The Morning After – Rockies 17 Cubs 2

Well that was fun.  Let’s hope the Rox have some more runs left for the rest of this series.  The Cubs are at a disadvantage for Saturday’s game, since the Rox ran through 5 Cub relievers and 3 of them threw more than 20 pitches.  Lou Piniella loves to play matchups, and a tired bullpen may limit his ability to do that.

Name

Carlos Gonzalez – Truthfully, this could have been nearly any Rockies hitter, but CarGo continued his hot streak, going 4-6 with a double and his 20^th homer of the year.  Tulo also had a big night, going 3-5 with 2 doubles. 

Number

11 – The 11 straight hits in the 8^th inning set a Major League record.  Nice work from an offense that has been slumping of late.  This is exactly the type of confidence booster that could carry the Rox on a playoff run.

Noteworthy

Lost in the Shuffle – In all the excitement over the record breaking offensive output, the excellent night for Rockies pitchers was overlooked.  Jeff Francis had a nice night, throwing 6 innings of 4 hit ball.  The Rox ‘pen came in and threw 3 nearly flawless innings, only giving up one walk.  Matt Belisle and Rafael Betancourt pitched when the game was still close and struck out 5 of the 6 Cubs they faced combined.  If Francis can maintain his form, this could be like picking up a top of the rotation starter in a trade.