After a real stinker of an opener to today's doubleheader, the Rockies put together a complete game (yes, that works on multiple levels) to even up the series with Florida.
Aaron Cook, whose start of the year had been tough to say the least, was the star of the show, going the distance and picking up his first win of the year (1-2). Cook gave up only five hits and got 15 ground ball outs in by far his best performance of the year so far. Heck, Cook even helped his own cause with two hits, bringing his batting average to .444 on the year.
Speaking of players who had slow starts to begin the year, the much-maligned Dexter Fowler and Jason Giambi had fine ballgames to hopefully break out of their early season funk. Fowler was 3-3 with 2 BB, so he was on-base every time he went up to the plate. He scored twice, and tried to make it three times by leaping over Florida catcher John Baker coming home on a Giambi double, who just managed to apply the tag in time. Giambi was 1-2 with 2 BBs and a HBP.
It was Miguel Olivo who delivered the big blow, with a three-run home run in the fifth that made it 5-0. It was the 100th career home run for Olivo, which is especially interesting since Olivo only has 100 walks in his career. Troy Tulowitzki delivered cheap tacos to Rockies fans with a two-run sixth inning double while Melvin Mora hit a triple that drove in Giambi in the first.
Let's hope that this offensive firepower has a carryover effect into not only tomorrow's rubber match but also towards the Arizona series following this one. Also, let's hope that Brad Hawpe's quadriceps injury is not serious.
Box Score
A beautiful graph:
Those Who Rocked: Cook (.232 net WPA), Olivo (.131), Fowler (.128)
Those Who Fizzled: Carlos Gonzalez (-.060), Ryan Spilborghs (-.037)
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