MLB 15 The Show: Smooth Pancakes' Colorado Rockies Franchise

[SmoothPancakes]

Looking to break an early four game losing streak that quickly put them in last place in the NL West, the Rockies would go on the road and shock the Giants, sweeping all three games in AT&T Park to climb back into the thick of the division standings.

Game one ended up being a bit of a pitcher's battle despite the score and amount of hits. A 3 run second inning would stake the Rockies out to an early lead, only for San Francisco to eventually close the gap to 4-3 through 5 innings. Two runs for the Rockies in the top of the sixth inning would end any comeback threat, otherwise, the pitchers largely dominated as both teams had a number of 1-2-3 innings. The second inning was what set the tone as the Rockies would get runners on first and second with no outs, followed by an RBI single to right. A double steal by Corey Dickerson and Justin Morneau would put runners on second and third for Michael McKenry, who would knock them both in with a two RBI single to center field before the first out was recorded. McKenry would also be the hero in the sixth inning, at the time a 4-3 ball game, with a two run home run to center to increase our lead to 6-3, a margin the Giants couldn't recover from.

Player of the game was Michael McKenry, going 2-4 with a single and a two run home run, scoring two runs and driving in 4 RBI. Another big bat for the Rockies was Corey Dickerson, going 3-4 with three singles and a run scored. Top hitter for the Giants was Nori Aoki, going 1-2 with a single, a run scored, one RBI, a walk and a hit by pitch.

Winning pitcher was Tyler Chatwood, going 5.0 innings pitched, giving up 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned runs, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts for a 4.50 ERA. Rex Brothers got a hold for 2.1 innings of work, Tommy Kahnle got credit for a hold for 0.2 innings of work, and John Axford picked up his first save with a flawless ninth inning. Losing pitcher was Tim Hudson, going 5.0 innings pitched and getting tagged for 9 hits, 5 runs, 4 earned runs and 1 strikeouts for a 5.40 ERA.



Game two would end up even more so a pitcher's duel as Colorado got on the scoreboard early with a solo home run by Troy Tulowitzki in the first inning. That 1-0 lead would stand until the Giants pushed across a run on a sac fly in the bottom of the fourth inning. The game would remain deadlocked at 1-1 as both starting pitchers took over until the Rockies would finally seize control in the seventh inning thanks to a solo home run by Charlie Blackmon. The Rockies would then add an insurance run in the eighth inning on a RBI single by Justin Morneau for the two run victory.

Player of the game was Troy Tulowitzki, going 3-4 with two singles, a solo home run, one run scored and one RBI. Charlie Blackmon was also a top hitter for the Rockies, also going 3-4 with a single, a double and a solo home run, one run scored and one RBI. Top hitter for the Giants was Hunter Pence, going 2-4 with a single and a lead off triple in the fourth inning, scoring San Francisco's lone run in the fourth on a sac fly by Brandon Crawford. Winning pitcher was David Hale, who had a career day and improved to 1-0 on the season, going 8.0 innings pitched, giving up 4 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, no walks and 6 strikeouts to lower his ERA to 5.25. John Axford picked up his second save in as many games with another perfect ninth inning. Losing pitcher was Tim Lincecum, dropping to 0-1 on the year, as he went 7.0 innings pitched, giving up 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 earned runs, no walks and 2 strikeouts for a 2.08 ERA.



Game three would see a similar start, as the Rockies would cross the plate first in the third inning with a solo home run by Nolan Arenado, followed by a two run home run by Justin Morneau in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead. That lead would evaporate almost instantly in the bottom of the fourth as the first five batters for the Giants reached base. Nori Aoki led off with a single, followed by an RBI single by Buster Posey, which was followed by an RBI single by Brandon Belt, which turned into a fielder's choice by Hunter Pence. Joe Panik would also hit an RBI single, making it all the way to third on an error. That would be enough to drive starter Eddie Butler from the game. Logan would come on in relief, striking out Brandon Crawford before giving up an RBI groundout to Joaquin Arias and punching out Ryan Vogelsong to finally end the inning. Final damage was 8 batters, four hits, one error and 5 runs. While the Rockies would get runners on base in the following innings, they would constantly fail to drive them in. It seemed all but over when an RBI single by Aoki in the seventh inning made it 6-3.

