Rockies Win a Fun One in the Race for Fourth Place

Last night was the kind of night Rockies fans don’t get very often. An exciting blowout win that feels like it counts for something (even though, in the end, it only counted for swapping places with the now-basement-dwelling Diamondbacks). A huge cheering crowd (37,000+). And fireworks of both the offensive and actual fire variety. At this point in the season, there’s almost nothing to be enthusiastic about when it comes to this club. But that’s why it felt so good to just enjoy a baseball game with a bunch of people.

The biggest treat by far was watching Michael Cuddyer hit a grand slam in the 6th inning. It was easy to see from the way he swung and missed a couple times that that was what he wanted to hit. If it had been Wilin Rosario or Carlos Gonzalez, it would have been a strikeout. But Cuddy knows how to take his cuts while still waiting for a pitch he can get. And he got it: a belt-high slider that he launched into the left field bleachers. The only sad part was reflecting on what might have been this season if Cuddy and some other big hitters who don’t need to be named had stayed healthy. The story of this team’s life.

What would have been even cooler but wasn’t because of how it ended was Rafael Ynoa’s almost inside-the-parker in the 5th. He came to the plate with 2 on and continued his tear by skidding a groundball into the gap in right center. The D-backs fielders took forever to figure out how to get a hold of it, and in the meantime Ynoa was sailing around the bases. It was a close play at the plate, but it looked like Miguel Montero got his glove in between Ynoa’s arms and touched his chest before Ynoa could touch the plate. Walt Weiss asked for a review under the home plate collision rule, but the umpires determined that Montero did everything he was supposed to do. It was incredibly disappointing, because there’s really nothing more exciting than an inside-the-park home run. And guess which fielder started the play that ultimately got Ynoa out? Cody Ross, natch.

The Rockies’ offense contributed up and down the lineup last night, with Ynoa collecting 4 hits altogether and every starter adding at least one. Wilin Rosario continued to demonstrate that he’s finally figured out how to be a good baseball player again, though it’s too little, way too late for my liking. And I can just picture Dan O’Dowd in his office telling Dick Monfort that see, Rosario is a good catcher, and we should sign him to a really long, expensive contract, like now. The fact remains that Rosario is still garbage behind the plate, and he’s having a great couple of games, but all I can attribute that to is luck. He has had zero patience or ability to see the ball this year. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

Jordan Lyles was fun to watch–he is probably the epitome of the organization’s pitch-to-contact philosophy. He pitched to all kinds of contact last night, but he only allowed 1 extra-base hit, and he induced 11 groundouts in 6 innings. That’s stellar. The best part was, even though it seemed like D-backs kept getting aboard, Lyles never seemed rattled. His game plan was to give them pitches they could hit, but not well, and get them or their colleagues out before they could score. It worked nearly every time. Lyles allowed just 2 runs during his outing, and his ball-strike ratio was 20:67. That’s really good. I really wanted him to come back out and pitch another inning, or even two, but the bullpen for once managed to give up only 1 run, and the D-backs had a big enough deficit to overcome that they mostly just gave up.

A great night at the ballpark. It’s been a sad season, so let’s take what we can get.