The End of Another Year

2009 is at it's end, and it was a very fun one for the Colorado Rockies and their fans. As we turn the page and head into 2010, a new hope grows for the future success of the Rockies.

The offseason has been rather quiet so far. No trades, no signings other than Rafael Betancourt. Much attention is being paid to Catchers, with it more unlikely that Yorvit Torrealba will return for the Rockies next year.

The early look at the 2010 Lineup looks like this:

C Chris Iannetta
1b Todd Helton
2b Clint Barmes
3b Ian Stewart
SS Troy Tulowitzki
LF Carlos Gonzalez
CF Dexter Fowler
RF Brad Hawpe

Starters
Ubaldo Jimenez
Aaron Cook
Jorge De La Rosa
Jason Hammel
Jeff Francis

Closer
Huston Street

As the weeks go on leading up to spring training and the regular season, we will provide you with further updates on the Rockies.

Happy New Year!

Jim Tracy Wins NL Manager of the Year

Rockies Manager Jim Tracy was named 2009 NL Manager of the Year. The Rockies and Tracy celebrated with the announcement that Tracy signed a 3-Year agreement to continue managing the Rockies, and all of this year's coaches would be retained for next year.

Tracy who took over the struggling Rockies on May 29 with an 18-28 Record, almost immediately turned the Rockies around and Managed them to a 74-42 record under his watch and leading the Rockies to their 3rd Wild Card Playoff Appearance.

29 of 32 writers voted the Rockies Skipper in 1st Place, while 2 voted for LaRussa and 1 for Torre. Tracy also got 2 2nd place votes, and there's no word on who the 32nd voter voted for in his top 3. Tracy ended up with 151 points to 55 for LaRussa.

Jim Tracy became the 2nd Rockies Manager to win the Award as current hitting Coach Don Baylor won the award in 1995.

Rockies 2010 Roster Moves Begin

It was reported today that the Rockies have signed RHP Matt Belisle and LHP Randy Flores to one year contracts for 2010.

The Rockies have also outrighted Omar Quintanilla to Colorado Springs and Joel Peralta who became a free agent. The Rockies continue to try to sign Peralta to a minor-league contract.

The period to declare Free Agency started on Thursday and will continue through Saturday November 14th. Rockies 1b Jason Giambi and P Jason Marquis declared free agency today.

Hot Stove League Speculation Begins

Starting to read the "expert" opinions about what Dan O'Dowd, and the Rockies should do in the offseason. Rather than argue why some of them are wrong, I'll just put my list out there.

Huston Street--Despite the two bad games in the LDS, Street deserves a couple of years to see what he can do. Even if someone like Morales eventually takes over the Closer role, or it's a team closing with a left/right combination, he's still worth it to be the setup guy or late inning man. Taking a two or three year contract with him will stabilize things and not break the bank.

Garrett Atkins Likely to be non-tendered and become a free agent. That commits the Rockies to Ian Stewart at Third. Stewart needs to become a bigger bat and fill in as Cleanup or 5 hole. Playing all year at 3B will also help him and be consistent. Plus Atkins would be a free agent after 2010, signing him for next year doesn't make a lot of sense.

Yorvit Torrealba Yorvit is fun to watch and has done wonders with the pitching staff. The Rockies could keep him but would probably end up paying too much. Either way, Torrealba is best back as a backup to Iannetta, Phillips or someone else.

Clint Barmes Barmes is the one I'm most iffy on. He's a career .258 hitter and will be 31 next year. He has 2 years remaining before he's eligible for Free Agency. His defense without question is valuable, but the big question is whether his bat is a liability. A two-year contract with an 3rd year option might be in line. If he can bring his average up even 20 points, he'd be worthwhile.

Brad Hawpe Hawpe does not have to be moved this winter. He got off to a hot start and made the All-Star team, but his final numbers were pretty consistent with every season except for his career year of 2007. He can be expected to provide .285, 25 HR and 80 RBI. It's probably better for the Rockies if it's a little more spread evenly over the season. Career wise he tends to fall off a little bit in the 2nd half.

Jason GiambiAs much as I liked Giambi's influence in the dugout down the stretch, I'm not sure he'd be valuable on a year long contract in 2010. He's more fitted to be a DH, but showed some skills playing 1B. The big question would be, if Atkins doesn't come back who is the backup 1B option for the Rockies?

Starting Pitching The Rotation looks like Cook, Jimenez, and De La Rosa are solid, and Hammel certainly deserves a shot. Jimenez and Cook are already signed through at least 2012 with options. Francis could be the 5th starter (possibly as high as #3) depending on his recovery in the spring. If Contreras re-signs, he could possibly become a starter. Otherwise look for a couple of new faces to compete. It's also possible that De La Rosa could become trade bait after his success this year, however I like having him as a lefty starter with Francis. Expect Marquis not to be back, and I'm not convinced the Rockies need to sign or trade for a big name starter. Continue the trend of looking for good young sinkerballers and groom them for Coors. Belisle and Chacin may be two possibilities to be major-league starters next year.

Relief Pitchers O'Dowd assembled an amazing bullpen during the season which proved to be a big part of Jim Tracy's plan in making the Rockies playoff contenders. Street will be the Closer, Morales, and Betancourt likely setup.
There's much talk of Corpas being traded, but if he doesn't go, he and Buchholz are both recovering from injuries could be huge additions to Matt Daley, and Flores. I'm indifferent to Beimel.

First up is getting contracts lined up for O'Dowd and Tracy, and the Coaching staff.

Disappointing End

Just when you thought the Rockies had another one of their magical last at-bat comebacks, the Phillies come up with one of their own against Huston Street.

Many people are down on Street, but he's been tremendous all year, and contributed so much to getting the Rockies into the Playoffs. My only concern is whether his arm wasn't as strong as it was before the late-season injury.

Baseball is a game without a clock. You can't sit on the ball and wait it out, you have to eventually face someone, and when you do, you have to get the out. Utley worked a walk after having two strikes, Howard and Werth get hits. They did their job against a Huston Street who had been so strong all season. Give them some credit along with the blame on Street.

Is there any doubt now that Carlos Gonzalez is a Major-League Ballplayer? Struggling when he was first called up in June, and on the verge of being sent down in July if his critics had his way, Jim Tracy stayed with CarGo and it paid off down the stretch and especially in the playoff series. He garnered 10 hits, 5 runs, and 2 Stolen Bases. He also had 2 walks and only struckout once.

I've been pulling for Clint Barmes, but you have to wonder just how much his great fielding overcomes his anemic hitting. Magnified by an 0 for 14 in the Playoffs, he hit .245 during the regular season. He could possibly develop into a better hitter. I for one, would like to see him cut down the HR (23 this year) and get more base hits and improve the average to .270 or better. Not sure I would issue a multi-year contract to him just yet.

Yorvit Torrealba briefly left the Rockies two years ago to be a Met. When it turned out the contract wasn't what he thought it was he returned to the Rockies. You just have to love his boyish enthusiasm for the game, and the way he handles the pitchers and got key hits down the stretch were big.

The Rockies were 45-0 at home and 83-1 overall when leading after the 8th inning during the season. They ended up 84-2 overall and 45-1 at home.

Backs to the Wall

Usually a one run loss late really hurts, and although the loss puts the Rockies in a bind, I left the game last night...er, early this morning feeling more content than I probably should. Perhaps it's because it's the Phillies, the team I rooted for as a Phillie Phanatic in my childhood and most of my adult life, but I think it was more because I believe both teams played hard despite the cold conditions and did everything they could to win. One thing breaks the other way and the outcome could be the opposite.

Carlos Gonzalez scored three times to tie the game, 1-1, 4-4 on HR and 5-5 on a Sac Fly, but the the Rockies weren't able to get him to tie it at 6-6 in the 9th. Not sure if that would have been any kind of record, but it would have been great from a Rockies perspective.

So tonight's game is the first of two must wins for the Rockies or the 2009 Season that has seen it's share of magical moments will be over. It's going to require the Rockies to knock Cliff Lee out fairly early. Lee has never pitched at Coors Field before, and has had a few bad outings this season for the Phillies mostly on the road, so there's hope. But the Rockies just can't afford to leave baserunners on in key situations without getting anything out of it.

The Rockies also need to have Ubaldo Jimenez in control. Without the 8 walks last night, the Rockies might have coasted to an easy win. In the first two games the Rockies gave up 5 walks total.

But the RISP for the series is 5 for 19 or .263 for the Rockies and 11 for 28 for the Phillies at .392. Even that out a little more and we could have a completely different series.

The Psychology of the Postponement

Since yesterday's postponement, much virtual ink has been spilled on how the postponed game helps the Phillies because they can now pitch 3 more left-handers at the Rockies. As I've discussed before, the Rockies win one of every two games started by a LHP this season, which means presumbly that they would win one of the next two, and it would be a toss-up on game 5. But if you split the stats into Coors field and not Coors field, LHP have performed horribly here going only 10-19 against the Rockies. That would indicate a 2 out of 3 advantage for the Rockies and if those two are the two games that are played, then the Rockies win the series.

Happ has faced 7 batters at Coors field, giving up one hit on opening day. He also shut out the Rockies at Citizens Bank in a complete game in his only start against Colorado. That was a 7-0 game and the Phillies got 4 runs in the first couple of innings to give him breathing room. On the downside, his ERA is over 2 points better on the Road than at home. 1.99 vs. 4.18. But on the positive side, it can't get any lower for the Rockies here than it was in Philadelphia against him.

There are not too many Stadiums that Cliff Lee hasn't pitched in, but Coors Field is one of them. Both times he has faced the Rockies has been in CBP, and he has certainly been good. Another pitcher that I'd rather have here than back in Philadelphia in Game 5. It was inevitable we would see him again if it went the distance, the coldout may help us there.

It surprised me to find out that Cole Hamels has faced the Rockies more times in the Postseason than in the Regular Season. And the Rockies have beaten him all 3 times:

October 3, 2007 Rockies 4, Phillies 2. Hamels 6 2/3 IP 3 Runs 3 Hits 4 BB, 7 K. 4.05 ERA
April 10, 2009 Rockies 10, Phillies 3. Hamels 3 2/3 IP 7 Runs 11 Hits 17.18 ERA
October 8, 2009 Rockies 5, Phillies 4. Hamels 5 IP 4 runs, 7 Hits 5 K 7.20 ERA
Totals 15 1/3 IP 14 R 21 Hits 8.22 ERA

That's the guy I want to be going up against in a series deciding game.

From the Rockies side, it also helps the pitching. Jason Hammel could be the secret weapon nobody is talking about. He consistently gives up 2-4 runs per start, so the key is to get runs on Happ as early as they can.

Bypassing Marquis to get to both Jimenez and Cook again, only helps the Rockies chances. Plus Marquis can continue to work out of the bullpen.

