Colorado Rockies Game Notes: Dbacks Double Header, Game 1

Apr 23, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) reacts after getting out during the seventh inning against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field. The Rockies won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks enjoyed two un-planned days off this week before fitting in two games on Wednesday afternoon; here are some notes from game one.

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Rain, rain, go away. Please come back never (although based on the weather reports for the weekend, the Rockies may get a few more games postponed with the Dodgers after struggling to find ways to play this week with the Diamondbacks).

But even after a few unscheduled off days, at least we got to see two games today from Denver. Baseball returns! After a two-day hiatus! Let’s never be apart again, baseball. Send all the rain to southern California, anyways: they need it.

Goofiness aside, let’s get down to game notes from the first (awful) affair:

In the first inning, Tyler Matzek threw 21 pitches: seven went for strikes. He walked three consecutive hitters. He gave up no runs. Because, of course.
Matzek ended up going two innings, allowing three hits, six walks, and four runs. He threw 58 pitches with just 20 – twenty – for strikes.
Matzek had been stingy against the Diamondbacks in his career up to today, allowing just 9 hits – and only two doubles – with 8 walks in 57 plate appearances, good for a .191/.309/.234 slash line. After allowing six walks and a home run today, though…
Speaking of Matzek, this statistic is not a good sign for Rockies starters.
Through five innings, Josh Collmenter had faced the minimum – 15 hitters – allowing just one hit, Charlie Blackmon’s lead-off single in the first inning.
Christian Bergman allowed five runs in the fourth inning, but only one ended up being earned thanks to Troy Tulowitzki making his fourth error of the year. It was a tough error, on a very hard-hit one-hopper, and certainly not a routine play.
The fifth inning could’ve (kinda) gotten the Rockies back into the game; after Justin Morneau homered, Nolan Arenado doubled and Carlos Gonzalez singled. With two on and nobody out, Nick Hundley hit a ball that looked like it would’ve been a home run, but Diamondbacks left fielder Ender Inciarte robbed him with a great catch, allowing just Arenado to score from third on the sacrifice fly. A possible 9-4 game was not to be, and the Rockies took a seven-run deficit into the sixth.
Morneau’s home run against Collmenter was his first success against the Diamondbacks’ righty; Morneau had been 1-for-11 against Collmenter in his career.
Through the sixth inning, the Diamondbacks were already 7-for-15 with runners in scoring position, plus a sacrifice fly. To get more than15 opportunities through your first 18 outs…
Charlie Blackmon robbed former Rockie Jordan Pacheco in the sixth with an incredible diving catch. Had the ball gotten by Blackmon, it would’ve undoubtedly been a three-run inside-the-park home run for Pacheco.
Collmenter took his fourth at-bat in the sixth inning. Any time an opposing pitcher bats four times in six innings…
Paul Goldschmidt didn’t get the memo about offense in the Dbacks clubhouse, apparently; he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and a walk.
The Diamondbacks set a season-high in runs scored this afternoon in game one. Their previous season high: 12, against the Rockies, last week.
Step one: write something questioning whether the Rockies should dump Drew Stubbs. Step two: watch Stubbs hit a home run.
For the life of me, I can’t figure out why John Axford came into the ninth inning of a 12-6 game with one more slated to play later in the afternoon. Axford allowed a walk and two hits, was promptly taken out in favor of Boone Logan, and that was that. I know the closer needs the work, but with one more game coming today, why get him (and then Logan, who replaced him, and then Scott Oberg, who replaced Logan) hot in the bullpen when you have to get through nine more innings in the afternoon?
After the off-day on Thursday, the Rockies will finish out the month of May with 23 games in 24 days. That includes a day-night doubleheader with the San Francisco Giants on May 23 (from April’s rainout in Denver), and two scheduled off days.
After hosting the Dodgers this weekend and enjoying another off day on Monday, the Rockies have an even more intense streak within the month: 17 games in 16 days (including that doubleheader). The rotation and bullpen will absolutely 100% be taxed because we know how this goes.
At the very least, the Rockies get somewhat of a respite near the end of the month: seven games with the woeful Philadelphia Phillies. Of course, don’t assume the Rockies won’t be as bad as the Phils by the time the teams face off on May 18^th.

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