Rockies 6, Mets 2: Jhoulys Chacin Stellar in Return

No one knew what to expect from Jhoulys Chacin tonight. The 24-year-old Venezuelan had a 7.30 ERA in 5 starts in 2012 before succumbing to a pectoral injury May 2 and was uneven in five minor league rehab starts. Tuesday night, Chacin showed Rockies fans something they hadn't seen in a long time - a commanding outing from a starting pitcher.

Chacin pounded the strike zone all night with his fastball, which returned to the 91-93mph range rather than the 89-91mph range in April. He put down the first nine Mets batters he faced before allowing the only blemish to scoreboard in the fourth on two leadoff singles and a sacrifice fly. Chacin threw 51 of his 73 pitches for strikes in six strong, effiicient and truly commanding innings. He did not walk a batter and allowed four singles, often on hanging sliders.

Chacin was not perfect tonight by any means, but he gave far more reason for optimism than expected for performance from both himself and the team going forward. That's huge.

Chris Young was actually much better than Chacin for a while. The first 15 Rockies were retired in the game, but to reflect Colorado's sixth consecutive victory at Citi Field, they made a real Mets of Young's sixth inning.

DJ LeMahieu broke up the perfecto with an infield hit to short, then Jonathan Herrera leveraged a hit and run to put runners on the corners. Chacin laid a perfect bunt, and Young threw the ball away trying to get Chacin running down the line. Charlie Blackmon broke his 0-for-2012 with a bloop RBI single, and later in the inning, Dexter Fowler and Ramon Hernandez plated two runs on a single and sac fly, respectively.

Fowler punched Blackmon's ticket home in the eighth with a single after Blackmon doubled down the left field line, and Colorado added an insurance run in the ninth on a contact play. Chacin earned his first win of the season and the Rockies won for the third time in Matt Reynolds' last five appearances. Cats and dogs. Pigs in the air.

Also of note: the last time the Rockies lost at Citi Field was my birthday in 2010. In that series, Ubaldo Jimenez allowed one run in seven innings to earn his third loss, falling to 17-3 on the year.

Comment of the Night

6 IP 4 H 1 R

that was beyond anyone’s best case scenario. holy smurf.

by ES46NE10 on Aug 21, 2012 6:48 PM MDT

Source: FanGraphs

Row Call

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