Day 2

Tonight was my second game at Coors Field as an MLB.com stringer but the first in which I was actually scoring. I arrived in plenty of time and was pleased to find that all the windows in the press box were wide open on a sunny and very pleasant day with temps in the high 60s. After unpacking the laptop and connecting I was able to spend 30 minutes or so just watching batting practice and enjoying the atmosphere of this beautiful ballpark before the game with the Giants.

A little after 5pm I checked the rosters for both teams and found that the Giants Lance Niekro was now wearing number 28 instead of number 36. In talking with the Giants PR staff I found out that Niekro had his number switched since former Giant Gaylord Perry had worn that number and it is to be retired this season.

In other news, since the last time I was here rookie Clint Barmes has continued hitting the cover off the ball with a .389 average before tonight’s game and now has four homeruns (all at Coors Field). In tonight’s game he was 2-2 with a sacrifice, was hit by pitches twice, and stole 2 bases and was thrown out once (actually picked off when he wandered too far off second). He’s definitely a fun player to watch. Unfortunately, the Rockies had lost eight straight, the third longest in their history (they lost 13 in a row in 1993). Pitching has been the biggest culprit and control the biggest pitfall. Before tonight’s game the pitching staff had walked 54 in 75 innings while striking out 44 and had an 8.28 ERA. Ouch.

In tonight’s game luckily Joe Kennedy pitched well over 6 and 2/3 innings and left with the Rockies up 5-2 courtesy of four runs scored on Jason Schmidt in the third inning. Schmidt struggled with his control all evening throwing just 57 strikes in 107 pitches. In the 9th the Giants scored two runs off of Chin-hui Tsao on a Michael Tucker homerun to make it 5-4. After an Omar Vizquel double, however, Ray Durham flew out to Preston Wilson to end the game and Rockies eight game losing streak and bring their record to 2-8.

Although there were a fair number of pinch hitters and pitching changes, and even my first double-switch, the game was pretty easy to score since there were no errors or difficult scoring plays. Looking forward to being back on Monday night when the Rockies take on the Diamond Backs.