Good day everyone. I'll be your go-to guy for all things on the Row today - starting with the Rockpile and ending with the game wrap of what hopes to be a Rockies winner. It's far too nice here to stay inside and watch a game while posting on the internet, so I'll be taking my laptop outside and enjoying a beautiful afternoon/evening while covering the team I love most. It doesn't get any better than that. Anyway, enough of that; let's get to some news:
Glendon Rusch told Troy E. Renck that he will not be reporting to AAA Colorado Springs. Rusch still seems rather let down over the whole situation:
I don’t feel the time was right or that it was the right decision,’’ Rusch said. “But it’s business. I miss being around the guys and wish them well.’’
The Rockies will most likely place Rusch on the restricted list rather than grant him free agency at this point.
Jack Etkin posted some quick hits from last nights game. Apparently, Clint Barmes has a quiet seven game hitting streak. Good for Barmie and hopefully he keeps it up. He's 8-for-22 over the course of the streak (for those of you who don't feel like busting out a calculator at this hour, that's good for a .364 batting average). Most everything else included in the stub outlines the struggles of certain individuals and the team as a whole.
Clint Hurdle has met the Lions and expressed excitement over watching the Red Wings, as he returned to his native Michigan yesterday for the weekend. He clearly wants to win a couple of games while he's there, as he managed his tail off last night (in my opinion, anyway) and certainly did it well enough to put his team in position to win. It's hard for me to blame the guy for the team's awful baserunning blunders. The Hurdle article also notes that the Rockies have played more road games than any team in baseball not named the Cleveland Indians. Coincidentally (or not), the two teams have struggled mightily to this point despite good talent and decent expectations.
Jason Marquis battles Armando Galarraga tonight at 5:05 MT. The Rockies look to avoid dropping to ten games under .500 at the earliest point of any season since, well, 2008.