So overall, it's not a huge advantage to either team. Both are going to have to work harder to win the series, against each team's best pitchers.

And that's the way the Postseason should be decided, not on some fluke play in bad weather caused by MLB trying to force teams to stay on schedule.

Saturday's Game Postponed

Game 3 of the Rockies and Phillies series at Coors Field Saturday Night was postponed this morning because of Snow, and Cold Weather.

Smart move by MLB as the weather for Sunday and Monday is much nicer with high's expected in the 50's and Game time temperatures should be at least in the high 40's.

Sunday's Game remains at 8:07 PM. Monday's game time will be announced before Sunday's game starts. If both AL Series end Sunday, the game will likely be at 5:00 PM, if one or both of them go 4 games, then game time would likely be 3:00 PM or Noon.

Game 5 will still be in Philadelphia on Tuesday if the two teams split the games at Coors Field.

The Postponement changes the Phillies starter in game 3 to J.A. Happ instead of Pedro Martinez, and Monday will likely be a rematch between Cliff Lee and Ubaldo Jimenez. If Tuesday's Game is needed then Aaron Cook will face Cole Hamels. This means the Rockies would face 5 left-handed starting pitchers in the series.

.500 means One out of Two

Another misinterpreted stat: A lot has been made out of the fact the Rockies aren't very good against Lefthanded starters, but they seemed to ignore the fact that the Rockies were .500 against Left handers at 26-26. They seem to imply that the Rockies lose all the time to lefthanders, when the truth is for every 2 starts the Rockies have against lefthanders they win 1. And true to form they pulled out today's game against Lefthander Cole Hamels, who they have had a lot of success against. This brings the series to Denver for two games, probably in the cold weather in the 30's as I'm expecting the Rockies and Phillies to play very late on Sunday night (8:30-9:00 PM Mountain), especially if all four series are still going that day. It is certain that 3 will be going, and the Cardinals have two chances to get the Dodgers to a fourth game.

Best 3 out of 5 series are difficult because even the first loss can snowball you out of the playoffs pretty quickly. Winning one on the road in the first two games is especially key, because no National League team has come back from a 2-0 deficit in the Divisional Series. The Rockies showed the grit we've seen all season by holding on to win today. Although it really could have been a blowout, if the Rockies had been able to capitalize with one more key hit with the bases loaded in the 7th and 8th innings. But give some of the credit to the much-maligned Phillies bullpen (although technically 3 of today's relievers have been primarily starters for the regular season.)

So now the question becomes, who will be the Phillies starters in Games 3 and 4. Rockies will go with Jason Hammel, no relation to Cole Hamels on Saturday night, and are likely to use Jason Marquis on Sunday. UPDATE: Charlie Manuel is looking at Blanton who pitched Thursday and Pedro Martinez as the Game 3 starter. J.A. Happ who left the game after getting hit by Seth Smith is unlikely to pitch game 3 but may start game 4. A postponement of either game, might move Game 4 to a rematch between Jimenez and Lee, in Game 4 on Monday, rather than Game 5 on Tuesday.

So with a day off tomorrow, the Rockies come home after doing what they need to do, and the Phillies needing to do the same thing here with their 3rd and 4th starters (whoever they are.)

Phillies are 48-33 on the Road this year, but 7-10 on their last two road trips of the season, Rockies are 51-30 at home and 42-16 since June 3rd.

Elite 8

In the NCAA Basketball tournament it takes 3 rounds to get to this point, in the NHL and NBA this is the 2nd Round, and even in the NFL it's the 2nd round after a few teams get byes. The only major sport that has less teams at the starting point of it's playoffs is College Football, which uh, doesn't have a playoff and starts eliminating teams from it's "championship" before the season even starts. But that's another story.

Major League Baseball starts with 8. 20 years ago it was only 4, and 45 years ago it was only 2. But baseball plays more games to decide these 8 than any other sport does to determine it's 12, 16, or 64. 162 games over 6 months leaves us at this point--22 teams gone (or will be after today's tiebreaker game between the Twins and Tigers) and 8 remain.

The battle for the World Series begins Wednesday in best of 5 battles for the League Championship Series, and althought the next 4 weeks will bring us much drama heartbreak and joy in the 8 Mudville's left (well, actually 7 since LA will have two representatives) there are still a couple things I'd like to see changed.

Division Series--Make it a best of 7 like the others. Since 1995 when the Division series started, there have been 56 of them. 22 of them have been 3-0, 14 of 28 in the National League. 21 have gone four games, 10 in the National League. Only 4 of 28 NL Series have gone 5 games, the Last in 2004, while 9 have gone 5 in the AL the last being in 2005. These things are pretty much over after the first game. By extending it two more games and compressing the schedule a little bit, it would actually allow the LCS to move forward faster. Start one league on Tuesday and the other on Wednesday. Allow TBS to use TNT to broadcast simultaneously on certain days to use up to three windows a day (possibly overlap them by 1.5 hours so everybody can see the end of the games.) a 2-3-2 Schedule would only extend it one additional day and starting a day earlier would get it back.

League Championship Series--The biggest thing here is to remove the extra off day between games 4 and 5. It hurts a team that sweeps by giving them way too much time off between the LCS and World Series.

World Series--Start the games earlier, even if it means putting them in daylight in the West including Denver. All night games in Colorado will be cooler in the fall anyway. I'd go back to weekend day games also, but know that that is not going to happen.

The Rockies Season In Review--The Road to the Playoffs

The Rockies Clinched a postseason berth in the playoffs on Thursday afternoon in their final regular season game at Coors Field this year. Although the final result was fairly easy winning 9-2--their most lopsided win since a 13-5 trouncing of Arizona on September 6--the road to the playoffs was anything but easy.

The season started out okay, with the Rockies splitting their first 8 games, before getting swept by the Dodgers in LA the second weekend of the season. They then lost 2 out of 3 in their 2nd trip to Phoenix before losing two more to LA at home and digging a 5-11 hole, and the deathwatch began for Clint Hurdle. By mid-may the Rockies were 13-20 before beginning entering a stretch of schedule that would find them on the road for 30 out of the next 45 games with consecutive road trips of 10, 11 and 9 games forming a club sandwich around a 6 and 9 game home stand.

On the first road trip, they promptly lost 4 of their first 6 games taking them to 15-22 before winning 3 of the final 4 games evening the road trip at 5-5. Upon coming home on Memorial Day the Rockies hit rock bottom by giving up 7 runs in one inning to the Dodgers, before clawing back to a 7-6 deficit, before giving up 8 runs in another inning in the same game losing 16-6. After two more losses to the Dodgers and the team 10 games under .500 at 18-28, Dan O'Dowd had seen enough, and decided to fire Clint Hurdle and replace him with Bench Coach Jim Tracy. The move looked like it would have an effect as the Rockies beat the Padres in the next two games, but lost the Sunday finale.

The team then set out on the 11 game road trip which started in Houston, and promptly lost the next 3 games, and mired the Rockies at 20-32. This fan was just hoping they would somehow make their way back to .500 before season's end, or at least avoid the Nationals who were only 4.5 games behind them for worst team in the majors. There they sat 15.5 games behind the Dodgers, and 9.5 games behind the Wild Card Leaders the St. Louis Cardinals.

So at this point the Rockies still had 26 games left in the ridculous 30 road games in 45 game stretch and the Rockies had managed to go only 8-11. What happened next is incomprehensible in light of the Rockies history long road woes. The Rockies salvage the 4th game in Houston by crushing the Astros 10-3, and head to St. Louis for another 4-game set. The Rockies not only sweep the Cardinals, they outscore them 33-9. Heading to Milwaukee next and the Rockies sweep the Brewers in 2 1-run games and a 2-run game, and head back to Colorado with an 8 game winning streak and a head of steam, heading into inter-league play and a 28-32 record.

The home stand begins with their third series sweep in a row, taking the Mariners and matching their longest ever winning streak at 11 set in September, 2007. The streak ends however as the Tampa Bay Rays pound Jorge De La Rosa in the first 3 innings and win 12-4. It turns out to be a temporary setback however as the Rockies win the six and move to a 37-33 reoord. The Rockies lose the next two in Anaheim, sweep the A's in Oakland, and come back to LA and lose two out of 3 to the Dodgers, which ends the 45 game death stretch at 41-37. All told, there record was 28-17. The good news at this point is that the Rockies now have 16 of their next 20 at home, and 49 home games left in the season vs. 35 Road Games. It's now a favorable schedule as it requires the Rockies to win one game for every home game to get to 90 wins, and a possible playoff berth.

But the Rockies continue their mini-slide losing two of three to the D-Backs. Then the Rockies sweep Washington and win the first of 4 games with Atlanta before losing the next two. On Sunday, July 12, the Rockies were facing going into the All-Star Break on a 3-game losing streak as the Braves jumped out to a 7-3 lead by the 5th inning. The Rockies then make a late inning comeback which would become nearly a trademark during the 2nd half of the season. In the 7th the Rockies score 3 runs capped by a Seth Smith 2-run Home Run. In the 8th Ryan Spilborghs hits a Double with two on, scoring Ian Stewart, while Chris Iannetta gets thrown out at home. Finally in the 9th inning, Brad Hawpe hits a 2 out double to score Smith with the winning run to send the Rockies into the break at 47-41. Since June 3rd the Rockies had gone 27-9. They were still 9 games behind the Dodgers but now in 3rd place in the West but only 2 games behind the Giants who were the wild card leaders.

After the break the Rockies continued to roll by taking 3 out of 4 in Petco Park, scoring 21 runs in their 3 wins. On July 20th, they came home to beat Arizona again, and for the first time led the Wild Card race by .5 games over the Giants. By that Friday with the Giants coming into Coors Field, the Rockies were 1 game up, before taking 2 out of 3 against the Giants to go 2 up. The Rockies finished the 20 game stretch at 54-44 going 13-7 to continue moving up. The Rockies were about to embark on two swings to the east coast where 17 of the next 24 would be on the road.

First stop was New York, where the Rockies bullpen uncharacteristically blew a lead in the 8th inning of the first game when Fernando Tatis hit a pinch hit grand slam off Franklin Morales after Juan Rincon issued 3 walks (the last one intentional). The Rockies then were shut out in the next two games, before salvaging the final game. The Rockies would also win the next 4 in a row, sweeping Cincinnati and taking the opener in Philadelphia, before dropping the final two games. The Rockies came home and took 5 of 7 games against the Cubs and Pirates, before heading to the East Coast for the final time in the Regular Season. After dropping the first two in Miami to the Marlins, the Rockies won the last game in Florida and swept the Nationals. Now the Rockies were 68-53, 48-21 since June 3rd.

The next stretch was good and bad, 17 of their next 20 were at home, but the first 10 were against the Giants and Dodgers. They were also now 2 games ahead of the Giants and 3.5 games behind the Dodgers.

