After getting a much needed day of rest on Monday August 4th, it was back into the grind as we kicked off another 13 games in 13 days stretch with a three game series at home against the Chicago Cubs. With the chance for a .500 record slowly slipping away with each new loss, we would need to rack up some wins in this series if we were ever going to get a push kick started. Instead we would lose the series and Goose would have the worst series of this baseball career.

Chicago 6, Colorado 2
Colorado 6, Chicago 1
Chicago 8, Colorado 6 F/11


First game of the series would see the changes continue as Goose as he would return to the field as starting shortstop and would end up the lead off batter at the top of the order. Leading off the bottom of the first inning, Goose would rope a 1-2 slider into right center field, sliding into second base for a double thanks to the throw in from the outfield being off the mark. Goose would advance to third on a single by Charlie Blackmon, only to get gunned down at home plate after taking off from third thanks to a bobbled ball by the shortstop and late throw to first. Instead of scoring, Goose would get beat by about three steps for the first out. Goose would return in the bottom of the third inning with one out and the bases empty, going down swinging on an outside fastball for a strikeout and the second out. Next at-bat for Goose would come in the bottom of the fifth inning with one out and runners on first and second, only to strikeout on three straight pitches thanks to two slow as hell slider and an absolutely slow as all hell change-up. The next at-bat for Goose would come in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out and a runner on first, but Goose would end up striking out for the third straight at bat, chasing a change-up low for the second out. Goose would get one last chance at the plate, digging in in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and a runner on first, but a splitter in the dirt would get Goose swinging for his fourth straight strikeout to end the ball game. Final stats for Goose, 1-5 with a double and four strikeouts, earning Goose the Golden Sombrero!



The second game would see Goose remain the lead off batter and starter at shortstop. Leading off the bottom of the first inning, Goose would smack a fastball to deep right center field, the ball coming down behind the center fielder's glove and bouncing off the wall and away from the fielder. Goose was hauling ass around the bases and was already on his way to third before the center fielder could even pick up the ball and throw it in. Feeling incredibly ballsy, Goose tried for the rarity and went for the inside the park home run, but he would get too greedy and realizing that he was about to bite off more than he could chew, he would stop half way to home plate and try to retreat to third base, only to be thrown out at third by the catcher. Despite all of that, ultimately the play was called a ground out on an error () and was ruled an 8-4-2-5 E8 ground out. Despite that, we would end up batting around the order in the first inning. Thus, Goose would end up leading off the bottom of the second inning at the plate, only to end up striking out on a slider below the knees for the first out. Goose's next chance would come in the bottom of the fourth inning with two outs and a runner on first, ultimately grounding out to the second baseman to end the inning, as other than that first inning hit that was actually an error that was supposedly a ground out, Goose couldn't find an answer to Jason Hammel's pitching. Thankfully Goose wouldn't have to as Hammel would be pinch hit for in the top of the sixth inning. So, Goose would return to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs and runners on first and second, coming up against reliever Carlos Villanueva, who would promptly make Goose look like an idiot at the plate with his curveball, Goose striking out for the second time today to end the inning. Final stats for Goose, 0-4 with two strikeouts.

The third and final game of the series would see Goose dropped from the lead off spot, now batting fifth in the order for this game. First at-bat for Goose would come in the bottom of the first inning with two outs and the bases empty following a two run home run by Carlos Gonzalez. Goose would not follow in Gonzalez's footsteps, instead striking out yet again thanks to Jake Arrieta's ugly 12-6 curveball that Goose has never figured out how to hit on any level. Goose would come up to bat next in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out and the bases empty, that goddamned 12-6 curveball rearing its ugly head once again to freeze Goose for a strikeout looking. Next chance for Goose would come in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs and a runner on first. This time Goose would refuse to strikeout, sending a slider screaming into the gap in left center field for a stand up RBI triple to break his streak of suck and record his first hit since his first at-bat of the first game of the series. An RBI single by Josh Rutledge would drive Goose in to score and cut the Cubs' lead to just one run. At least it would be a one run gap until our set-up man would screw up and let Chicago regain a run. Goose would come up to the plate for his next at-bat in the bottom of the eighth inning, digging in with two outs and Troy Tulowitzki standing on second. A 1-2 blooper into shallow center field would be enough to score Tulo from second, closing the gap once again to just one run and leaving Goose on first for Josh Rutledge. After a full count walk to Rutledge to advance Goose to second base, Nolan Arenado would unfortunately fly out just feet from the wall in the right field corner to end the inning. Somehow we would survive thanks to a single and a walk to start the inning, before a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third. Despite a ground out by Jordan Pacheco, Tulowitzki would hit a two out double to score Michael McKenry and tie the game up. Unfortunately Charlie Culberson would try and score the game winning run on the same play, only to be thrown out at home plate to end the inning and send us into extras. Despite letting two batters on base, we would get through the top of the tenth inning without any damage. Following a lead off strikeout by Gonzalez, Goose would return to the plate in the bottom of the tenth inning with one out and the bases empty, unfortunately Goose would be unable to do anything, grounding out to the second baseman on a slider high and inside for the second out, followed by a strikeout by Rutledge to move on to the eleventh inning. A two out single by Nate Schierholtz and a throwing error by Goose would ultimately fuck us as Chicago would score twice on three hits in the top of the eleventh inning, all of it with two outs, and go on to win by two runs, making Goose pretty much responsible for fucking us out of a potential win. Final stats for Goose, 2-5 with a single, a double, one run scored, two RBI, two strikeouts and a throwing error.

Final series stats for Goose, he would rack up his worst series of his entire career, topping even the horrible Omaha series back in Triple A when he went 4-16 and struck out seven times. This time, Goose would end up hitting rock bottom, batting a miserable .214 for the series, going 3-14 with one single, one double and one triple, scoring one run, driving in two RBIs and striking out a career high EIGHT times, earning the Golden Sombrero in game one, as well as getting tagged with a throwing error in the eleventh inning of game three, which Chicago would end up exploiting to win.

Next up for the Colorado Rockies, thank god, we get back on the road (where Goose seems to play his best) with a six game road trip, spending the weekend in Arizona for a three game series against the Diamondbacks, followed by an early week stopover against the San Diego Padres.

Colorado Rockies (53-62) vs Arizona Diamondbacks (67-48)
August 8-10, 2014
Chase Field - Phoenix, Arizona

Probable Starters:

Game One - Friday 6:40 PM
Rex Brothers (0-2, 4.38) vs Brandon McCarthy (13-7, 2.72)

Game Two - Friday, 5:10 PM
Jhoulys Chacin (4-12, 4.64) vs Bronson Arroyo (11-7, 3.56)

Game Three - Sunday 1:10 PM
Christian Friedrich (8-7, 3.97) vs Wade Miley (15-4, 2.32)