Tuesday’s First Pitch

Leading Off…
Dear MLB schedulers, can the Rockies play all their games at PETCO Park? The Rockies have won 8 of 10 in San Diego, and Monday night was no exception. Clayton Mortenson made his case to stay in the rotation, Chris Nelson had a breakout night, and the Rockies broke out the bats in a much-needed way. Mortenson got his second big league win as the Rockies moved up to claim sole possession of third place. His final line looked like this: 6.0 innings pitched, 5 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. The bullpen got some huge outs late in the game to preserve the win, and the offense came up big in the ninth inning.

The Good
Where to start? Chris Nelson had a triple (almost two, actually), Seth Smith had an RBI triple, Clayton Mortenson went six shutout innings, the bullpen looked great while preserving the shutout, and the Rockies broke out the bats, and was good for nine hits. The three runs the Rockies had totaled their amount of runs for all of last weekend. Another good sign was that the big plays didn’t come from the big-time players. Chris Nelson, Chris Iannetta, and Seth Smith were the major role players Monday night, with an assist from one Todd Helton.

The Bad
Rafael Betancourt leads Major League Baseball in holds with 14, but walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Padres their best chance to score all night. The Padres have scored 49% of their 203 runs after the seventh inning, and though the threat ended when Alberto Gonzalez struck out swinging to end the inning. It’s strange because Betancourt very rarely walks people, and walks have killed the Rockies’ chances, especially this past weekend. It’s something Rockies pitchers need to cut down on.

The Ugly
Carlos Gonzalez. He’s struck out in 6 of his past 7 at-bats. Pitchers seem to have figured out how to pitch to Gonzalez, making him basically a non-threat. Gonzalez, in turn, has not figured out the opposing pitchers. He needs to if he wants to hit for high average again. He’s too talented not to hit for at least .300 and has the skill to break out of his slump. Be patient with Gonzalez – he’s just going through a rough sophomore slump and will break out of it, and in the words of George Frazier of ROOT Sports, he’ll soon turn his frown to a smile.

On Deck
Enjoy a couple of interesting links coming your way, including one about Bryce Harper and unsportsmanlike conduct in a recent game. Also, I’ll try to get your weekly Minor League update online today, and look for your daily matchup later tonight.