The Rockies lost the opener of the four game series to the Giants as Tulowitzki came down with the flu before the game, and Aaron Cook had to leave the game because of arm soreness. On Saturday night, the Rockies overcame a 6-1 early deficit to win game two rather easily 14-11. Sunday's game in sweltering heat went to the Rockies and then came the finale on Monday, August 24th, probably the most exciting game of the season and one that was reminiscent of the tiebreaker game in 2007.

The Giants manufactured a first inning run, and Barry Zito walked in a run for the Rockies in the 5th. The score remained 1-1 until the top of the 14th, although there were several situations in the late innings that could have produced the game winner for either team. Adam Eaton gives up 3 runs on 2 triples and a walk as the Giants lead 4-1. The Rockies immediately get 3 of their first four hitters on before Adam Eaton is forced to bat because the Rockies have no more hitters to spare. To complicate matters, Carlos Gonzalez had cut himself with a steak knife two days before and Dexter Fowler hit a foul ball off his knee before being issued a walk to lead off the inning, and can barely run. Adam Eaton is given the take sign for the entire at-bat by Jim Tracy figuring he'd take a strike out over a potential double play without getting Ryan Spilborghs up to bat. Eaton is given a 5 pitch walk to drive in the 2nd run and bring up Spilborghs with still one out. Spilborghs drives the the second pitch to right center, which was certainly going to tie up the game, but the ball continued to sail into the Rockies bullpen for a walk-off grand slam.

The Rockies win the next game also in extra innings against the Dodgers, closing to within two games of the West Leaders and taking a 4 game lead on the Wild Card, but then have their longest losing streak since Jim Tracy took over losing the next 5. When the dust settled on August 30th, the Rockies found themselves tied for the wild card, and back to a 6 game deficit against the Dodgers.

When September dawned, the Rockies came home and got busy, winning 9 of 10 ont their homestand, and winning the first game of their final long road trip. Once more they closed to two games of the Dodgers, and had stretched their Wild Card lead to 5.5 games over the Giants and 8.5 over the Braves, who would eventually become their closest competitor for the Wild Card.

But the Rockies would drop the next 4 including 2 more to the Giants, before Jorge De La Rosa pitched his masterpiece against Matt Cain, throwing 8 shutout innings, before the Rockies had to hold on 4-3 to salvage one game in the final 6 at AT&T Park. The Rockies left San Francisco 3.5 up on the Giants, but 5 games in back of the Dodgers. After a final stop in Phoenix, taking 2 of those 3 the Rockies returned home looking to capture their 3rd postseason berth and 2nd in 3 years.

The Padres slowed them down a little bit, taking 2 of the 3, before the Rockies took 2 of 3 against the Cardinals, culminating with a spectacular play by Clint Barmes to finish off the Sunday game. But the Braves were charging hard, the Dodgers were looking for one more win to capture the West, and the Rockies looked like they were pressing a little bit.

And there was one week to go.

While the Rockies were off on Monday, the Braves won their 7th in a row to close within 2 games of the Rockies at 86-70 and opened a season ending homestand against Florida and woeful Washington. It would turn out turn out to be the Braves' last win of the season. Meanwhile the Dodgers lost their final game in Pittsburgh, and 3rd out of 4 games in the series, and headed to San Diego.

On Tuesday, while the Marlins beat the Braves, the Rockies blew a 3 run lead in the 9th to the Brewers, only to win it dramatically in the 11th on Chris Iannetta's pinch hit home run. Magic number was down to 3. Meanwhile the Dodgers lost again to San Diego.

On Wednesday, the Rockies pounded the Brewers 10-6 while the Braves lost again to the Marlins, and the Dodgers incredibly lost for the 4th time in a row avoiding capturing the NL West Crown on the road. The Rockies clinched a tie for the Wild Card, but now had a chance to win the NL West by winning the final 4 games--3 against the Dodgers. No more scoreboard watching needed.

The Rockies took care of business on Thursday at home easily beating the Brewers 9-2 to capture the West, then went into Los Angeles and won the first game of the series on Friday night and were incredibly one game behind the Dodgers, the Closest they had been to first place since the first week of the season.

But it was not to be. The Rockies were in a pitchers duel, when Jorge De La Rosa had to leave in the 4th inning because of a groin pull, and Jose Contreras pitched a couple of nice innings. But the Rockies imploded in the 7th inning giving up one more 5 run inning and losing the game 5-0. They finished the season Sunday with a 5-3 loss, mostly with 2nd stringers on both sides, and players who would not be going to the postseason.

The Rockies finished the season 92-70 a franchise record; only 3 games behind the Dodgers in the West, and the 3rd best record in the National League, one game behind the Phillies, and one game ahead of the Cardinals. But they won the wild card position by 4 games over the Giants, 5 over the Marlins and 6 over the Braves.

They also captured their 2nd postseason berth in 3 years, had their first winning road record and finished 72-38 after being 12 games under 500 on June 3rd.

Weekly Race In Review September 28-October 4

The Rockies finished the regular season by winning the first 4 games of the week, before falling on Saturday and finishing up with a meaningless loss on Sunday. For the week they were 4-2 and completed the season with a Franchise Best 92-70.

Results:
9/29 ROCKIES 7 Brewers 5 11 inn.
9/30 ROCKIES 10 Brewers 6
10/1 ROCKIES 9 Brewers 2
9/25 ROCKIES 4 Dodgers 3
9/26 Dodgers 5 ROCKIES 0
9/27 Dodgers 5 ROCKIES 3

The Dodgers were 2-4 and ended up finishing 3 games ahead of the Rockies. The other two National League playoff teams, the Phillies went 3-4, while the Cardinals finished up 1-5. Among the other former Wild Card competitors the Giants finished up strong at 5-1, Marlins 4-2 and the Braves lost their last 6 in a row and finished 1-6.

Just for the record the Rockies won the Wild Card Race by 4 games over the Giants, 5 over the Marlins and 6 over the Braves.



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DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN: The Rockies head into the Postseason headed to Philadelphia just as in 2007, when the Rockies swept the Phillies en route to the National League Pennant. The only difference being in 2007, the Rockies had a 4-3 regular season edge over the Phillies while this year the Phillies were 4-2 vs. the Rockies.

Day Games In Philly Again

Game times have been announced for the first 3 games in the NLDS.

The two games in Philadelphia will start at 12:37 PM or 2:30 PM in Philadelphia. The Saturday night game in Denver will be at 7:37 PM.

Although these are the slots I expected, once again the AL will be featured in the Prime time slots on the East Coast, and force the Phillies and Rockies to play in the late afternoon autumn shadows.

Wild Card--Headed to Philly

The Dodgers finally clinched the NL West 5-0 win over the Rockies which finalizes the Division Playoffs for the National League. After tomorrow's game the Rockies will head to Philadelphia to start the Playoffs in Philadelphia against the defending World Champion Phillies. The last time these two teams met in the Postseason, the Rockies swept the Phillies on their way to the World Series.

The Dodgers meanwhile will host the Cardinals in the other Division series starting Wednesday.

THE 90 FACTOR: I mentioned over the past couple of months that the target for wins that the Rockies needed to make the playoff was 90. With one game left the most wins 2nd place Florida or San Francisco will have is 88. In the American League the same is true of Texas. The 90 factor remains a good target for postseason play.

FALLING SHORT, BUT STILL A GREAT RUN: The Rockies have had a 72-37 record since June 3rd, but will fall at least 1 game short of making up the 15.5 games the Dodgers led them by at that point. The 72-37 record was 9 games better in the National League as the 2nd best team--Florida Marlins compiled a 62-45 record over the same period.

HOT ROX: Despite the Loss, the Rockies are the only National League Playoff team that will have a winning record in the last 10 games of the season. The Rockies are 6-3 in their past 9, while the Dodgers are 3-6. Meanwhile the Cardinals are 2-7 and the Phillies are 3-6.

NL Playoffs Simplified

The Cardinals lost earlier this afternoon to the Brewers 5-4 which gave them the 3rd seed for the Playoffs. This means they will be going on the road for the NLDS.
The Phillies lost to the Marlins this afternoon which clinches the 2nd seed for the playoffs.

The Phillies could tie the Dodgers for the 1st seed, however the Dodgers have a better head to head record against the Phillies

This means the Cardinals will go to the NL West Champion on Wednesday and Thursday, while the Phillies will host the Wild Card team. One of those teams will be the Rockies, the other will be the Dodgers. Whichever team wins the West will have the home field advantage if they advance to the NLCS.

If the Rockies don't win both remaining games against the Dodgers the Dodgers will win the West and the Rockies will open all of their series on the road.

A Word About Dan O'Dowd

One of the overlooked heroes of this year's Rockies Playoff team, was the master architect, Dan O'Dowd, just completing his 10th year as General Manager. After unsuccessfully trying for the first few years to acquire free agent pitching to be successful, he turned to another method, building a nucleus of young players from within, knowing it would take a few years to come to reality, and as they reached free agent status, he would have others coming up behind them as they moved on. This was a formula that had been successful in other mid-market towns, notably in Pittsburgh for a short time in the late 80's and early 90's.

One factor that wasn't O'Dowd's idea was the Humidor which came to Coors Field in 2002 and had a positive affect on the pitching. Runs and Home Runs were reduced. At the same time, O'Dowd seemed to search for pitchers who could throw sinkerballs effectively which resulted in more ground balls than before. The Rockies also had heavy investment in the Latin baseball program resulting in some successful acquisions like Ubaldo Jimenez, Franklin Morales and Manuel Corpas.

Probably the most important think O'Dowd has to do is create the chemistry of the parts. When Brad Penny was available in August, the Rockies reportedly quickly passed on him because of his reputation in the clubhouse not being a good fit. On the other hand, adding Jason Giambi gave a big boost to the players not only with his bat but his demeanor with his teammates and in the Clubhouse, as evidenced by his enthusiasm in the dugout seen during the games. You can have all the great talent in the world, but it doesn't always win for you.

O'Dowd has also taken his lumps via criticism of his trades. Many of his early trades were for young talent that would need to be developed. The only trade of consequence in the first few years was the Acquisition of Brian Fuentes and 2 other players from the Mariners in the winter of 2001-02. Many of the other trades were stepping stones to build the eventual competitive club.

Omar Quintanilla was the first of the current players that was traded for in July, 2005 along with Eric Byrnes for Joe Kennedy and Jay Witasik. In December of that O'Dowd picked up a backup catcher Yorvit Torrealba from the Mariners for Marcos Carvajal.

Last winter Jason Marquis was acquired from the Cubs for Luis Vizcaino.

