Where did we last leave off with the D'Backs? After having lost all three home games in the first series against the Snakes, a week later the Rockies traveled to Chase Field and lost the first two games. Then the team's savior, Aaron Cook, took the mound against Edgar Gonzalez and we wound up with this:

Atkins, Barmes, and Holiday each had a homer in the game. Let's see triple the number of wins for the Rockies in this series against the D'Backs after Thursday's game. Over at the Snakepit, snakecharmer previews the pitching matchups and (surprise! surprise!) gives the advantage in each game to the D'Backs. I'd give a push to the the first and third pitching matchups and the advantage to Owings in the second game. That's really only a result of having seen De La Rosa reach both extremes in his two starts. Well, that is to say, those may be his extremes. If his first start is more indicative of his performance . . . Oh, and the slumping offense needs to show up this series as well.

We know Garrett Atkins is one of those guys getting it done on offense, but

somehow he gets overlooked, his name usually popping up only on message boards with fans clamoring for the call-up of Triple-A prospect Ian Stewart.

And do you know what Stewart has to say about Atkins?

"Atkins is a great player. There’s just no room for me right now . . . But I also look at it as I just barely turned 23 (on April 5), second year in Triple-A. I would think a lot of guys would take that at my age. So I just try not to worry about it."

At least Stewart isn't "clamoring" for his call up; if he was, I guess he's not a "message board," so that would be slightly better.

We might see Julian Tavarez in a Rockies uniform soon, if a source close to the situation is correct.

Dave Krieger explains why we saw Yorvit Torrealba pinch hit for Scott Podsednik:

Sometimes, National League managers seem to love the double switch so much it becomes an end in itself. With Taveras having run for Iannetta earlier in the inning - a center fielder for a catcher - it was just so symmetrical to hit Torrealba for Podsednik - a catcher for a center fielder - even though Podsednik was hitting 70 points higher than Torrealba.

So much for a symmetrical move working out. A little asymmetry is not going to kill anyone.

The Rockies signed Todd Ritchie to a minor league contract and sent him to extended spring training. He last pitched in the majors during the 2004 season for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It doesn't hurt to see what Ritchie can do, but really? Ritchie's had one good season and that was in the last century. He was a 15-game winner for the Pirates in 1999 with 3.49 ERA that season, his career low. Nice to see a guy attempt a comeback, but at 36 (37 in November) what can we expect out of him? Yes, I already know the responses to that question.

There's also a bit in the last link on Kip Wells, his surgery, and the surgery his daughter recently had.

If Todd Ritchie isn't the solution to the Rockies' pitching woes, maybe the Dragonslayer is? Or Julian Tavarez? Or Rich Harden? Or Joe Blanton? Or Kevin Millwood? The first two names are the most likely candidates to don Rockies uniforms as the club waits for Morales to show improvement, for Reynolds to be ready in a month, and for Hirsh to return from his injury. As O'Dowd says, he's looking for a guy to make a few starts between now and sometime in June. Morales makes his first Triple-A start Sunday in the meantime.