Then it was Colorado's turn to light up some pitchers. San Francisco lit up Colorado's starter, Colorado would light up San Francisco's bullpen. The eighth started off with a lead off triple by DJ LeMahieu, followed by an RBI single by Daniel Descalso to score LeMahieu. That was all for George Kontos in relief. Jean Machi would come to the mound, promptly giving up a two run home run to Drew Stubbs, his first of the year, to tie the game up 6-6. That was all for Machi. Now came in Jeremy Affeldt. Dickerson would send a pitch all the way to the wall in center field for a triple, followed by Justin Morneau hitting his second home run of the game, another two run shot, giving the Rockies an 8-6 lead and resulting in Sergio Romo coming on to pitch. After two outs by Hundley and Blackmon, Gonzalez would get on base via single and Arenado would be intentionally walked. A successful double steal would put runners at second and third, but while LeMahieu would give the ball another damn good ride, it would find Pagan in center field for the final out.

While he would only end up getting credit for a hold, the hero of the game was Adam Ottavino. After getting Belt to strike out swinging to start the bottom of the eighth inning, the Giants would try to rally themselves back in it, as Pence grounded up the middle for a single, followed by a single to left by Panik and a single to right by Crawford. That would leave the bases loaded and only one out with Arias up to bat. Despite the immense pressure of the moment, bases loaded, only one out and only a two run ball game, Ottavino buckled down and got Arias to strikeout on a slider low and away. Perez would come on to pinch hit for pitcher Yusmeiro Petit, but he too would end up a victim of Ottavino's slider, frozen up and caught watching a called third strike go by on the outside corner as Ottavino pitched his way out of potential meltdown and got out of the inning.

Player of the game was Justin Morneau, going 3-5 with a single, and two two-run home runs, scoring two runs and driving in 4 RBI. Drew Stubbs, starting in place of Carlos Gonzalez in left, also had a huge day, going 3-5 with a single, a triple and a two run home run of his own, scoring one run and driving in two RBI. The top hitter for the Giants was Nori Aoki going 2-5 with two singles, a run scored and one RBI.

Winning pitcher was Christian Friedrich in relief, improving to 1-0 on the year. Friedrich would go 1.0 innings pitched, giving up 3 hits, 1 run and one earned run to make his ERA 3.86. Starting pitcher Eddie Butler only made it 3.0 innings pitched, getting tagged for 5 hits, 5 runs, 5 earned runs, no walks and 4 strikeouts to balloon his ERA up to 15.43. Boone Logan was a savior from the bullpen, eating up 3.0 innings pitched much earlier than anticipated, completely shutting the Giants down in the process as he would give up zero hits and strikeout 5 batters for a 1.59 ERA on the year. Adam Ottavino, in his 1.0 inning pitched, giving up 3 hits and getting 3 strikeouts to keep his perfect 0.00 ERA, was awarded his second hold of the season. John Axford came on in the ninth and sent the Giants down in order to earn his third save in as many games.

Giants starting pitcher Ryan Vogelsong would go 5.0 innings pitched, giving up 7 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned runs and one strikeout, while Javier Lopez would pick up a hold with 2.0 innings of work giving up just one hit. Vogelsong would lose the win however as George Kontos would go 0.0 innings, giving up 2 hits, 2 runs and 2 earned runs, Jean Machi was smacked with a blown save, his first of the year, going 0.0 innings, giving up 1 hit, 1 run and 1 earned run. And Jeremy Affeldt would be tagged with the loss, dropping him to 2-1 on the year, going 0.0 innings, giving up 2 hits, 2 runs and 2 earned runs. In all, the Giants would use 8 pitchers, starter Vogelsong plus their entire bullpen, in the loss.


Colorado - 6-10-3
San Francisco - 4-6-1

Colorado - 3-11-0
San Francisco - 1-5-0

Colorado - 8-15-1
San Francisco - 6-11-0


All of a sudden, the three game weekend series at the LA Dodgers has new meaning, as the Dodgers, at 6-3, lead the NL West by a half game over the San Diego Padres, and lead the NL West by a full game over the Colorado Rockies, who sit in third at 5-4. Even just two of three games and the Rockies are potentially in a first place tie. It may only be the middle of April, but a first place tie is still a first place tie, and if the team can be right there fighting, certainly that's enough to get the players to believe and buy into a division chase as the dog days of summer soon approach.