Rockies 8, Dodgers 0: The Machine Temporarily Satiated by Rockies Blowout
by Jeff Aberle on May 8, 2010 11:27 PM MDT
in Rockies Game Wraps
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Today, we found out what would happen if I made a start in the big leagues against teams not named the Houston Astros: five batters, five runs, three walks, no outs recorded. That was the line for Dodgers starter Charlie Haeger (0-4, 8.49) today.
In all the Rockies scored six runs in the first inning and coasted to a 8-0 victory over the Dodgers to reach .500 yet again (15-15). Should they win again tomorrow (and with Ubaldo pitching this is more likely than not going to happen), the Rockies would pull off a 5-4 west coast road trip despite being crippled by injuries. They will come home for a three game set against the Phillies on Monday.
Jhoulys Chacin (2-0, 0.00) earned his second win in as many starts by again befuddling the opposing team and holding them scoreless. The Machine allowed only six hits and two walks in 7.1 IP, striking out seven in the process. Randy Flores and Joe Beimel preserved the shutout victory. The only minor cause for worry was Chacin's pitch count of 117 (73 for strikes), though that concern is mitigated somewhat by the fact that he had an extra day of rest prior to this start.
Helping to provide Mother's Day tacos for the Rockies were Carlos Gonzalez (bases-clearing triple in the first), Ian Stewart (3-4 with 3 RBIs, including a two run shot -- his sixth -- in the first immediately following Gonzalez's triple), and Troy Tulowitzki (2-3 with 2 BBs and an RBI). All around it was a great day for Colorado and it translated into an easy Saturday night victory.
The usual, nach der Sprung.
A fine-looking graph:
We Salute: Gonzalez (.128 WPA), Tulowitzki (.092), Chacin (.065)
We Are Mildly Disappointed In: Nobody, actually. Everyone did well.
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Great Fangraph
No doubt at any point
Ignorance of the American League is a sign of good moral character.
"Cheap tacos are rightous!"-My Daughter
Guess the Rox shot their drama load in the first inning :-D
"Good pitching will beat good hitting any time, and vice versa." ~Bob Veale
"I hope this game isn't horrible. Because if it is, we're going to have to wait until tomorrow to see the Rockies win." ~5-yo
"Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug."~Mitch Williams
In the much closer and more dramatic matchup...
Hot dogs won! I love hot dogs, but I still prefer brats…
"Good pitching will beat good hitting any time, and vice versa." ~Bob Veale
"I hope this game isn't horrible. Because if it is, we're going to have to wait until tomorrow to see the Rockies win." ~5-yo
"Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug."~Mitch Williams
My vote sent us over the top!!! I'm convinced.
Troy Tulowitzki - Best SS in the MLB - 2010 MVP
Brad Hawpe - Will prove the doubters wrong
Todd Helton - Time for his ring to come true
Daley for Closer!!
Quitter's People United Member #4
That was fun
This young pitcher might have a future ahead of him, eh? Loved DeWitt on that changeup early…missed it by like 2 feet. Outstanding effort. Not worried in the least about the pitch count, the performance was effortless.
Good to see the offense step on the opposition’s throat for once. Trying not to nitpick about yet another post-6th inning shutdown, hard to blame them today but still frustrating.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to sneak away from Mom’s day stuff tomorrow to catch much of the game, a real shame. I expect Kershaw to be on, and this to be a true duel. Win this and the roadie is a full success…
meh...Kershaw will implode in the 6th...
Ubaldo will barely be sweating…..
Troy Tulowitzki - Best SS in the MLB - 2010 MVP
Brad Hawpe - Will prove the doubters wrong
Todd Helton - Time for his ring to come true
Daley for Closer!!
Quitter's People United Member #4
WOW!
They sure know how to grow ’em in Maracaibo, Venezuela.
This guy starts me off with a breaking ball...
l'm taking him downtown.
wow
Chacin the un hittable as well?!?
TULO = 2010 MVP!
Troy Tulowitzki: "When people think of the Rockies, I want them to think of a winning organization."
LETS GO WINGS!
it makes sense,
but i dont think ive ever seen the WPA Zeroes section empty before
May your summer be filled with Rockies wins and tacos.
The closest to zeroes was Chacin's -.008 batting WPA
but net he was positive.
The writer formerly known as Jabberwocky
READ and LEARN about the business of baseball at Purple Row Academy
Eschew Obfuscation!
I think a 5-4 road trip
would have to be considered a minor miracle after the performance in the first 2 games of this road trip.
It just excites me to think of how good this rotation could be w/ some more health, and the future of our rotation is even more exciting. Matzek and Friedrich, just get me all pumped up. I know, I know, TNSTAAPP, or something like that.
"Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk, my first instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if I was an ant, and she fell on me. Then it wouldn't seem quite so funny."
Jack Handy quote
PP?
Perfect pitcher?
"Good pitching will beat good hitting any time, and vice versa." ~Bob Veale
"I hope this game isn't horrible. Because if it is, we're going to have to wait until tomorrow to see the Rockies win." ~5-yo
"Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug."~Mitch Williams
by Rox the Casbah on May 8, 2010 11:48 PM MDT up reply actions
Pitching prospect...
