Lady Loves Pinstripes Giveaway: Win $50 Gift-Card
To Shop.MLB.com

post from Lady Loves Pinstripes on 24 April 2011 11:53:08 PM. © Lady Loves Pinstripes

Lady Loves Pinstripes is hosting a START-TO-MAY $50.00 GIFT-CARD GIVEAWAY. Two lucky Lady Loves Pinstripe readers will be picked at random on Sunday May 1st and each will win a $50 Gift Card to Shop.Mlb.com, the Official Store of Major League Baseball.[...]

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Westbrook lifts Cards on 3 days rest (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 24 April 2011 11:39:20 PM. © MLB News Blog

Jake Westbrook threw six innings of three-hit ball in his first career start on three days’ rest and Yadier Molina hit a three-run homer in the sixth off a tiring Edinson Volquez in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 3-0 victory Sunday night. The outing was the longest of the season for Westbrook (2-2), who entered with [...]

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Show #144: The Braves Sweep the Giants

post from Atlanta Baseball Talk on 24 April 2011 11:29:24 PM. © Atlanta Baseball Talk

Looking at the significance of the sweep. Nate improved numbers. And MLB’s proposed expansion of the playoffs.[...]

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Rockies Rewind with Silver: Oh crap, did
somebunny find the April!Rockies in their basket

post from Purple Row on 24 April 2011 11:02:15 PM. © Purple Row

He also cures cancer.

It's a funny game, this baseball. Last week, you're feeling on top of the world, everything is going awfully well, and birds sing sweet sonatas from treetops and what have you. This week, you feel distinctly annoyed after the Rockies dropped their second straight series, nearly got no-hit twice in the course of it, then had the normally stellar bullpen give up a game-deciding homer immediately after the guys scratched and clawed back to tie it in the eighth. This in itself being an accomplishment, as Josh "The Beast" Johnson and our own Ubaldo had dueling no-hitters going through the first half of the game, but Ubaldo then decided to walk the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, come within a rabbit's whisker of getting out of it, then give up a two-out, three-run triple to Omar "All Star" Infante.

Blargh.

Nonetheless, despite a 2-4 week, there are indications that the sunshine, jelly beans, and Reese's chocolate eggs may not have run out entirely. Grab a fistful of Marshmallow Peeps and join me after the jump.

If there's anything we have discovered from this week, it's that Dexter Fowler has a new line to put on his business card: "Official No-Hitter Buster." He broke up Anibal Sanchez's bid for a second no-no in the top of the ninth of Game 2, then did away with Josh Johnson's similar pretensions in the sixth today. It's somewhat sad that he was obliged to do this, but the Rockies that rolled into Citi Field and did all sorts of pornographic things to the Mets apparently got confused as to where ~~Dolphin~~ ~~Landshark~~ Sun Life Stadium was, and didn't make the trip. They scored seven runs all series, albeit while facing a pitching staff that ranks tops in MLB for stinginess, and let a winnable game (that is, after JJ got out of there) get away today. They were into the Marlins' pen, and had the momentum after CarGo and Tulo paired up to pull them even in the eighth. Of course, it would have been much more irritating if they'd just rolled over and played dead after Infante's triple, but also of course, you never want to look back in September and say, "Man, if we could just have gotten that one game..." This wasn't a heartbreaker of a loss by any means, but it was still annoying. Actually, losing in general is annoying. Someone should tell the guys that. You think they know?

Also, in case you were not aware, Charlie Sheen was at the game today. So I am confused as to why WINNING did not occur.

Truth is, however, I'm much more peeved about losing the first series with the Giants, and in uniquely embarrassing fashion. At least we took it to them in the final game, but if we could have skipped the first inning in both of the previous two, we would have been in much better shape. We veered dismayingly close to being no-hit in Game 1 of that series as well, but hey, this is the 2011 Rockies. We don't get nearly no-hit by scrubs; we get nearly no-hit by the likes of Tim Lincecum and Josh Johnson. No shame in either, really, but let's make sure it doesn't happen again for a while. And also, I hope that the Rockies team that showed up for the first two games of the Giants series does not reappear ever again. Way to kill the excitement, bozos.