Probably the most controversial trade O'Dowd has ever made came last Winter. Matt Holliday was heading into his final year before free agency, and Holliday and his agent Scott Boros, who is known for not agreeing to deals before free agency, never counteroffer a potential 4 year deal O'Dowd had offered the year before. It was apparent to me that Holliday's value would never be higher than it was last winter. Waiting until the trade deadline this year would have been risky. So O'Dowd did what he needed to do, despite knowing that he and the owners, the Monfort Brothers would be roundly criticized for it. Two of the three players immediately made huge contributions to the team. Huston Street has become a lights out closer and Carlos Gonzalez has a huge role in this year's offense, and the trade was somewhat Vindicated as the fans last weekend gave Holliday a mixed reception last weekend, when he first visited Coors Field in a visitor's uniform.

In the postseason clinching game 13 players participated--12 of them were home grown--drafted by the Rockies and brought up through their system. That's a testament to the strong scouting, and minor-league development and General Managers staff that O'Dowd has put together over his 10 year tenure.

There will be more controversial trades coming up possibly after this year's season ends, but there's one thing O'Dowd should do tomorrow, before the playoffs start--Extend Jim Tracy's contract beyond this season. He has proven he deserves a couple years to see if he can build on this season.

Road Warriors

The Rockies beat the Dodgers 4-3 Friday night and in the process won their 41st road game. It marks the first time in Franchise History that the Rockies have had a winning Season on the road. Their previous best was a 39-42 record in 2007. They had already surpassed that mark with their last win in Arizona.

The Rockies won their 5th straight game their 5th winning streak of 5 or more during this season.

Ubaldo Jimenez completed the season with 198 Strikeouts, just 12 short of Pedro Astacio's all-time Rockies record of 210. He struck out Manny Ramirez 3 times on Friday. Jorge De La Rosa who pitches Saturday has 189 Strikeouts for the season and needs 10 to surpass Jimenez and 11 to get to 200. Jimenez also picked up his 15th win of the Season. Jimenez did set the record for the lowest ERA by a starting pitcher at 3.47 breaking Joe Kennedy's 2004 record of 3.66 in 27 starts. His second half ERA is at an incredible 3.07

The last time the Rockies were within 1 game of 1st place in the West was on April 11th after 5 games when they were 3-2 and trailed the Padres by 1/2 game.


WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? The Rockies can still end the season as the 1st, 2nd or 4th seed. They are currently tied with the Phillies at 92-68, but if they both win their final two, the Phillies will gain the #1 Seed as they have a winning record against the Rockies this year. The Dodgers can be either the 1st seed by winning one of the remaining two games or the 4th seed by losing two. Dodgers took the season series against the Phillies. The Cardinals will need to win their final two and the Phillies lose both to gain the #2 seed. They cannot get the #1 Seed.

So here's how it stacks up:
#1 Seed--a. Dodgers if they win the West
b. Phillies if they win both and Rockies win Division
c. Rockies if they win the West and Phillies lose 1 game.
#2 Seed a. Phillies if Dodgers win the West and Phillies win 1 game or Cardinals lose 1.
b. Rockies if they win Division and the Phillies win both games.
c. Cardinals if Phillies lose 2 and Cardinals win both (Regardless of West Winner)
#3 Seed a. Cardinals if Phillies win 1 or Cardinals lose 1.
b. Phillies if Cardinals win both and Phillies lose both.
#4 Seed a. Rockies if they lose 1
b. Dodgers if they lose 2

The Rockies will host the first two games if they Win the west, or go on the Road most likely to Philadelphia if they lose one of the last two.

The other 3 National League playoff teams lost on Friday night and remain in slumps. The Dodgers lost their 5th game in a row for the 1st time all season and have lost 7 of their last 9. The Phillies lost their 2nd in a row, and 7 of their last 11. The Cardinals blew a 6-0 lead giving up 12 runs in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings. They've now lost 6 of their last 8, and are 7-11 since September 11th. Meanwhile the Rockies have won 6 of their last 7 and 10 of their last 14. At least one of the other 3 teams will have to break out of their losing ways next week.

***

IT'S ROCKTOBER AGAIN!!!!!!

ROCKIES 9 Brewers 2

Aaron Cook 8 innings and gives up one run on a solo home run to Ryan Braun. Cook only gave up 4 hits, and 1 walk, in an impressive tune up for the postseason.

Rockies win franchise-best 91st win to clinch the playoffs, but still have a shot for more. NL West Title and a Home field advantage in the first series are at stake as the Rockies go to LA to finish the Regular Season.

Final Home Record 51-30, 42-16 .724 since June 1st.

Final Record against the Central Division 31-11, 18-5 at home, and 28-3 since June 3rd.

Back in Control

The unthinkable has happened. The Rockies with the help of the Pirates and Padres (and even the Nationals) have been put back in control of their destiny. One win would put them in the playoffs, four wins would put them in as no less than the 2nd seed as the NL West Champion.

Last Saturday, the Dodgers came within one game of clinching the NL West requiring either a Dodger win or a Rockies loss. Since Saturday, the Rockies are 3-0 and the Dodgers are 0-4. With the Dodgers off on Thursday, and the Rockies 2.5 games behind, the situation is simple, but not easy: If the Rockies can win 4 more in a row, they get the West, otherwise with one win or a Braves loss, the Rockies will gain the Wild Card.

Jason Hammel became the 5th starting pitcher to gain 10 wins, which is the first time in Rockies History five pitchers have 10 wins in the same season.

Rockies and Brewers each hit 3 home runs Wednesday night. The Brewers Homers all came as solo home runs as leadoff hitters of the inning 2nd (Fielder) 4th (Cameron) and 9th (McGehee). The Rockies Homers were all two-run shots in the 3rd (Helton), 6th (Gonzalez), and 7th (Tulowitzki). Two Rockies runs were also scored on Wild Pitches.

The Rockies reached 90 wins for the 2nd time in team history, tieing 2007. If the Rockies don't require a tiebreaker game with the Braves, they are guaranteed to have their best winning percentage in history.

The Rockies are 22 games above .500 for the second time in history, the first coming on September 11. The Rockies have scored 7 runs or more in two straight games, the first since August 12th and 13th against the Pirates.

Despite the Braves recent run, the Rockies finished September with a better record during the month than the Braves did, edging them 18-9 vs. 18-10.

Perfect Night

Everything went right for the Rockies--except for a Blown Save by Huston Street, his first since June 2. The Marlins ended the Braves 7 game winning streak, the Padres held off the Dodgers from clinching the NL West and the Rockies came back from a 9th inning 3 run homer to tie them, as Chris Iannetta hit a 2-run pinch hit home run in the bottom of the 11th.

Meanwhile the Rockies' win eliminated the Cubs and Marlins, and put the Giants on the verge of elimination.

The Rockies now have to lose 4 games for the Braves to win out and take the Wild Card. The Phillies clinched a tie for the East with the Braves, so their best shot remains the Wild Card.

However should the Rockies win their remaining games, all they need to win the West would be one win by the Padres tomorrow.

How Many Ways to Make the Postseason?

With 6 days and 6 games left, there remain 3 ways the Rockies can possibly get into the Postseason. The easiest way is to win 5 of the six games and beat out the Braves for the Wild Card. However, if the banged-up Dodgers can find a way to lose the next two in San Diego, the Rockies can still win the West by winning all six games this week. The 3rd way the Rockies can get into the playoffs is also via the Wild Card route, but beating out the Phillies. The Rockies are in the same postion (2 games out) with the Phillies as the Braves are with the Rockies, so it's probably the least likely scenario. In order for the Braves to win the East, they would have to win all 6 games and the Phillies would have to lose at least 5 of 6. The best the Phillies could be and not win the East would be 91-61, which means the Rockies would only need to win 4 of their 6 to get to 92 and beat them out. Winning 4 of 6 would put the Rockies at a minimum of a tiebreaker game on Monday in Atlanta, and only one loss by the Braves would put them in, so it really doesn't matter.

The Rockies best play is to sweep the Brewers, which would keep pressure on the Braves. Depending on what LA does against the Padres, the final series in LA this weekend could become another playoff situation for the Rockies.

However, the most likely scenario is the Wild Card berth over the Braves.

Cubs, and Marlins, now need a miracle and the Giants are two losses away from being eliminated. The Marlins could really help the Rockies by taking one of the next two against the Braves.

The Rockies unlike the fans, just have to go out and not watch the scoreboard. And just like in 2007, keep on winning.

Voice of the Rockies Jeff Kingery to Retire

Rockies Radio Broadcaster Jeff Kingery who has been with the team since the beginning in 1993 has announced he will retire from the Broadcasting booth at the end of this season. Jeff, along with Wayne Hagin, who left the Rockies to go to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2003, were the two original Rockies Radio Broadcasters.

This makes TV Broadcaster George Frazier the "Dean" of Rockies Broadcasters. Frazier has been with the team since 1998.

Thanks for the memories, Jeff and good luck in your retirement.

Everything Gets Magnified this Time of Year

In 2007, when the Rockies were on their season-ending streak that propelled them to the playoffs and the World Series, my rallying cry was "Every Game Counts!" A lot of attention gets paid to games late in the season, because they are the games that cause you to clinch or fall out of the race. But without the games in April, May, June, July and August, many teams aren't even in a position to play important games in September.

Yesterday's game-saving catch by Clint Barmes WAS important, as was Yorvit Torrealba's Sac Fly in Friday night's game.

But you also have consider all those losses back in April and May that maybe could have turned into wins and maybe the Rockies could be looking at the NL West Division title rather than the Wild Card berth. And no matter how this season ultimately turns out the Rockies have to be better out of the box in the early months. The past 3 years they have gotten to the mark of 18-27, and in two of those years they dug out of it. In 2010, it would be nice to finish the first 45 games at 23-22 or better.

But since it's come down to the Braves and Rockies for the Wild Card race, you have to look back to two games that may make the difference: July 9th and July 12th.

The Rockies and Braves split 4 non-competitive games in Atlanta in May, and the Braves headed into Coors Field for a big 4 game series. On Thursday, the Braves took a 2-0 lead, 4-2 lead and 5-4 lead, each time the Rockies came back to tie without taking the lead. In the bottom of the eighth, pinch-hitter Garrett Atkins delivered a two-out two-run double and the Rockies held on in the top of the 9th, to win 7-6.

Then on Sunday, after the Braves won the next two games, and the 3 day All-Star break looming, the Braves jumped out to a 4-0 lead against Jason Hammel who only lasted 3 innings. In the bottom of the 7th the Rockies were trailing by 4 runs for the 3rd time in the game 7-3. Seth Smith hit a 3 run homer in the 7th, and Ryan Spilborghs delivered a game tying double in the 8th, but Chris Iannetta is thrown out at the plate.

In the 9th, Seth Smith is on first with 2 outs, when Brad Hawpe delivers a double to right-center as Smith scores the winner.

Take those two games the other way, and everything else goes the same way, the Rockies are now 86-70 and the Braves are 87-69.

Every Game Does Count!

