Rockies 4, Pirates 2: Here's to #17, and the Machine

This is a win that should be bottled up, framed, and put on a shelf, capturing one of the good moments in Rockies history. To start, a player and place came full circle in a history that has spanned 17 years. Add to that a team that needed to pull itself out of a pretty bad case of the doldrums and come away with a much needed victory that saw nearly everyone contribute, and finally, there was a pitching performance that was among the finest of the season.

17 years ago, Todd Helton made his major league debut in this same city, and it was a debut to remember. Tonight, Helton drove in two runs with a single that he loped into center field.

After last night's emotional display, Troy Tulowitzki came charging out of the gates with his 20th home run of the year, a solo shot in the top of the second that gave the Rockies an early 1-0 lead. He later drove in Dexter Fowler for the second run of the game in the sixth that would give the Rockies a lead they would never relinquish. Every starting position player aside from D.J. LeMahieu reached base at least once.

The real story of the night however was Jhoulys Chacin. The 25 year old delivered one of the best performances by a starting pitcher this year. He lasted eight innings, and allowed only two runs off of six hits, and he did not walk a single batter. He was in his finest form, inducing 11 ground outs and three double plays.

The Graph

<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=380&w=380&date=2013-08-02&team=Pirates&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="380" width = "380" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2013-08-02&team=Pirates&dh=0&season=2013">FanGraphs</a></span>

The Rollcall