Disgusting, sick, gross, nasty, ugly. Their are plenty of words to describe the latest Rockies debacle, but none of them are positive.
The Rox dropped a very winnable game at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night 6-2. It was the latest example of the Rockies making a decent pitcher look like a Cy Young winner.
Tuesday’s Cy Young was Carlos Silva, an overpaid pitcher who has never had an ERA under 4.21 as a starter in nine big league seasons.
While Rockies hitters were busy looking silly at the plate, Jhoulys Chacin showed no resemblance to the pitcher who baffled the Giants and Dodgers in his first two starts.
Despite walking five batters, Chacin was effective enough to keep the Rockies in the game. His final line was 5-2/3 innings pitched, three runs on five hits with those five walks and six strikeouts. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and dealt with traffic for most of the game.
It was by no means a pretty game for Chacin, but the problem for the Rockies remains the offense. A team that is built to slug the ball from top to bottom, the Rockies seem disinterested at the plate.
Ian Stewart, the goat of Monday’s game, once again failed to prove why he is in the lineup every day. After poking a base hit through the left side in his first at bat, he proceeded to strike out three times.
He only left one runner on base, but would have left more if his teammates had remembered to bring a bat with them when the stepped to the plate.
Colorado once again suffered an injury as Miguel Olivo looked like Shamu flopping into second base on a delayed steal in the seventh inning. The injury seemed to give the catcher whiplash, which should put him as day-to-day.
If Olivo would like to analyze what he did wrong in the slide, he should not have a hard time finding the footage, as it should be on every blooper reel at every stadium in the near future.
Once again, bad umpiring played a part in the game. In the fourth inning with Brad Hawpe at first base, Troy Tulowitzki hit a slow roller to second baseman Ryan Theriot, who swiped at Hawpe who was on his way to second base, then threw to first for the out.
Second base umpire Derryl Cousins called Hawpe out, which left the bases empty with two outs rather than one out and a runner at second base. Replays showed that Theriot’s glove was nowhere near Hawpe.
At home plate, umpire Todd Tichenor did his best to be inconsistent all night long. Twice on Stewart, Tichenor called strikes on pitches outside of the zone by nearly six inches.
The problem is, the Rockies are facing adversity. Calls do not seem to be going their way, injuries do not seem to be going their way, even the weather does not seem to be going their way.
However, the statement that the Rockies may need to hear right now is one that is commonly told to little kids. Life is not fair.
Things may not be going their way right now. It may seem like the team has to overcome much more than just the other team.
But the fact is, they have two choices. They can deal with it and find ways to score runs and win ball games, or they can use it as an excuse like they have been and continue putting two runs on the board, playing sloppy defense and simply going through the motions.
At .500, they are by no means out of the race, but if they think that they can try and cram six months worth of winning into four months like they did in 2009, they might be in for a rude awakening.
This Rockies team is playing well below their potential and if they do not quit moping around on the field and find ways to win, they may be in a heated battle for third place in the National League West come September.
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