Rockies ExSpeiered

They say that you always see something at a baseball game you've never seen before. Actually, I have seen this play before but I don't remember seeing it at a major league game.

In the top of the 6th inning the Diamond Backs first baseman Chad Tracy was batting against Rockies starter Shawn Chacon. With the count 0-2 and a runner on first Chacon threw a hard breaking curve on the inside corner. Tracy started his swing and the ball hit him on the foot and bounded towards the Arizona dugout. Immediately, the Rockies catcher J.D. Closser asked home plate umpire Chris Guccione to appeal the swing to the third base umpire Andy Fletcher. Meanwhile the runner on first was heading to second thinking it was a dropped third strike while Tracy stood quietly in the batter's box as the ball had come to a stop by the dugout. Fletcher obliged Closser and the home plate umpire signaled Tracy out. Folks in the press box were a bit confused at this point since it appeared that it was a dropped third strike and therefore a live ball. However, after calling down to the field the fact that the ball had hit Tracy's foot became apparent and in that situation if the batter swings at the ball and it hits him it immediately becomes a dead ball and simply a strikeout.

Now, on to something more familiar. Chacon left the game after 6 strong innings leading 3-1. His only mistake was turned into a 438 foot homerun by Troy Glaus earlier in the 6th. I hadn't watched Chacon pitch much but he changed speeds very effectively and used both sides of the plate very well. Ryan Speier relieved Chacon in the 7th and proceeded to give up five straight hits and four runs before being lifted and that was the ballgame. Another blown save for the Rockies who fall to 2-10. If a deep bullpen is a necessary ingredient to winning at altitude, this could be a long summer indeed.