Colorado Rockies: 3 things we have learned so far on this road trip

Bud Black trusts his gut

Colorado manager Bud Black isn’t afraid to tell you that he trusts his gut when he is making decisions. We have seen two big instances of that during this road trip.

First in Minnesota, during Thursday night’s 2-0 loss to the Twins, Colorado starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood was on the ropes early and often. Minnesota struck for one run in the first and threatened again in the second and third before a visit to the mound. With the bases loaded in the third and the Twins poised to blow the game open, Chatwood struck out Byron Buxton to end the frame.

Colorado Rockies

Minnesota would score again in the fourth and there was doubt that Chatwood would make it through that inning. However, Black didn’t want to go to the bullpen just yet and decided to see if his 27-year-old right-hander could give him another inning. He did just that, setting the Twins down in order in the fifth.

Despite five hits and five walks given up through four innings, Black believed his starter had one more inning in him … and the move paid off, keeping the Rockies in the game and keeping one more inning off his bullpen as the 10-game road trip was just starting.

In Cincinnati, Black sat Pat Valaika at shortstop in favor of Alexi Amarista. The move paid off in a big way as Amarista went 3-for-5 (including a homer) and four RBI in a 12-6 win. Amarista then went 2-for-5 with two RBI. Considering he had just six RBI all season heading into the Cincinnati series, the gut feeling certainly paid off.