DIVISION SEED TIEBREAKERS: If the Phillies and Cardinals end up tied for the 1st or 2nd division seeding, the Phillies would have the advantage based on their 4-1 record against the Cardinals this season. The Dodgers have the Edge on the Phillies 4-3 in the case of a tie, and the Cardinals have a 5-2 edge over the Dodgers. I'm not clear on whether a 3 way tie takes the total record, but in that case the Records would be: Dodgers 8-6, Phillies 7-5, and Cardinals 6-6.

Weekly Race In Review September 21-27

In the next to the last week of the season, the Rockies recovered from losing 2 out of 3 to the Padres to scratch out two wins over the Central Winning St. Louis Cardinals to finish the week 3-3. All 3 wins were 1 run wins. They are now 16-9 in September with 2 more games to go. Meanwhile the Atlanta Braves moved into 2nd place in the Wild Card race by sweeping the Mets and Nationals on the Road for a 6-0 week.

Results:
9/22 ROCKIES 11 Padres 10
9/23 Padres 6 Rockies 3
9/14 Padres 5 ROCKIES 4
9/25 ROCKIES 2 Cardinals 1
9/26 Cardinals 6 ROCKIES 3
9/27 ROCKIES 4 Cardinals 3

The Dodgers also went 3-3 and have all but locked up the West Division. Meanwhile the Marlins were also 3-3, Giants 3-4, and the Cubs went 5-2, but still can do no better than a tie for the Wild Card. The other division Leaders Phillies went 3-4, while the Cardinals finished 3-3.

Magic Number for the Dodgers to win the West 2, Rockies need 16. Magic Number for the Rockies to win the Wild Card is 5, while the Braves need 10.

Rockies finish their home schedule with Milwaukee, followed by a weekend Series and season finale in Los Angeles. Braves are home for 7 games, Marlins for 3 followed by the Nationals for 4.

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DOWN THE STRETCH: Remaining Games:
Rockies (3H, 3A)--Milw (3), @LAD (3)

Dodgers--(3H, 3A)--Pitt (1), @SD (2), Col (3)

Giants--(3H, 3A)--Ariz (3), @SD (3)

Marlins--(6A)--@Atl (3), @Phil 3)

Braves--(7H)--Fla (3), Wash (4)

The 90 Plus factors show the Dodgers at 96, Braves at 92 and Rockies 91

GIVE BARMES A SAVE: There have been moments over the last couple of weeks where the Rockies defense has let them down, but when they make the plays, there is nothing more fun to watch. Ian Stewart made an incredible play on Friday against Matt Holliday. In Sunday's game, Clint Barmes made one of the most incredible catches I've ever seen to end the game against the Cardinals. Obviously, Albert Pujols made a mistake by continuing to run full out before it dropped in, but even if he only goes halfway, the Rockies would have gotten Julio Lugo out at 3rd, as he continued to home plate after the catch and didn't realize that Barmes had made the catch until he got back to the Cardinals dugout. Sunday's win may or may not be the game that wins the Wild Card, but it has to give the team a huge lift heading into the final week.

UP AND DOWN MONTH: The Braves are on a tear, but overall in September they have only gained one game on the Rockies. They started the month 3.5 games behind the Rockies and are now 2.5 games behind. The Braves started out the month losing 6 of 8 while the Rockies were winning 10 of their first 11, which moved the Braves 8.5 games back. Since September 9 the Rockies have gone 8-8 while the Braves have won 14 of 16. The Braves still need the Rockies to lose at least 3 games (if the Braves win their last 7) to win the Wild Card berth. If the Rockies go 4-2 this week, the worst that can happen is there would be a Tiebreaker on Monday, October 5th in Atlanta.

DOMINANCE OVER CENTRAL: The Rockies finished the regular season series with the Cardinals at 6-1, increasing their Record against Central Teams to 28-11. The only Central team that will have a winning record against the Rockies this year is Houston, at 5-2 vs. the Rockies. The Pirates are the only other team to win as many as 3 against the Rockies (pending the Milwaukee series this week), but they had 9 chances to do it.

(ALMOST) ALWAYS ON SUNDAY: The Rockies finished the season with an 11-3 record on Sunday's at home. Their last Home loss on a Sunday, was on July 5th vs. Arizona 4-3. Their other home losses were April 12 7-5 vs. the Phillies and Jim Tracy's first loss on May 31 vs. San Diego 5-2.
Overall, the Rockies are 17-9 on Sundays with one left in LA next Sunday.

Hot Braves

The Atlanta Braves seem to be this year's version of the 2007 Rockies. Over the past two weeks, they have are 12-2 including a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. They also play the Washington Nationals in 6 of their final 9 games with the other 3 against Florida. The Braves have an 8-4 record against the Nationals with all 4 losses coming in Washington. Against the Marlins they are 7-8, 2-4 in Atlanta. If the Braves were to win out the rest of their games, (finishing 21-2 down the stretch), the Rockies would only have to finish 5-3 to force a tiebreaker with the Braves, and 6-2 to win the Wild Card outright. Every loss reduces the Rockies needed record one. So let's assume the Braves stumble a couple of times and lose two of their remaining 9 games. This would require the Rockies to go only 4-4 to win the Wild card outright.

As Jim Tracy says, it's much better at this point to be the hunted rather than the hunted. Every time you win, it takes a little bit of air out of the hunter.

SIX--Holliday Style!!!!

In a scene reminiscent of Matt Holliday's tiebreaking score in 2007, Yorvit Torrealba hit a sac fly to score Troy Tulowitzki with the winning run in front of a full house preventing the St. Louis Cardinals from clinching the NL Central title on Coors Field tonight as the Rockies finally got their magic number down to 6. They maintained their 3.5 game lead on the 2nd Place Atlanta Braves and moved a game closer to the Dodgers putting them now at 5 games back.

As Matt Holliday looked on from left field in his first visit to Coors Field in an opponent's uniform, Tulowitzki scored on a high throw from right fielder Ryan Ludwick. With a sellout crowd of nearly 50,000 the stadium became the first pure playoff atmosphere for the Rockies since the Giants series back in August.

Aaron Cook had a masterful 5 innings in his first game back on the mound since August 21st scattering 4 hits and no walks in a pitcher's duel with Chris Carpenter. For the second night in a row the Rockies scored in the first inning, and then didn't score again until late. Tonight, the 2nd run was enough to edge the Cardinals. Ian Stewart had an incredible run-saving play on Matt Holliday's scorcer in the 3rd inning.

It was the Rockies 7th straight win against the Cardinals dating back to May 7th 2008. The Rockies continued their dominance over the NL Central this season winning their 27th game against 10 losses, and have won 7 in a row against the Central and 24-2 after starting out 3-8. The next 5 games are against Central teams.

Note: The Giants were eliminated from the NL West race on Thursday night.

Now It's Officially for the Wild Card

With the Rockies loss and the Dodgers win Thursday night, the Dodgers have all but wrapped up the NL West. Although their Magic Number is officially 4, if the Rockies were to catch them with 93 or 94 wins, neither the Giants or the Braves would be able to tie them and force a tiebreaker for the NL West, so the real magic number for the Dodgers is 3.

So that leaves the Rockies with still a pretty good chance to capture the Wild Card berth, and the Magic Number remains at 7 over the Braves, despite the Giants loss on Thursday night (Thank you ex-Rockie Jeff Baker!)

The Cardinals come in Friday night needing one win to clinch the AL Central, but trail the Phillies for the 2nd Seed by 1/2 game and the Dodgers by 3 for the 1st Seed.

Mirror Images

Both the Rockies and the Giants had to fight down to the wire Tuesday night, and it came out well in both cases for the Rockies. The Rockies gave up 4 runs in the 9th and was facing the tying run on 3rd and won 11-10, while the Giants came back from a 10-4 deficit scoring a run in the 8th and 3 in the 9th before going down 10-8.

These results reduced the Rockies Magic number for the postseason, but now the Giants and Braves are tied, so it requires both the giants and Braves to lose to pick up one in the loss side of the Magic number. The good news is if either one of those teams were to somehow go 11-0, the Rockies can win it on their own simply by going 7-4. Going into the game they needed to go 9-3. Even if they were to go 6-5 while oneoof those teams won out, the Rockies would have one more chance in the Tiebreaker game.

I'll still hold to my prediction that 90 wins will get to the postseason. The Rockies need 4 wins to get to 90, the Giants, Braves and Marlins all need 9. 90-72 would give the Rockies their best season ever.

It seems like every starting pitcher has had a uncharacteristic meltdown in the past week, Jimenez blew up against the Giants last Tuesday, while De La Rosa had his worst outing in 4 months Tuesday night. We've kind of gotten spoiled here, watching these guys pitch this year, a consistency we haven't seen much of here in the high altitude. Could be the pressure of the race, but I think it's more of just not having it once in a while.

Give credit to the hitting, they came through Tuesday night with 5 or more runs for the 4th game in a row and hit double digits for the 2nd time in 3 games. Every starting hitter had a hit.

Probably the most significant event for the Rockies was the return of Huston Street, who dispatched the two hitters he faced and will now move back to the closer's role. This should solidify the bullpen even more returning Franklin Morales to one of the setup roles probably in the 7th.

If you watched the last couple of pregame shows on TV, Tracy Ringolsby keeps mentioning the fact that the Giants are 0-6 in San Diego this season. That stat is meaningless for the following reasons: 1) The Giants last played in San Diego on May 21st and left with a record of 19-21, 2) The series against San Diego is the last weekend of the season, and the Rockies are playing in Los Angeles, where the Rockies are 2-7 (including the Angels) this season, 3) The Braves or Marlins may be in 2nd place in the Wild Card race before then, 4) The Rockies will probably clinch before then, and 5) Past performance doesn't guarantee future results.

The Rockies will end up with a winning record against San Diego this year currently at 10-6. With the win last night, the Rockies now have a winning record on every day of the week and are guaranteed to not have a losing record on any day except Saturday. They need a win in one of their two remaining Saturday games to clinch that. Rockies have clinched a winning record in September, Currently at 14-6 with 7 more games to play.

Off Day Offerings

Snake-Bite Remedy: The Rockies completed only their 2nd winning record in Phoenix, by going 5-4 this season, same as in 2007. The 5 wins are tied for the most wins in 2007 as well as in 2004 when they went 5-5. In 2008 the Rockies went 1-8 in Arizona. The 11-7 season Record with the D-Backs is the best record since going 13-6 in 2004.

NO PICKUP ON OFF DAY: The Giants and Braves both won yesterday keeping the Rockies Magic Number at 9.

ANALYZING THE WILD CARD RACE: If any team is going to make a serious run at the Rockies Wild Card hopes I believe it will be the Atlanta Braves. Currently sitting at 80-70 five games back, They spend the entire last week at home after playing the Mets and Washington on the Road this week. Their pitching staff, unlike the Giants is still intact and a little bit of hitting could carry them to a big finish. They would need the Rockies to go less than .500 though unless they can win them all. I would still predict that the Braves will be the team to get past the Giants and Marlins and finish in 2nd place for the Wild Card.

