The Rockies fell to the Cardinals 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth. An anemic Rockies offense failed to do much of anything outside of the sixth inning and Scott Oberg takes his second loss of the year.
Neither team managed much of anything until the Cardinals broke through in the bottom of the fifth. The Rockies collected four walks and a single in five innings in addition to Charlie Blackmon's 29th stolen base, but were unable to score any runs. The Cardinals similarly struggled early, reaching base just twice courtesy of a single and an HBP before tacking on two in the fifth inning. Jason Heyward got them going with a leadoff single and scored on Randal Grichuk's 12th homer of the season in the next at-bat. Mark Reynolds singled to follow and it looked like Flande was going to have quite the inning, but the Rockies starter was able to settle down and got three outs from a double play and a strikeout.
The Rockies offense was quick to answer and leveled the score in the very next inning. DJ LeMahieu slapped a grounder into right to start the inning and advanced to second when Nolan Arenado singled of off Steve Cishek, who had replaced Garcia following LeMahieu's hit. Paulsen collected his 31st RBI of the season when he hit an 0-1 pitch to right for his 11th double of the year. Nolan Arenado scored during the inning on a wild pitch to put the score at 2-2.
Justin Miller came on in the sixth inning to relieve Flande and sandwiched a double between a pair of strikeouts and a ground out. He now has allowed just one run over 11 innings, good for an ERA of 0.82. Miller also has 11 strikeouts to just one walk. The good old SSS caveat applies, but it has been nice to see at least one member of the bullpen not get blown up yet. Betancourt pitched a scoreless eighth, striking out two. He's now allowed just one run over his last 10.1 innings.
The Rockies switched things up in the eighth inning a bit, bringing in CarGo to replace Kyle Parker and Scott Oberg to relieve Betancourt. Oberg allowed a leadoff single and walked Piscotty with one out, but was able to avoid any damage after getting Kolton Wong to ground out into a double play.
CarGo looked to get things going in the ninth with a ground-rule double off of Trevor Rosenthal, but the Cardinals closer did what he does best and struck out Stubbs to end the inning. Rosenthal has an ERA of 1.68 and has 31 saves in 33 opportunities. Whenever the Rockies plan on competing — I'll have more on this soon — they need to invest in a quality closer. We've had a revolving door of them lately. I know we talk about the importance of putting your best reliever in the highest leverage situations, but there's definitely value in having that lights out closer. Can that be Ottavino? Probably, but the Rockies then have to surround him with other quality arms.
Scott Oberg stayed in to pitch the ninth. After Peralta ground out, Heyward doubled to put the pressure on and advanced to third on Grichuk's infield single. Brandon Moss then came on as a pinch-hitter with men on the corners and hit a ground ball through the gap for the walk-off hit. Oberg is now 2-2 with an ERA of 6.00 after taking the loss.
In other unrelated baseball news the Kansas City Royals were once again involved in a benches-clearing incident, this time with the Toronto Blue Jays. Josh Donaldson was hit in the first inning by Edinson Volquez on the first pitch he saw, then was nearly hit in the face in the third. Ryan Madson then nearly hit him again with a pitch that was high and way inside, at which point Donaldson and manager John Gibbons had words with the home plate umpire, with the latter getting thrown out. I don't think it's unreasonable for a manager to come out and defend his player who had been see pitches near his chin all day. Benches cleared in the eighth when Aaron Sanchez plunked Alcides Escobar. I can't stand the whole retaliatory plunking thing, but after seeing the Royals throw at Donaldson on multiple occasions, I'm not too surprised by it. Obviously unrelated to the Rockies game today, but it's something I feel passionate about and I'm starting to lose track of how many incidents the Royals are going to find themselves in. Personally, I'm glad that we didn't make a deal with them. I don't know what kind of mentality they have going on over there, but I don't want any of that in our clubhouse.
