Esmil Rogers pitched like a fifth starter this time. In other words, shaky through five and a two thirds innings, but just well enough to keep the Rockies in the game and give his team a chance to win, rather than the ace-like performance he put out in his prior start. Thanks in large part to a three run home run from Troy Tulowitzki, that level of performance was strong enough for Rockies to beat the Mets 5-4.
So there are a couple of ways we can take the narrative here, the first one is to coolly look at the facts and realize that winning this one was what we call, in the parlance of our times, "lucky". It was a one run win on the road, our starter couldn't find home plate even if the umpire's zone was consistent, and there were several key members of the lineup that went zero for something.
The second way to take the game narrative, however, might be a bit more meaningful for Rockies fans, as this was a team victory. When the starting pitcher flagged, the defense and bullpen were there to back him up. While large parts of the lineup struggled at first, the team leaders, Tulowitzki and Todd Helton carried the rest on their backs. The rest did what they could, though: Jonathan Herrera and Chris Iannetta battled for walks, getting on and creating scoring opportunities or just flipping the lineup respectively. Okay, so Herrera also battled for hits. And for stolen bases. His wizard skills are strong. Seth Smith, Carlos Gonzalez, Jose Lopez and Ryan Spilborghs hacked away and made (or tried to make) contact hoping to get something solid, and while there was a lot of failure in that bunch, once Spilborghs did connect, and his solo home run proved to be the difference.
Four wins in a row, all on the road... things are different in 2011. It's likely silly to think this, as it's certainly confirmation bias after an 8-2 start to the season, but it just feels like there's a better uhm... "chemistry" to the Rockies this year. Oh man, I said it. Now my baseball blogger license is going to get suspended again.
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