Weekly Race In Review September 14-20

The Rockies finished strong winning 3 of their last 4 to give them a 3-3 recorda nd a 4-5 Road Trip. Combined with their previous 9-1 homestand, the Rockies are 13-6 in September. The Giants also went 3-3 while the Dodgers were 5-1 to take a 5 game lead in the West.


Results:
9/15 Giants 9 ROCKIES 1
9/16 Giants 10 ROCKIES 2
9/17 ROCKIES 4 Giants 3
9/18 Diamondbacks 7 ROCKIES 5
9/19 ROCKIES 10 Diamondbacks 4
9/20 ROCKIES 5 Diamondbacks 1

Meanwhile the Marlins were 4-3, Braves 4-2, and the Cubs 3-4. The other division Leaders Phillies went 5-1, while the Cardinals went 3-3.

Magic Number for the Dodgers to win the West 8, Rockies need 22. Magic Number for the Rockies to win the Wild Card is 9, Giants need 18, Marlins 18, Braves 19, and Cubs 23.

Rockies start their final 9 game homestand hosting San Diego and St. Louis The Giants follow the Rockies into Arizona, before heading home for 4 with the Cubs while the Dodgers head to the East Coast to take on Washington and Pittsburgh.

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DOWN THE STRETCH: Remaining Games:
Rockies (9H, 3A)--SD (3), STL (3), Milw (3), @LAD (3)

Dodgers--(3H, 9A)--@Wash (3) @Pitt (4), @SD (2), Col (3)

Giants--(7H, 6A)--@Ariz (3), Chic (4), Ariz (3), @SD (3)

Marlins--(6H, 6A)--Phil (3), NYM (3), @Atl (3), @Phil 3)

Braves--(7H, 6A)--@Mets (3), @Wash (3), Fla (3), Wash (4)

The Rockies are the only team in the hunt with 3 series left at home.

The 90 Plus factors show the Dodgers at 93, Rockies 94, Giants at 87, Marlins at 86, and Braves 86.

ROAD WARRIORS: Sunday's win gave the Rockies a franchise high 40 regular season wins on the road. They need to win one game in Los Angeles to have their first winning season on the road. Since June 4th the Rockies have a 29-20 Record on the Road, however they are 4-8 in their past 12 on the road.

POWER SURGE: In the weekend series against Arizona the Rockies scored 5 runs or more in 3 straight games. It was the first time the Rockies had scored 5 runs or more 3 straight times since August 12-14 against Pittsburgh.

UPDATE:
It's a Miracle, A True Purple Spectacle: One of my favorite Baseball writers Jayson Stark has a column featuring the Rockies Revival under Jim Tracy.

Just a sample:

So what happened next just doesn't happen. It can't happen. It never happens. Even the man who hired Jim Tracy -- Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd -- had no grandiose illusions that it was about to happen to his team.

"We studied this historically before we did it," O'Dowd said. "And usually, these moves don't do anything."

Well, this one did.

Before this move, there had never been a manager -- not one -- in the history of baseball that took over a team that had plummeted to 10 games under .500 and then got that same team to a point where it was 20 games over .500.

But not anymore. Check those standings. You'll find Tracy's Rockies at exactly 20 games above sea level (85-65) right now as they head into the final two weeks of a special season. And that's a miracle. An official baseball miracle.

October 1st--A Significant date in Rockies History

In 1995, the Rockies clinched the Wild Card Berth (I hate to use the term "Won the Wild Card") on the final day of the Season, October 1st. In 2007 the Rockies clinched the Wild Card Berth on the day after the last day of the season, which was October 1st when the tiebreaker game was held. (On the east coast it was already, October 2nd, but here in Colorado it was still October 1st.)

This year October 1st is on a Thursday 3 days and games before the end of the season. It's very possible for the Rockies to clinch again on that date if all goes well.

The magic number vs. the Giants is 13, and the Rockies will play 12 games between now and that date while the Giants will play 13. If the Rockies gain one in each of the games the Giants play (either by a Rockies win or a Giants loss), they will clinch on that date.

The magic number vs. the Braves who are now in 3rd behind the Giants is 12. They also play 13 games by the end of October 1st including 3 this weekend against the Phillies and 3 at the end of September vs. the Marlins.

The magic number vs. the Marlins is now 11, and have 12 games before October 1st. They probably have the toughest schedule of the four teams as they play the Phillies 6 times, and Atlanta for 3 in their final 15 games.

Rockies have 6 games remaining against winning teams, St. Louis and the Dodgers. Giants have 3 games this weekend with the Dodgers, and 4 with the Cubs.

To see the magic number progress through the season for the Wild Card:
June 3--Actual vs. St. Louis 120 vs. San Francisco 118
June 30--vs. San Francisco 88
July 31--vs. San Francicso 60
August 31--vs. San Francisco 32
September 17--vs. San Francisco 13

Colorado still has the best record in September at 11-5. Florida is 10-6, Atlanta 9-6 and the Giants are 7-8. The Rockies finished 14-1.

Oh, and one last thing, the Rockies magic number heading into the last 15 games of the season was 20. The Padres was 14.

In 1995 the Rockies led the west by 2 games, and their magic number was 13 heading into the last 15 games. They finished 7-8.

TIEBREAKERS: I kept waiting for word on the coin flips for the potential tiebreaker games this season, when I found out Tuesday that they changed the way they determine the host for the Tiebreaker games. The Rockies will be visitors if they tie San Francisco, because the Giants won the season series. They would also be visitors with the Dodgers in the unlikely event that they tie, and the Marlins or Braves pass both of them for the wild card. Otherwise a tie results in the Dodgers winning the division and the Rockies getting the Wild Card.

The Marlins would also host the Rockies in a Tiebreaker with the Rockies. Since Atlanta and the Rockies tied the season series, it's unclear what the next tiebreaker is, however I believe the Rockies would hit the Road for that one also. The Rockies would get to host the Cubs if those two teams were tied for the wild card.

Nobody Said It was Going to Be Easy

Maybe last night's win, kept people from massively jumping off the bandwagon that has been the Rockies 2009, but that 9th inning was one that kept the antacid producers in business. Nothing like testing the nerves a little bit before finally putting the Giants away at AT&T Park for the first time since the 2nd game there this season on May 2nd.

It's a win that shows the difference between a 1.5 game lead and a 3.5 game lead. If they had one more win in San Francisco, they'd have a 5.5 game lead. But more importantly, it brought one more pitcher to the forefront in the form of Jorge De La Rosa who masterfully subdued the Giants for 8 innings in what he calls the biggest game of his career.

Now I'm not one who believes this was an all or nothing series as some in the media have put added importance on it. But regardless of the outcome the Rockies would have come out of the series at least one loss ahead of the Giants, and the Giants are hitting the road for 6 games including Los Angeles before the follow the Rockies into Arizona.

Every game is important. This weekend may be the last chance for the Rockies to have a chance to catch the Dodgers, and they need the Giants to win to do it. The Rockies need to bear down and win as many of the next 12 games as they can in order to make the last weekend meaningful for the NL West Crown. And since the Dodgers can win the west just by tieing the Rockies, that means the Rockies must win 3 more games than the Dodgers over the next two weeks to cut the lead to 2 or less.

But the consolation prize in challenging the Dodgers is that they could wrap up the Wild Card with any combination of 13 wins and Giants Losses out of 25 chances or 12 out of 25 Chances, should the Marlins move past the Giants.

We are down to the last 15 games of the Season, and 2 years ago we saw what could happen in a mere 15 games. Not a time to get complacent, but a time to focus even more and propel themselves into the playoffs.

ROCK-VEMBER?: The National League Playoffs will start on Wednesday, October 7 with the 5 game Divisional Playoffs. Both Divisional Series in the National League will be played on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, and end Tuesday, October 13 if necessary. Games 1, 2 and 5 will be hosted by the higher ranked team, and Games 3 and 4 will be held in the other city. All games will be on TBS. The Rockies likely will play St. Louis or Philadelphia in this Series and would not play the Dodgers because they are in the same division and can't face each other.

The National League Championship Series also on TBS will start Thursday, October 15th at the Higher remaining seed (Wild Card is seeded 4th regardless of Record). The Series continues Friday, October 16th, before moving to the other city on Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday, October 18, 19, and 21, before returning for Games 6 and 7 on Friday and Saturday, the 23rd and 24th.

The World Series will extend into November for sure as the Al Team hosts games 1 and 2 on October 28 and 29, and Move to the NL October 31-November 2, and then finishes up if Necessary back in the AL on November 4 and 5. All World Series Games as well as the AL Championship Series will be on FOX.

LAST 20: Tuesday marked the first time since June 9th that the Rockies didn't have a winning record in their last 20 games, as they fell to 10-10 in the last 20 games. Wednesday's win put them back up to 11-9, and now have gone 92 games without having a losing record in their last 20. The Rockies are now 74-4-14 in their last 10 over the past 98 games, since a 1-36-9 start.

Analyzing the 2010 Schedule

Looking at the tentative schedule for 2010 for the Rockies, a few of the big quirks of the past couple of years are gone. No wild coast to coast road trips. In fact, other than an 11 game road road trip right after the All-star break, and a 9 game trip in early May, the Rockies don't have any road trips longer than 7 games, and none of them to travel to two time zones. By comparison, they had 3 double digit road trips and 2 more that were 9 and a 3 city 8 gamer in 2009.

On the home side, there are two 10 game home stands. Everthing else is 6, 7, or 8 games except for a 3 game set with Milwaukee in August separating a six game road trip on the east coast from a 6 game west coast swing. In fact that 12 out of 15 road games is as bad as it gets next season. The discrepancy between home and away games never gets worse than 7 games next year. In 2009 between the 2nd road trip and the homestand last week, it never got better than 7 games after a road trip, and reached a peak of 14 more road games than home games in June--two separate times.

So from a home and away standpoint it's a rather consistent week home and week away with the noted exceptions above. Fairly sane from a travel standpoint.

In inter-league play the Rockies get their usual 15 games play a team from each American League Division. They travel to the Central's Kansas City in May, and Minnesota in June, as well as the West's LA Angels. They host the East's Boston and Toronto. The extra NL Series comes at home against Milwaukee, this year it was Pittsburgh.

Other than the 9 and 9 home games with all 4 of their West opponents, the Rockies play 3 and 3 against the East and Central teams except for the extra series with the Brewers and the other exceptions. 2 at Chicago and Houston, 4 each home and away with Washington, 4 at St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Florida, and Philadelphia and 4 at home against Cincinnati and Houston.