<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2015-08-02&team=Cardinals&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width = "450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2015-08-02&team=Cardinals&dh=0&season=2015">FanGraphs</a></span>
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<th colspan=2>Roll Call Info</th>
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<tr><td width=150>Total comments</td><td>825</tr>
<tr class="alt"><td>Total commenters</td><td>29</tr>
<tr><td>Commenter list</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/COajm">COajm</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/ESterps08">ESterps08</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/JaySantos">JaySantos</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Kiiiee">Kiiiee</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Matt%20Gross%20(RhodeIslandRoxfan)">Matt Gross (RhodeIslandRoxfan)</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Mr%20E.">Mr E.</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Nephelimdream">Nephelimdream</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Nick95">Nick95</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/NoDo%20Joe">NoDo Joe</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Northsider1964">Northsider1964</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Paxtin22">Paxtin22</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Rocky%20Mountain%20Way">Rocky Mountain Way</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/RoctoMom">RoctoMom</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Rosenort">Rosenort</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Roxman4ever">Roxman4ever</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Ryan%20Freemyer">Ryan Freemyer</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/SDcat09">SDcat09</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Sjamb">Sjamb</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Ted%20Chalfen%20(The%20Ghost%20of%20Marv)">Ted Chalfen (The Ghost of Marv)</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/The%20Lodo%20Magic%20Man">The Lodo Magic Man</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/ToddfatherLivesOn">ToddfatherLivesOn</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/WhiskeyDrinkingMan">WhiskeyDrinkingMan</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/butterfly2">butterfly2</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/chickenfoof">chickenfoof</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/dyzz">dyzz</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/evers44">evers44</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/fluffysheap">fluffysheap</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/holly96">holly96</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/idj2">idj2</a></tr>
<tr class="alt"><td>Story URLs</td><td><div><a href="http://www.purplerow.com/2015/8/2/9086715/game-thread-yohan-flande-vs-jaime-garcia">http://www.purplerow.com/2015/8/2/9086715/game-thread-yohan-flande-vs-jaime-garcia</a></div>
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<th width=20>#</th><th>Commenter</th><th># Comments</th>
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<td>1</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Roxman4ever">Roxman4ever</a></td><td>142</td>
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<td>2</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Nick95">Nick95</a></td><td>141</td>
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<td>3</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/ESterps08">ESterps08</a></td><td>114</td>
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<td>4</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/SDcat09">SDcat09</a></td><td>72</td>
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<td>5</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Sjamb">Sjamb</a></td><td>66</td>
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<td>6</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/ToddfatherLivesOn">ToddfatherLivesOn</a></td><td>54</td>
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<td>7</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/fluffysheap">fluffysheap</a></td><td>36</td>
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<td>8</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/The%20Lodo%20Magic%20Man">The Lodo Magic Man</a></td><td>29</td>
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<td>9</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/RoctoMom">RoctoMom</a></td><td>26</td>
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<td>10</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Northsider1964">Northsider1964</a></td><td>23</td>
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<td>11</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Rosenort">Rosenort</a></td><td>19</td>
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<td>12</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/NoDo%20Joe">NoDo Joe</a></td><td>15</td>
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<td>13</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Ted%20Chalfen%20(The%20Ghost%20of%20Marv)">Ted Chalfen (The Ghost of Marv)</a></td><td>13</td>
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<td>14</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/holly96">holly96</a></td><td>12</td>
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<td>15</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/JaySantos">JaySantos</a></td><td>10</td>
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<td>16</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/butterfly2">butterfly2</a></td><td>10</td>
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<td>17</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/COajm">COajm</a></td><td>9</td>
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<td>18</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Rocky%20Mountain%20Way">Rocky Mountain Way</a></td><td>5</td>
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<td>19</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Ryan%20Freemyer">Ryan Freemyer</a></td><td>4</td>
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<td>20</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Mr%20E.">Mr E.</a></td><td>4</td>
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<td>21</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Matt%20Gross%20(RhodeIslandRoxfan)">Matt Gross (RhodeIslandRoxfan)</a></td><td>4</td>
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<td>22</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/idj2">idj2</a></td><td>3</td>
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<td>23</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/dyzz">dyzz</a></td><td>3</td>
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<td>24</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Kiiiee">Kiiiee</a></td><td>3</td>
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<td>25</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/WhiskeyDrinkingMan">WhiskeyDrinkingMan</a></td><td>3</td>
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<td>26</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Nephelimdream">Nephelimdream</a></td><td>2</td>
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<td>27</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/Paxtin22">Paxtin22</a></td><td>1</td>
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<td>28</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/evers44">evers44</a></td><td>1</td>
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<td>29</td><td><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/users/chickenfoof">chickenfoof</a></td><td>1</td>
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