The Rockies wasted a good-but-not-great start from Jorge De La Rosa last night, losing to the Dodgers 4-3 at Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles. The Rockies really struggled offensively after the first inning, and the bullpen absolutely blew up in the bottom of the seventh inning. Clint Hurdle made the right move in pulling De La Rosa with one out in the sixth, and he was starting to produce shaky results on the mound, and his composure was wearing thin. Still, Glendon Rusch was able to induce an inning-ending double play, but it was clear that the Dodgers were beginning to gain confidence at the plate after several good, patient at bats against JDLR, who gave up no runs on five hits, with four walks and five strikeouts, in 5 1/3 innings. However, Matt Belisle, Alan Embree, and Jason Grilli were unable to continue to limit the damage, as the Dodgers finally broke out with a four run inning. Belisle, in particular, had issues with control and certainly did not make it easy on Embree and Grilli, who both inherited base runners upon their entries into the game.
The good news from the game, aside from Huston Street's solo inning of good work (including a key punchout of Manny Ramirez) and Brad Hawpe's two-run bomb, was that Garrett Atkins continued to hit well (or at least, better than last year) with runners in scoring position. He is now 4-for-8 in that department. In addition, Garrett extended his hitting streak to 6 games - a streak where he has notched a key hit in just about every one of those games. With Todd Helton really struggling offensively, it's imperative that the Rockies at least get some production at the corners, and Atkins is doing that better than just about anyone else on the team right now.
Today: The Rockies look to get this one back, sending Aaron Cook to the mound to face Chad Billingsley and the Dodgers. The game starts at 1:40 PM on FOX. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with the Indians at Yankees (I'm in Utah...how "regional" is that!?!?), so I won't be able to see the game. But, as always, Purple Row will provide plenty of coverage of the game. Go Rockies!