It was a classic Coors Field game tonight with balls leaving the yard that would have been routine outs in any other park in MLB.
That being said the Rockies’ starter Juan Nicasio figured out how to keep the damage to a minimum while Padres’ starter Clayon Richard did not.
THE GOOD:
- Chase Headley having the firs multiple HR game of his career, hitting first a Nicasio fastball opposite field for a home run #3 on the season, then later hitting a change up to the same part of the ballpark for #4. Chase had 4 home runs all of last season, so it’s nice to see some early power out of the veteran third baseman.
- Will Venable with 2 hits from the leadoff spot.
- Nick Hundley with 2 hits tonight, giving him 6 in the past 4 games. He also had a nice throw out of Chris Nelson trying to steal second in the 8th.
- 2.2 more scoreless innings out of the Pads bullpen.
THE BAD:
- Clayton Richard simply could not command his pitches tonight, and was burned on mistakes up in the zone.
THE DIFFERENCE:
- Nicasio was able to locate his pitches down in the zone, which is always a recipe for success, but even more so on a night where the home plate umpire is calling pitches a balls width below the knees for a strike. It was the same zone for both sides, but Richard was never able to consistently get his pitches down to take advantage of the low strike zone.
The Pads have done a better job of late of not throwing ames away as they did in the first week of the season, but the starting pitching has been inconsistent which has put this slow starting offense in a position of having to play catch up more often than not. The recipe for winning these close games ( 8 of the first 13 games have been decided by 2 runs or less), is to hand a lead, no matter how slim, over to this stingy bullpen that has the third lowest ERA in the NL.
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