Rockies Show Yanks What a Little Altitude Can Do

I have to admit, I am not a Yankee hater. And that’s not just because I’m dating a guy who’s a born and raised Yankee fan. It’s also not because I lived in New York for six years, although those things do help. Honestly, I have been a fan of theirs since 1996 when I watched them struggle back from a 6-run deficit to tie the World Series 2-2 in Atlanta. It was a great series, and it didn’t hurt that Joe Girardi was behind the dish for the Yanks. From that point on, I was always a bit of a Yankees fan, if not a tried and true follower like I am of the Rockies.

That said, I still don’t want them to win when they come to my house. And they didn’t.

More impressive by far than anything at the plate or on the field last night was Jorge De La Rosa‘s complete domination from the mound. He pitched 6 shutout innings, surrendering 3 hits and a walk. He got 11 groundball outs. It was a massive start for a guy who still hasn’t found his stride since his injury two years ago. To come out against a team like the Yankees and perform that decisively made it pretty clear that DLR is back. Hopefully for good.

DLR looked just as good in the 6th as he did in the 1st, despite the rain. Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

It’s a good thing he pitched like that, too, because the Yanks’ Hiroki Kuroda wasn’t any worse. The Rockies finally broke up the shutout in the 6th when Josh Rutledge singled and Carlos Gonzalez homered to right center. After some ghastly swinging strikes earlier in the game, Cargo finally settled down and took a decent at-bat, which resulted in the only two runs scored in the game by either team.

Also of note was fielding. It was nice to see Nolan Arenado‘s fine arm in person for the first time. Jonathan Herrera made a terrific play at short with the shift on for Travis Hafner. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for dramatic plays, but it was raining throughout most of the game, but things never got sloppy. What was sloppy was Rutledge getting picked off first at the beginning of the game, but it was a close play in any case. And it was fun to watch Chris Nelson dive at a groundball and miss it, since he plays for the other team now.

All in all, a well-played game against a tough team. It set a good tone for the series that will hopefully continue with Juan Nicasio‘s trip to the mound tonight. The Yanks give the ball to David Phelps, a one-time long reliever looking to prove himself. He tends to give up home runs. Let’s hope he does.