The writer formerly known as Jabberwocky
READ and LEARN about the business of baseball at Purple Row Academy
Eschew Obfuscation!
Ah, gotcha :-)
"Good pitching will beat good hitting any time, and vice versa." ~Bob Veale
"I hope this game isn't horrible. Because if it is, we're going to have to wait until tomorrow to see the Rockies win." ~5-yo
"Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug."~Mitch Williams
by Rox the Casbah on May 8, 2010 11:51 PM MDT up reply actions
That obviously can happen, maybe you've heard of Ubaldo
"Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk, my first instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if I was an ant, and she fell on me. Then it wouldn't seem quite so funny."
Jack Handy quote
Think our buddy, RayGu is on his way
to check on how we’re doing?
Ignorance of the American League is a sign of good moral character.
"Cheap tacos are rightous!"-My Daughter
“Manny will be fine. This is a recording.”
"You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around the whole time." - Jim Bouton
by Franchise26 on May 8, 2010 11:52 PM MDT up reply actions 1 recs
That was FUN
The first game I got to watch on a screen larger than 3.5 inches!!!
And I’m Going to Dodger Stadium tomorrow! It just keeps getting better!
I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Excited!!!
"The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it." ~Moliere
And I just figured out mobile commenting
So maybe I’ll make the roll call tomorrow too!
"The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it." ~Moliere
by Rock Oax on May 9, 2010 2:41 AM MDT via mobile up reply actions
I’m just going to go ahead and have the rest of your things retrieved from your rental in Colorado Springs and brought back to Denver, Mr. Chacin. I believe you may be here a while. That slider… good golly, that’s as good a swing-and-miss pitch as any other pitcher on our staff can claim. That’s the best part of his start, really – he’s not tap-dancing around calamity, he’s got guys out on their front foot and swinging at pitches down and away. Kid is the real thing.
Also, Clint Barmes got a hit to the opposite field today, which I believe is the first time that has ever happened in his major league career (I have not verified this, but anecdotally it seems right.)
I think the majority of us were just hoping for four wins on this trip. That’s done, with Ubaldo giving us a shot at a winning road trip tomorrow.
"You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around the whole time." - Jim Bouton
That changeup is totally filthy too
he really does have #2 stuff. You throw in a healthy DLR, and wow, thats quite a 1-2-3. I know Chacin needs some time to settle in, but I think those 3 could present a tough matchup for anyone in a playoff series.
"Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk, my first instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if I was an ant, and she fell on me. Then it wouldn't seem quite so funny."
Jack Handy quote
You are absolutely correct
On all points. Chacin is here to stay (or better be, dammit), I dunno what’s gotten into Barmes but I’ll take it, and a 4 win road trip was certainly all I was hoping for. A winning road trip, with all of the injuries, would be the story of this portion of the season.
Play ball!
Clint had an opposite field hit in the San Diego Series
I thought that was the first of his career
This guy starts me off with a breaking ball...
l'm taking him downtown.
Stoked about Chacin too...
…but I want to see what happens when everything doesn’t go perfectly at some point.
I mean, his presence on the mound is a drastic improvement last year, and that confidence is selling his change-up and slider. I just want to see if he can maintain that confidence when he gives up three runs withing the first four innings of an outing (which WILL happen at some point). Will he be able to go three more innings at get the quality start?
That’s the sign of an emerging pitcher…
We can haz Machine?
Seriously, I echo all that has been said.
And to answer the “what happens when all doesn’t go perfectly?” Well, we have seen what he has and no doubt there will be bumps in the road and yes, Franklin Morales started this way in 2007. But I say we support this kid, and allow him to grow up and mature (including starts where his stat line is what Haeger put up tonight).
MACHINE!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewrightshot/
I am a huge Morales supporter, and love his stuff
and while I’ll agree he had a similar run in 07, the big difference was and is command. Morales still walked a lot of men and was behind in the count a lot, whereas Chacin seems to have plus command of 3 very quality pitches.
I do agree though, that he will hit some rough patches and it will be interesting to see how he handles that and how he handles Coors Field.
"Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk, my first instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if I was an ant, and she fell on me. Then it wouldn't seem quite so funny."
Jack Handy quote
The real difference...
…is Chacin’s pitch repertoire.
Morales has a set-up curveball and a fastball right now — no real “out” pitch. The change-up and slider are a work in progress and the Rockies can’t afford a late-inning reliever who is still trying to develop an off-speed “out” pitch.
Chacin has a big league change-up and an effective slider he can throw in any count, and that gives me confidence moving forward. It will be interesting to see how these division rivals react for his next outing, once there’s game tape out there.
Chacin looks great so far...
however, these 2 starts had the safety net of being in a pitchers park. Can he do this in Coors Field?
Ubaldo "Iron Arm" Jimenez
yes
And although AT&T heavily suppresses home runs, it is still a pretty neutral park. Basebalo refrence actually says it favors hitters overall. Chacin consistently kept the ball down in both games and located well. You’ll succeed like that on the moon.
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on May 9, 2010 9:41 AM MDT via mobile up reply actions
Chacin is the man.
Very glad Uball has been mentoring him too, seems to be working well.
"Because I am a Rockie." - Todd
by phishbate on May 9, 2010 8:21 AM MDT via mobile reply actions
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