Undoubtedly the biggest concern at the end of this week is when Ubaldo and CarGo are going to fully get back to form. Uball looked great for four innings today while he and JJ were slinging zeroes at each other, but he seemed to unravel in the fifth, and pretty much dug his own grave with all those walks. The plate ump had a tight zone (and in all of the games, really) but that was legit failure on Jimenez's part. Early on, he had velocity and movement (we saw a few 97-mph nasty heaters today) and there were certainly flashes of his usual self, but after his rough start against the Giants (4 runs in the first inning) and now this, we're still waiting for 2010 Uball to consistently report to the building. 2010 CarGo as well, for that matter. I know he's been battling the flu and trying to get straight, but he's been generally a non-entity thus far. CarGo is supremely confident, so I doubt the pressure of the new contract is getting to him, but whatever the case may be, we'll all be a lot happier when he starts earning it. He's too talented to stay in this funk for long, but hey, for better or worse, when you pay a guy $80 million after one breakout season, you expect timely dividends. If 2010 CarGo decides to show up at Wrigley Field, for example, and kick Cubbie posterior black and blue, we would all interpret this as an acceptable outcome. Got that, Carlos?

The other storyline of note: Apart from Matt Belisle's unfortunate hiccup today, the bullpen has been good. Really good. Really, really good. As in, a level of good we as Rockies fans just aren't conditioned to having (y helo thar, Jose Mesa and Elmer Dessens). And is anyone else impressed with Clayton Mortensen as I am? Small sample size yadda yadda yadda, but he came in after Esmil Rogers' turd and laid six shutout innings on the Gigantes, then did likewise against the Fish today for two. If he's our long guy, we could do a lot worse. Rafael Betancourt is also rounding into form, and Huston seems to be slowly acquiring trustworthiness again. In fact, with the exception of Felipe Paulino's implosion and the Mike Stanton bomb today off Belisle's fat hanging slider, everyone has kept the ulcer-producing moments to a remarkable minimum. This is something that will be crucial to keep up going forward.

I was also going to carp on how our rotating third base brigade is still distinctly underwhelming, but Ty Wigginton probably kept us from getting swept by the Giants, so I won't -- too much. But may I say that the ninth inning today was pretty sad. We'd just given up the Stanton homer, and who did we have trotting up there against Leo Nunez? Jose Lopez, Jose Morales, and the aforesaid Ty Wigginton. Starting a rally would pretty much have required divine intervention (hey, it is Easter after all...) Lopez is hitting .161, Morales .227, and Wigginton .204. Considering that Morales is just the backup catcher and will be gone again once CDI returns to the lineup, that is less of a problem. (Then again, Iannetta is hitting .186, but at least his game-calling skills have drastically improved.) But with Ian Stewart demoted to AAA in attempts to resuscitate his terminally ill swing, Lopez and Wigginton are going to be getting the playing time at the hot corner. It would be nice if one of them would step up. Of the two, I'd take Wigginton, at least because he's produced positive contributions in a few different games; Lopez not so much. But that is of course a fluid situation.

All in all, there's both good and bad to be taken from this week. The Rockies' road record of 8-2 is still the best in baseball, their average of 5.15 runs a game is third best in the NL, and Troy Tulowitzki is really going to have a special season if he keeps this up. As I noted in my column last week, he's a monster. He didn't go on a home run parade again, but he was steadily contributing base hits and RBI, playing his usual excellent D, and just being Tulo. We are very lucky to have him, and I'm sure we all know that.

This upcoming Cubs series is very important. First, we get to see how we rematch against a team that we took 2 of 3 from at Coors, see if we can maintain the killer instinct and recover from a subpar stretch of play. Esmil Rogers gets a chance to redeem himself tomorrow, so it will be illustrative as to whether or not he becomes a liability while we're waiting for Cook to return, and how he as a young pitcher recovers from a terrible outing. Which, of course, happens in the course of a 162-game season, but the wannabes are filtered from the winners by how well they pick themselves up after getting knocked down.