The one oddity that stands out is that nearly half (35 of 72) of the games against the NL West come between August 3 and September 29. This includes 12 games against the Dodgers, 9 against the Diamondbacks, 8 against the Giants and 6 against the Padres. Only 3 games against the West come in the first 3 weeks, followed by 12 straight starting April 26. Another set of 12 come from May 25-June 6. The remaining 10 games come just before the All-star break.

From a Rockies perspective, overall it looks like a pretty reasonable schedule compared to the past few years.

We're Just Toying With Them

The Rockies Wild Card lead has dropped from 5.5 games to 2.5 in just [gasp] 3 days. This is caused by a 3 game losing streak by the Rockies, and a 3 game Winning Streak by the Giants. And 2 of those games have been against each other. I had to chuckle this morning when I read in the last remaining big daily paper in Denver that last night was "their biggest game of the season" and "Colorado is in trouble."

Nothing like going all negative and calling for a choke. The focus doesn't change. Forget about whether you won or lost the last game or the last 4 or the last 8 or the last 146. Work on winning today's game. As the past few weeks have shown us, things change quickly. The Giants left Coors field trailing by 3.5, and within 6 days were tied. The Rockies then grabbed a 5.5 game lead in the next 11 and only lost just over half that lead in 3 days.

But what people forget is that they still lead by 2.5 games. Fortunately, Jim Tracy doesn't forget that. He's absolutely right when he says that a win tonight puts the Rockies comfortably ahead at 3.5 games, while a loss still gives them a lead.

Obviously there are concerns, the pitching has faltered over the past 4 games, and a few fielding miscues have hurt, and there has been next to no hitting for the better part of 6 weeks. But a single spark can get things ignited.

I hate to bring up 2007 again, but prior to the final 14 regular season games, the Rockies had lost 3 games in a row, two of them badly. The start of that final streak was a 13-0 win over Florida, an innocuous win at the time.

Beyond tonight the Rockies and Giants have similar games to play--3 each at LA, and Arizona, and 3 against San Diego, Rockies at home, Giants on the road. The only differences are Giants play Chicago and Arizona at Home, while the Rockies go up against the Cardinals and Brewers at Coors.

And remember, you never surrender when you have the lead.

Rockies 2010 Tentative Schedule Released

MLB Released the Master 2010 Schedule. Rockies Printable Schedule is here The Rockies open on the Road in Milwaukee on April 5th and end the Season with a 4 game seriesin St. Louis Sept 30-Oct 3.

4/5-7 at Brewers
4/9-11 Padres
4/13-15 Mets
4/16-18 at Braves
4/19-22 at Nationals
4/23-25 Marlins
4/26-28 Diamondbacks
4/30-5/2 at Giants
5/3-5 at Padres
5/7-9 at Dodgers
5/10-12 Phillies
5/13-16 Nationals
5/17-18 at Cubs
5/19-20 at Astros
5/21-23 at Royals
5/25-27 Diamondbacks
5/28-30 Dodgers
5/31-6/2 at Giants
6/4-6 at Diamondbacks
6/7-10 Astros
6/11-13 Blue Jays
6/15-17 at Twins
6/18-20 Brewers
6/22-24 Red Sox
6/25-27 at Angels
6/28-30 at Padres
7/1-4 Giants
7/6-8 Cardinals
7/9-11 Padres
7/16-18 at Reds
7/19-22 at Marlins
7/23-26 at Phillies
7/27-29 Pirates
7/30-8/1 Cubs
8/3-4 Giants
8/5-8 at Pirates
8/10-12 at Mets
8/13-15 Brewers
8/17-19 at Dodgers
8/20-22 at Diamondbacks
8/23-25 Braves
8/27-29 Dodgers
8/30-9/1 at Giants
9/3-5 at Padres
9/6-9 Reds
9/10-12 Diamondbacks
9/13-15 Padres
9/17-19 at Dodgers
9/21-23 at Diamondbacks
9/24-26 Giants
9/27-29 Dodgers
9/30-10/3 at Cardinals

Meanwhile Back in Realityville

Earlier today, I posted an update on Troy Renck's uninsightful analysis of August 10th.

Here are some additional info to noodle on:

Ubaldo Jimenez has gone 4-1 since then and the Rockies won his no-decision last time out. He hasn't given up more than 2 runs except for his last start when he gave up 3, and has gone 8 innings in 4 of the 6 starts.

Jorge De La Rosa has gone 5-1 and the Rockies also won his no-decision. He has gone into the 6th inning in all but one game, when he went 5, and gone at least 7 3 times.

Jason Hammel has only gone 1-2 in his 7 starts since August 10th, but the Rockies have a 4-3 Record in his games. He has gone 6 innings or more in 5 of the 7 starts and had one 4 inning start, the only one by these 3 who didn't go 5. He has given up 3 or fewer runs in 5 of the starts, and only gave up 4 in the other two including last night.

Altogether those 3 starters have carried the Rockies to a 15-5 record in their combined 20 starts. But then the Rockies starters other than Cook and his replacements haven't done badly down the stretch.

Stick a Fork in Them

That's right, the Rockies are done. That's not my opinion, that's beat writer Troy Renck of the Denver Post--From August 10th.. And I blogged about it here, how I disagreed with much of his analysis.

Here's his summation:

Two factors will determine their [Rockies] fate: how they play against the Giants, and their record when Aaron Cook and Jason Marquis pitch.

He goes on to say the Rockies needed to go 13-7 in Marquis and Cook starts, and If Cook went on the disabled list, the Rockies don't make the playoffs.

They have roughly 20 starts left. The necessary record? Try 13-7.

if Cook lands on the DL, the Rockies aren't making the playoffs.

First of all, Cook did go on the Disabled List and is still on it. He might be back for two more starts or he may not return at all. Strike 1.

Meanwhile Jason Marquis has had 7 starts and the Rockies are 4-3 in those starts so far. Cook has only pitched twice since then and went 0-2. So the combined record of these two is currently 4-5. Cook's replacements Chacin, Fogg, Contreras, and Rogers have gone 2-3, so in total those two spots have gone 6-8, with no hope of going 13-7. Strike 2.

We'll ignore the silly part about the Rockies needing the Cubs to win the NL Central, and move on to the more pertinent part.

The Rockies have 10 games remaining against the Giants. Six of those are on the road. The winner of those games will reach the playoffs...The Rockies must split six at AT&T Park and win three of four on Blake Street.

The Rockies did win 3 of 4 on Blake Street, but now have lost 4 in AT&T, making it impossible for them to achieve a split. Best they can do now is go 5-5 in the 10 games and Renck says that won't be good enough despite the fact that they would have a 5.5 game lead coming out if they do win the next two. Strike 3--They are out of the playoffs.

Remember you read it in the Denver Post first.

Now to be fair, in my mocking criticism of this analysis back in August, I said the Rockies slumbering bats need to come out to help the pitching, but that hasn't happened consistently. The pitching is still carrying this team, and seems to be starting to falter.

I also said back then:

The key to me is getting to September in position and using an expanded bench and bullpen a la Hurdle did in 2007, to work through any rough spots. I don't expect another 14 of 15 down the stretch. Take it day by day.

The Rockies finished the rest of August 11-9 including a month-ending 5 game losing streak. Once the expanded rosters started on September 1st, the Rockies won 10 of 11 and now 10 of 14 in September.

Still taking it game by game, day by day.

Weekly Race In Review September 7-13

Another winning week for the Rockies despite 2 losses in San Diego after an 8 game winning streak. Managed to pick up a half-game on the 4-2 Dodgers and 2.5 games on the 2-4 Giants.

Results:
9/7 ROCKIES 4 Reds 3
9/8 ROCKIES 3 Reds 1
9/9 ROCKIES 4 Reds 3
9/10 ROCKIES 5 Reds 3
9/11 ROCKIES 4 Padres 1
9/12 Padres 3 ROCKIES 2 10 innings
9/13 Padres 7 ROCKIES 3

Meanwhile the Marlins were 4-2, Braves 5-1, and the Cubs 5-1. The other division Leaders Phillies went 5-3, while the Cardinals went 3-3.

Magic Number for the Dodgers to win the West 16, Rockies need 22, and Giants need 27. Magic Number for the Rockies to win the Wild Card is 15, Giants need 24, Marlins 25, Braves 26, and Cubs 28.

Rockies head to San Francisco to play their last 3 games with the Giants then head to Phoenix for 3 with Arizona. The Giants host the Rockies then head to Los Angeles for 3 more with the Dodgers, and the Dodgers are home all week hosting the Pirates and then the Giants
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DOWN THE STRETCH: Remaining Games:
Rockies (9H, 9A)--@SF (3), @Ariz (3), SD (3), STL (3), Milw (3), @LAD (3)

Dodgers--(9H, 9A)--Pitt (3), SF (3), @Wash (3) @Pitt (4), @SD (2), Col (3)

Giants--(10H, 9A)--COL (3), @LAD (3), @Ariz (3), Chic (4), Ariz (3), @SD (3)

All three teams have 9 road games and the Giants have one more game to play overall and it's at home.

The 90 Plus factors show the Dodgers at 94, Rockies 91 and Giants down to 87.

RUNNING ON EMPTY: A lot of talk has centered on the Rockies lack of run production, which has been masked a little bit by their ability to win games. Over the past month, covering 29 games, the Rockies have gone 18-11, but have only scored more than 5 runs in 5 of those games, and one of those happened by scoring 5 runs in the 14th inning, while giving up more than 5 runs in 8 of those games. In the Blake Street Bomber days, I used to say the Rockies needed to learn how to win 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 games, but now that they've learned, they need to have an offensive explosion again, and soon. The pitching can't carry the load night after night like this and not have a breakdown at some point.

The LAB Rats do it again!

Different night, different player. Last At-Bat. Just call these Rockies the LAB Rats, because they have perfected this thing at Coors Field like no other team and took it on the road last night. It's almost as if they should just spot the other team the first 18 outs and see what they can do with only 9.

August 18 @Washington--Solo homers by Carlos Gonzalez in the 8th and Clint Barmes in the 9th inning breaks and tie and Rockies hold on to win 4-3

August 23 San Francisco--Lincecum no-hits the Rockies for 5 and the Rockies score 2 in the 7th and 1 in the 8th to win 4-2. Seth Smith hits 2-run homer in 7th to win it.

August 24 San Francisco--Giants score 3 in the top of the 14th, but the Rockies come back with 5 and win on a Ryan Spilborghs Grand Slam.

August 25 Los Angeles--Rockies score single runs in the 7th and 8th innings on a Barmes HR and a Troy Tulowitzki Double, but allow the Dodgers to tie it up in the 9th. Tulowitzki hits a bases loaded single to win it in the 10th.

Those were the August Appetizers for September's Main Course:

September 2 New York--Jason Giambi's bases loaded single drives in two runs and breaks a tie, Yorvit Torrealba follows with a run scoring single.

