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Photo by David Zalubowski ©: Associated Press
The Pirates' Nate McLouth slides under the tag of Rockies starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez to score on a passed ball in the third inning Thursday at Coors Field. The Rockies won 5-3.
* Moment: On back-to-back pitches in the sixth inning, Garrett Atkins doubled home the tying run against Pirates left-hander Paul Maholm, and Chris Iannetta put the Rockies ahead with a two-run home run. Maholm had won his last four games.
* Player: Iannetta wasn't hitting fifth because of a lack of an alternative. He has become a part of the offense. He singled home the Rockies' second run, and then hit the two-run home run that broke a 3-3 tie, his 10th of the season. That's the fifth most in a season for a Rockies catcher behind Charles Johnson, who had 20 in 2003, Jeff Reed, who had 17 in 1997, Johnson, who had 13 in 2001 and Ben Petrick, who had 11 in 2001.
* Stat: 38 innings without a lead for the Rockies until Iannetta homered in the sixth inning to put them up 5-3.
The Rockies re-signed catcher Yorvit Torrealba during the offseason as insurance more than anything.
They wanted a solid alternative until Chris Iannetta lived up to the expectation of being the franchise's catcher of the future.
Turns out, the Rockies didn't need an option.
After struggles as a rookie led to an in-season return to the minors, Iannetta came back to the big leagues this year and has given no indication he plans to take another detour.
Iannetta's coming-out season continued in the Rockies' 5-3 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night at Coors Field. He singled home one run and then delivered the game-winning home run that allowed the Rockies to return from the All-Star break by snapping a four-game losing streak in which they had scored only two runs total.
Ubaldo Jimenez turned in a solid seven-inning effort, rebounding from a three-run third inning to face a minimum of 12 batters in his final four innings to win for the fourth time in six starts, and Brian Fuentes chalked up career save No. 100 by striking out the side in the ninth.
Fuentes is only two saves short of the Rockies' club record set by Jose Jimenez.
But while Iannetta can be confident he's going to be around for a few more years to build off this season, Fuentes' status is not as secure. The pending free agent is the most talked about Rockies player in advance of the July 31 deadline for trading a player without having to put him through waivers.
That, Fuentes said, is something he has no control over.
His job is getting hitters out, and he has done that very well with the Rockies considering he admits when he was traded from Seattle in December 2001 he "felt like I had been discarded."
But then, four years ago, he got the opportunity to be a closer and has done a good enough job that he has been a three-time All-Star and has reached the 100-save milestone.
"It wasn't something I aspired to do when I first went into baseball, but it's addictive," he said. "Once you get a taste (of getting saves) it's all you want to do."
Jimenez has started to get a taste of big-league success, and he's responding well. He is limiting his missteps, like that three- run third in which he threw 35 pitches, giving him 70 in the first three innings, walking two batters, hitting one and throwing a run-scoring wild pitch. The tribute to Jimenez is that he needed only 39 more pitches to get through the next four innings.
"It's always good to see a pitcher get out of sync and be able to recover," manager Clint Hurdle said.
Seeing Iannetta get into sync after the struggles of last year, when he drew the Opening Day assignment but got sent out Aug. 6, also is a positive. While he was recalled Aug. 26, he started only once in the Rockies' 14-out-of-15 stretch to end the regular season - the second game of a Sept. 18 doubleheader and third game of that stretch - and did not appear in the 11 postseason games.
"He worked hard in the winter and had a good spring, but you want to see it in the season," Hurdle said. "We have seen it in the season. All facets of his game have improved. He's finding the barrel of the bat with regularity. He's starting to realize his strength. He is strong."
That two-run home run he hit off Pirates left-hander Pat Maholm was a first-pitch changeup, after Garrett Atkins had singled home the tying run, and was delivered with a bat that snapped.
"I snapped his bat on a first- pitch changeup and it goes 10 rows deep," Maholm said. "Nothing I can do about it."
Iannetta knows about helpless feelings. He had one last season.
"Last year was like a bad movie with some other guy playing," Iannetta said. "Hopefully, I'll never see it again."
There haven't even been glimp- ses this season. As well as having hit 10 home runs, the fifth-best single-season total for a catcher in Rockies history, he leads the team with a .353 average with runners in scoring position.
"I guess I could do worse than I did last year, but I was playing awful," Iannetta said. "I was still here and contributing, so I felt things could get better. I watch (Eli) Manning with the Giants last year. They wanted him out at the start of the year and he led them to the Super Bowl at the end. I knew things could change."
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July 17, 2008
10:21 p.m.
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wjrudy writes:
The NL West was so good last year, and we managed to make it to the post-season. This year, obviously, is another story. But who knows - maybe we'll get there again... amidst the most pathetic division. The great thing is - there is still hope! Go Rocks.
