No Pitchers Good as Rockies Lose Again

Rockies 2, Diamondbacks 6

I hate games like this. This was a total failure of a game on every level, most especially hitting, pitching, and managing. Seeing as how those are arguably the three key components of success, it’s no wonder this game ended so badly.

I really don’t blame Edwar Cabrera for any of this. He’s clearly just not ready for the majors yet. I feel so badly for him that he keeps getting called up and sent back down. Some guys can embrace an opportunity like that and run with it (see: Christian Friedrich), but others are only going to be scarred for life by it. I get that we’re desperate for pitching. There must be a way around rushing in someone who needs more time in the system. 3-man rotation with a 60-pitch limit? Josh Roenicke throws 3 innings every day? We all do a rain dance outside Coors Field and hope we can get 2 out of 3 games called in the 7th inning? I got nothing.

Cabrera, I will say, was better than the first time he was called up. He pitched 3 scoreless innings to start, and even got out of a bases-loaded jam in the 2nd. Jim Tracy had an itchy trigger finger, though, and as soon as Cabrera let a run score, that was it for him. He was ultimately charged with a second run after Roenicke replaced him in the 4th. 2 runs in 3 1/3 innings, well, that’s not so bad. It could be a lot worse. I think it was valuable for him to have the opportunity to get himself out of trouble a couple times, and he might have benefited from even more time. In any case, he probably knows he’s only a stopgap. I feel like this team must need some serious therapy after this season. They are being moved around like pawns with very little regard for the actual trajectory of their careers. You gotta plug the holes, I get that, but is this really the best way to do that?

Roenicke has had better outings, and the worst pitch he threw was a cutter to Chris Young that crossed the plate right at his waist. Obviously that’s not where it was supposed to go. In any case, Young drilled it to the seats in left, and Justin Upton was on base.

Rex Brothers is still frustratingly inconsistent; it seems like he’s incapable of stringing together more than a couple great outings in a row. He came into the game last night down 4-2 in the 7th and proceeded to bury the lead beyond all rescue. He gave up a double to Jason Kubel and intentionally walked Upton (because that always ends well), setting up Miguel Montero to lace a 2-run single into center.

Even Matt Reynolds didn’t get out of the 8th without allowing a hit. It was just the one, but still.

And where was the offense in all of this? Chewing sunflower seeds in the dugout, one must assume. There were 3 hits in this game. That’s three. Not thirteen, three. Two of them came courtesy of Michael Cuddyer, who also scored and drove in the only 2 runs the Rockies managed on a pair of long balls. The third? A single by Roenicke. Because that’s how it goes with this team.

The series concludes today. I believe in you, Jeff Francis.