he allowed a home run to Josh Reddick. And Josh Roenicke, who I think has been way more solid than we had any right to ask, finally had a legitimately tough inning, 3 runs allowed, including a solo shot by Brandon Moss (what is it with that Moss guy anyway?). I have no explanation for this except that everybody has a bad day sometimes.

Other guys who had a bad day: Michael Cuddyer (0-for-4 and a fielding error) and Jordan Pacheco (2 K’s). But truthfully, when a lineup like this only manages 6 hits over 9 innings, it’s a collective bad day.

The Rockies head to Detroit tomorrow for a series against the Tigers and another shot at winning an interleague game.