Rockies shut out Giants behind gem from De La Rosa

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 1, 2008 at 3:27 p.m.

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Photo by David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Rockies starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa delivers a pitch in the first inning Monday. De La Rosa pitched seven shutout innings for the Rockies.

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The Jorge De La Rosa experiment is over.

It has been a success.

Rockies manager Clint Hurdle provided the statement of endorsement of De La Rosa on Monday morning. The left-hander put an exclamation point on the statement during the afternoon.

De La Rosa worked the first seven innings of the Rockies' 4-0 victory against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field on Labor Day, turning in what Hurdle admitted was the best of a growing list of impressive starts. That's five quality starts in a row for De La Rosa and seven in his past eight starts.

He has allowed two runs or fewer in six of those eight starts, and more impressively, he walked only one batter in seven scoreless innings against the Giants, who were seeing him, and losing to him, for the second time in a week.

He has provided a resounding answer to the challenge issued when the Rockies acquired Livan Hernandez and opted to leave De La Rosa in the rotation instead of Glendon Rusch because, with the life of his fastball and the break on his slider, they felt there was potential for a power arm who might be a part of their future plans.

Forget about the might. He has pitched himself into being a guy the Rockies will go to spring training with in February feeling he can step into the rotation behind Aaron Cook, Ubaldo Jimenez and Jeff Francis.

"He has kind of crossed that line for me," Hurdle said. "He is part of what we're looking at going forward. Incrementally, he's gotten to that point. He's on the other side of the ledger right now."

De La Rosa also helped the Rockies with his bat against Giants left-hander Jonathan San- chez, who came off the disabled list to make the start. After Troy Tulowitzki tripled home the first run in the second inning, De La Rosa singled Tulowitzki home.

Willy Taveras manufactured two other runs for the Rockies, stealing a base to set up a Garrett Atkins sacrifice fly in the third, and stealing second and third ahead of a Keiichi Yabu wild pitch in the eighth.

The pitching, not the hitting, is what matters to De La Rosa.

"He's like Ubaldo (Jimenez)," Tulowitzki said. "When he throws strikes, there is a good chance to get people out, and it is easier to play defense, because he keeps you in the game."

After constantly teasing teams with his potential - he spent time in the minors with Arizona and Boston and in the big leagues with Milwaukee and Kansas City before joining the Rockies - he has shown signs of moving past in-game implosions.

Oh, he still can have a tough night. After back-to-back wins in which he allowed two runs in 122/3 innings in his first two starts after the All-Star break, he did get rocked at Florida, giving up seven runs and registering only five outs.

But he has rebounded with five solid efforts in a row. He is not only 3-1 - the Rockies are 4-1 - but he has a 1.97 ERA in his past five starts, issuing 10 walks and giving up 25 hits while striking out 25 in 32 innings.

That is a stark contrast from the pitcher who, before his last five starts, had a 16-26 record and a 6.23 ERA to show for 55 big- league starts and who had walked 139 batters in 172 innings.

"I feel more comfortable, more like I belong," De La Rosa said. "I feel I'm making good pitches, and I'm not getting excited."

The Rockies, though, have reason for excitement about the emergence of De La Rosa, who came over from Kansas City on April 30 to complete the trade that sent right-handed reliever Ramon Ramirez to the Royals. He bounced between the rotation and bullpen and was considered at one point for a demotion to the minor leagues.

"I understand that," he said. "I was not pitching that well back then."

That is now a part of the past. De La Rosa has given the Rockies indications he is ready to be part of the future.

"I don't see a reason to write that he has gotten over the hump," Hurdle said. "I just want to let him keep going out there, working hard. I think he wants to start. He is doing things to stay in the rotation. He is getting confidence on the mound. He is getting the confidence of his teammates."

• September 2, 2008

  7:50 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  kmeissner writes:

  Good game Rox! De La Rosa has been incredible in the past few starts. He's gone a long way from the guy I used to yell at! haha

• September 2, 2008

  8:10 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  wilburM writes:

  nice job with de la rosa. this is the most anyone's ever gotten out of him.

  that said, what is Ian Stewart batting vs. LHP?

  look:
  .486 avg .548 obp .973 slg 1.521 OPS

  Why is he sitting against a left hander? It makes no sense and Hurdle's given him days off against LH since the call up.

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