July 17, 2008
11:12 p.m.
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RDenver writes:
Too bad the Rox are trying to trade Fuentes. He has looked pretty good the last few games. Can you say...CHEAP?
July 18, 2008
7:16 a.m.
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bilco writes:
I sincerely believe we need to keep Fuentes, he certainly has his brain-farts occasionally, but all in all a GREAT closer. So if we deal him where do we go....back to Corpus???? NOT!
July 18, 2008
9:15 a.m.
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dgocoman writes:
Other than a small handful, closers can be replaced. Corpas, Buchholz, and eventually Weathers can be closers and not do any worse than Fuentes. But, starting pitchers are another story. If they can trade Fuentes for a good starting pitcher, they have to do it. The rotation is awful except for Cook and Jimenez (a star in the making). If Francis comes back straightened out, they have a chance to make it interesting come September.
July 18, 2008
9:22 a.m.
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fastnloose writes:
Closers, can be like quarterbacks,everyone thinks the next one in will be the best.At this stage we do not have a solid option.Keep Fuentes until we have a viable option,let's don't go fishing for fishing sake!
July 18, 2008
9:53 a.m.
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Armchair_Pundit writes:
I'll play Devil's advocate for a second re: Monforts and O'Dowd. They are in a really tough spot right now with the upcoming trade deadline. Problem is, Rockies are quite bad enough (or the NL West isn't quite good enough) to completely give up on the season. Afterall, the Rox are nothing if not streaky. The temptation to take a gamble and keep Holliday and Fuentes in the (fleeting) hope that the Rockies can make a run (and thereby make the owners a boatload of money, as the taste from last year no doubt still lingers) must be great. Then again, realistically, the "smart" thing to do would be to salary dump and call it a season; at which point the (surprisingly high) ticket receipts will plummet.
July 18, 2008
9:55 a.m.
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Armchair_Pundit writes:
Um, that was supposed to read "Rockies aren't quite bad enough...."
July 18, 2008
10:22 a.m.
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arvada_mark writes:
Fuentes is going to make whatever team gets him very happy. For some reason, he doesn't make our front office happy. I suppose that is because he is in the upper echelon of closers, & probably one of the 2 or 3 best south paws coming out of the bullpen in the NL. Whose better? It's Billy Wagner the B-Fuent in my book. The Brothers Monfort don't like him because he is that good. And when you are that good, you will command a certain level of compensation. Well, the Brothers Monfort seem to be on this kick where they don't like having top shelf talent on this team. Why sign Tulo to the long & heavy contract if that's not what you do? Riddle me that, batman! Soon, the Rox will be comprised of Tulo, Jeff Baker, Spilly, & a rotating cast of young & cheap guys recently called up from Tulsa, or maybe even Modesto. I can say we will have Baker & Spilly because they posess middle of the road talent, & simply are not good enough to command a hefty payday, so they may very well be Rockies for life. Kind of like how Hurdle is middle of the road talent as far as managers go. He will never command a huge payday, so he fits perfectly into the tight-wade, penny-pinching, BLEEP-BLEEPIN' plans of the Brothers Monfort.
Last night, BTW, B-Fuent was awesome. He's a bulldog & will only get better as the trade winds continue to circulate.
July 18, 2008
12:55 p.m.
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wilburM writes:
Fuentes has been unbelievable, actually, for weeks now. he's got hitters just giving up on his stuff.
July 18, 2008
2:13 p.m.
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fastnloose writes:
Salary dump is an overused term,some teams have done that,but for the most part they really do want to help their teams.Normally you try smaller moves to get better,then move on to larger transactions.The managing part of this team is a question mark for me,yet people want to unload a multitude of players,only to be coached by the same ineptness.
July 18, 2008
2:29 p.m.
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Armchair_Pundit writes:
I can see trading Fuentes for starting pitching (even prospects), but I honestly see how trading Holliday would add any value to the quality of the team, even down the road. Holliday is a beast. Coors field is a hitter's park. The Rockies' offense is (as of late) anemic. We don't really NEED a lot of prospects, the farm system is pretty good. Unless we can get an ace for Holliday, any trade would be, in my mind, a salary dump.
July 18, 2008
3:14 p.m.
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SDcat writes:
I've been a Fuentes antagonist because he's inconsistent, but as of his past few outings, I'm more convinced to keep him. To move Holliday is utterly foolish at this point(if ever). I say keep the team intact. Don't make changes for the sake of change.
July 18, 2008
6:33 p.m.
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fastnloose writes:
Armchair,I say don't trade Holliday even for an ace.A real stud will cost you at least 10 million per year,for what 18-20 wins.Sit in the pen the rest of the time.Holliday is drawing fans for 81 home games, plus how much merchandise to be sold.I would want two aces for him,and that is not going to happen.