September 4 Arizona--Rockies trail 4-2 before Smith doubles in 2 in the 7th and Giambi singles in the winning run in the 8th.

September 5 Arizona--Rockies lead early, but still Smith has a solo Homer in the 8th inning to give the Rockies a 4-1 win.

September 6 Arizona--Rockies win easily 13-5 but it's noteworthy that they scored 6 of their runs in the 7th inning.

September 7 Cincinnati--Down 3-1 in the 7th, the Rockies score two in the 7th on a Todd Helton Sac Fly and a Tulowitzki hit, before Ian Stewart hits a solo HR in the 8th to win it.

September 8 Cincinnati--Gonzalez Sac fly in the 8th, adds an insurance run as the Rockies win 3-1.

September 9 Cincinnati--Rockies have comfortable 2-0 lead and Jason Hammel is cruising before things come undone in the 8th. Reds tie it up and then take the lead on a Scott Rolen solo HR. In the bottom of the 9th against ace closer Francisco Cordero, with one out, Clint Barmes hits a double to left. Giambi is intentionally walked and Spillborghs walks when Cordero can't locate the plate again. Carlos Gonzalez stikes out on 4 pitches, and Seth Smith fouls off four pitches, before hitting the ball sharply towards 2nd. Brandon Phillips dives for the ball and partially smothers it allowing the tieing run to score. Jason Marquis running for Giambi, doesn't stop and scores when Phillips chases down the ball and falls down trying to make a throw. Rockies win 4-3.

September 11 @San Diego--Jorge De La Rosa pitches a magnificent game, but a bases-loaded walk in the first inning looks like it may do him in. The only real threat was in the 7th, with runners on 2nd and 3rd with only one out, but don't score. In the top of the 9th against ace closer Heath Bell, Helton draws a walk, before Tulowitzki lines out. Hawpe singles to the left side and Jason Giambi is walked without seeing a strike. Matt Murton strikes out for the 2nd out. Torrealba gets a reprieve on a checked swing with two strikes, and strokes the next pitch to deep center field scoring 3 runs. Paul Phillips follows with a base hit, and the Rockies win 4-1.

So there you have it, the Rockies take these things down to the very last strike now and still pull them out.

But for us fans, the Rockies could give our hearts a little rest before the playoffs, if they would just win a few of these games just a little bit earlier.

LEAVING CALIFORNIA WITH THE LEAD: Last night's win and the Giants and Marlins losses, guarantees the Rockies will head to Arizona next Thursday with the Wild Card lead. If they leave with only a half-game lead, there are other problems, but for right now, the Rockies can continue to concentrate on winning in San Diego and trying to catch the Dodgers, without worrying about what's behind them.

Juggling the Starters

The Rockies have been pretty fortunate this season on the injury front. They lost Jeff Francis and Taylor Buchholz before the season started and Franklin Morales got hurt in his second start in April. Other relievers have gone down such as Matt Daley, on the freak play where the umpire kicked the bat into his path, or Juan Rincon, Manny Corpas and others.

The Rockies used only 5 starting pitchers from April 22nd through August 10th, a span of 99 games. In the past 29 games the Rockies have used 8 starters, and a 9th starter Esmil Rodgers is slated to start tomorrow night in San Diego.

Jim Tracy does look ahead when trying to fill in the gaps of the starting rotation amid injuries. Ubaldo Jimenez who pulled a hamstring running the bases in Monday's game, was scheduled to pitch on Saturday. By slipping Rogers in, he not only gives Jimenez a few extra days rest, but puts him in a more meaningful game against San Francisco rather than San Diego. He also avoids using Rogers in a high pressure game in San Francisco, and also realizes he can skip Rogers twice if need be, with off days next Thursday and Monday the 22nd. He can also give Contreras and Cook more time.

So the Rotation right now might look like this:
@San Diego: De La Rosa, Rogers, Marquis
@San Francisco: Hammel, Jimenez, De La Rosa
@Arizona: Marquis, Hammel, Jimenez
San Diego: De La Rosa, Marquis, Hammel
St. Louis: Jimenez, (Contreras, Cook, or Rogers), De La Rosa
Milwaukee: Marquis, Hammel, (Contreras, Cook, or Rogers)
@Los Angeles: Jimenez, De La Rosa, Marquis

Because of the off days, the Rockies could get away with using a 5th starter on 2 more times after this weekend. Tracy may decide to use the 5th starter in the San Diego Series at home and save Hammel for St. Louis. However he decides to do it, it's obvious he has some options with the days off, and can see how Cook and Contreras progress.

Best Homestand Ever

The Rockies went 9-1 on this homestand beating out their 8-1 homestand back in June against Seattle, Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh. Without those two home stands the Rockies are 28-25 at Home.

The last 3 weeks can show you just how quickly the ups and downs of baseball can change. Going into the homestand on August 21st, the Rockies were 3.5 games behind the Dodgers and just 2 games ahead of the Giants for the Wild Card. After an initial loss to the Giants and the four game winning streak, the Rockies closed to within 2 games of the Dodgers and 4 games ahead of the Giants on August 25th. After a season longest 5 game losing streak, the Rockies were tied with the Giants and fell 6 games behind the Dodgers by the end of August. The Rockies worked through at least 7 injuries to have a 9-1 homestand, while the Dodgers were playing .500 baseball at 5-5 and the Giants went 4-5. Now they are once again 2 games behind the Dodgers and have a season-high 4.5 game lead in the wild card over the Giants.

Now it gets interesting. While the Giants and Dodgers face off 6 times in the next 10 days, the Rockies sandwich trips to San Diego and Arizona around a 3 game set in San Francisco, every win they get in the next 9 games will allow them to gain on either the Dodgers or the Giants. A 5-4 record on the road trip will guarantee they will still have the Wild Card lead when they return to Coors Field, and possibly give them an NL West lead. At worst, they would have a commanding lead on the Wild Card race over the Giants, and depending on what the Marlins do could have it all but sewn up.

The Rockies did all this while playing 3 sub-.500 teams at home and going 9-1. The Giants played tough teams on the road, the Phillies and Brewers and came back with a respectable 3-3 before losing 2 out of 3 to San Diego at home. For the Giants, the next 9 games represent the same tough stretch the Rockies had in late August. After that only the games with the Cubs at home are against a team with a winning record. The difference is if they come out of the next 9 games with a losing record like the Rockies did, the last two weeks may not matter to them.

The Dodgers meanwhile, on paper at least, have a fairly easy schedule. After the Giants they play Pittsburgh, before going out on the road following the second Giants series against both Washington, and Pittsburgh, before playing 2 in San Diego before the season finale with the Rockies.

Another way to look at it is if the Rockies can match the Dodgers win for win at a minimum, they could be in a position to win the west on the last weekend. In my analysis though the Rockies best shot would be to gain the lead in the West before Sunday the 21st, but that probably requires the Giants to win at least 4 of the 6 against the Dodgers and the Rockies to go 6-3 or 7-2.

It's also important to keep in mind that there is no tiebreaker game for the NL West title if the 2nd place team if there is no battle for the Wild Card. A tie in the standings would mean the Dodgers would get the West Title by virtue of their winning record head to head with the Rockies currently at 12-3. What that means is that the Rockies magic number is 24, but the Dodgers is 18 rather than 20, should everyone else be eliminated from the Wild Card Race.

The 700 Club

The Rockies tonight became the first team in the National League to pass the 700 Run mark. What's strange about that is that this Rockies team has scored the fewest runs of any Rockies team other than the strike-shortened season of 1994 (117 Games). They will probably end up in the high 700's before the season ends. What also at first glance defies logic is that they have also done it with the fewest hits per game of ANY Rockies team and with the most Strikeouts per game of any Rockies team. Obviously their hits have been key, but the Rockies also have the most Walks of any Rockies team. This is a team of contradictions in some cases, but I attribute it to a pure team effort, and not waiting for a guy to hit one out of the park.

Truly a comeback win tonight, but you have to feel sorry for Jason Hammel who threw the best game of his career at Coors Field. Hammel has come a long way as a starter this year, and has to be a big reason the Rockies are where they are. He's the only season long starter who doesn't have 10 wins--yet.

Dodgers threw away a game in the bottom of the 9th on an error and a bases-loaded walk to the Diamondbacks to move the Rockies to within 2.5 games again. A win Thursday will move the Rockies to 2 games behind the Dodgers and 4.5 games ahead of the Giants, heading into in a can't lose weekend for the Rockies. The Giants host the Dodgers for 3 and every game will reduce either the NL West or Wild Card magic number. And the same thing happens next weekend when the two teams match up in Dodger Stadium for 3.

The Dodgers also lost the #1 position in the playoffs to the Cardinals tonght and are now 2 games ahead of the Phillies, who still need to play a couple of makeup Doubleheaders down the stretch.

Rockies are 12-7 in the 20 game stretch, which ends Thursday, where 17 were at home. In the current homestand they are 8-1.

Two Factors That Propel the Rockies

If the Rockies go on to make the playoffs, a big portion of their success is based on two factors, Inter-League and the NL Central. After Tuesday night's win, the Rockies now have a 24-10 record against the Central Division, with 8 games remaining. The only team closer in record against a division other than their own are the Phillies with a 20-13 record against the NL West. And only the Dodgers approach the win percentage with a 40-20 record inside their own division the NL West.

The other factor is the Inter-League games where the Rockies had an 11-4 record against the AL. The next closest record was St. Louis and San Francisco with 9-6 records. The combined 35-14 record is pretty much the difference from being a .500 team. The Rockies will need to find a way to win some of the other 15 games, which are all against the NL West which is currently 30-27 against the Rockies, but the Rockies are 14-9 against the West since the All-Star Break.

MEANINGLESS STATS REVISITED: Jim Tracy has now won 61 games since taking over for Clint Hurdle on May 28th. It is noted that this is only the 3rd time since 2001 (out of 30) that a manager who has taken over in-season has won 60 or more games that season only 3 times. Why it is meaningless? Well, let's throw out 9 right away since the replacement didn't even manage 60 games. So now we are down to 21. The other three who had 60 wins, Jerry Narron (62-72) of the 2002 Texas Rangers and Clint Hurdle (67-73) of the 2002 Colorado Rockies won 60 while losing more, and Jack McKeon who had a 75-48 record while taking the 2003 Florida Marlins to the World Championship. Only 8 of the other managers have even had a better than .500 record with 50 or more games managed.

What Jim Tracy has done this season is more than win 60 games. He's won 60 games while only losing 32. What this compares to is only McKeon, and the 48-26 of the 2004 Houston Astros Phil Garner. Just for the record Tracy was 49-25 after 74 games.

But Jim Tracy might just be in a class by himself at least for this millenium so far. By the end of the season he will have managed the Rockies for 114 games and it's possible he will have 70 wins and less than 40 losses.

As I said unless you put the numbers in perspective, they really don't mean much.