I'd say we're still a few weeks away from being able to assess the state of the Rockies without early-season caveats, but I am encouraged by what I see. That is why I have faith that the appearance of the April!Rockies this week was more exception than rule, and the guys will be able to get it back on track. And hey, we're still in first place. It would be nice to finish the ~~month~~ season there.

Also, I think 17-7 looks very pretty. That is what our record would be if we sweep the Cubs. I am completely for this.

Go ROCKIES!

Poll

I feel:

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Pitching Shines Again In Sunday's Atlanta Braves
Minor League Recap As Lopez And Oberholtzer Toss Gems

post from Talking Chop on 24 April 2011 11:02:14 PM. © Talking Chop

Gwinnett 12, Charlotte 1

M. Young 2-4 2B, RBI, BB, K, .429 Avg
S. Bowman 3-4 2B, HR(3), 2 RBI, BB, K, .292 Avg
W. Castillo 4-5 2B, HR(1), 6 RBI, .235 Avg
R. Lopez 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 1.35 ERA

You know it has been a good night when your 8-9 hitters combine to go 7-9 with two doubles, two homers and eight runs batted in. Rodrigo Lopez turned in another fantastic outing and improved his record to 4-0 on the season and hasn't allowed more than one earned run in any of his starts so far. Yohan Flande also turned in a fantastic outing in relief by tossing three shutout innings with six strikeouts. The Braves extend their winning streak to six games and have a game and half lead over the Durham Bulls in the division.

Julio Teheran returns to the mound tomorrow against the Charlotte Knights.

Montgomery 1, Mississippi 4

W. Cabrera 1-4 3B, 2 RBI, K, .286 Avg
E. Mejia 3-3 2 HR(4), 2 RBI, BB, .333 Avg
J. Sucre 3-3 .261 Avg
B. Oberholtzer 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 1.90 ERA

Now that Atlanta is out of their funk it appears that the minor league teams are following suit as well. Brett Oberholtzer has picked up right where he left off last season. He hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any starts this season and he has been generating a ton of groundballs along with nearly a strikeout an inning and just five walks in 23.2 innings so far. I would say he is passing the AA litmus test. Ernesto Mejia whiffed nine times over the past week - equal to his season total up to that point - but with his two homers today his OPS is 1.060 for the season.

Paul Clemens will bring the heat against the terribly named Montgomery Biscuits.

Lynchburg 1, Frederick 2

L.V Ware 2-4 2B, 2 K, 2 SB(5), .353 Avg
T. Cunningham 1-4 2B, .259 Avg
A. Milligan 1-4 HR(4), 2 K, .245 Avg
J. Leonard 3-4 K, .264 Avg
D. Delgado 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R(1 ER), 2 BB, 2 K, 6.92 ERA

L.V. Ware has been on fire since he was moved to the top of the order. He has four multi-hit games and and six extra base hits in his last five games. Adam Milligan has been a mixed bag so far this season. His contact abilities are still wanting a bit with a .245 Avg and just two walks against fifteen strikeouts, but of his twelve hits on the season ten of them are of the extra base variety. The power is definitely still there he just needs to spend this season working on his approach.

Arodys Vizcaino will continue the trend of top pitching prospects facing off tomorrow against Wilmington.

Rome - Scheduled off Day

Steven Kent should take the mound for Rome in the first game against Asheville.

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Pitching Shines Again In Sunday's Atlanta Bravess
Minor League Recap As Lopez And Oberholtzer Toss Gems

post from Talking Chop on 24 April 2011 10:01:45 PM. © Talking Chop

Gwinnett 12, Charlotte 1

M. Young 2-4 2B, RBI, BB, K, .429 Avg
S. Bowman 3-4 2B, HR(3), 2 RBI, BB, K, .292 Avg
W. Castillo 4-5 2B, HR(1), 6 RBI, .235 Avg
R. Lopez 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 1.35 ERA

You know it has been a good night when your 8-9 hitters combine to go 7-9 with two doubles, two homers and eight runs batted in. Rodrigo Lopez turned in another fantastic outing and improved his record to 4-0 on the season and hasn't allowed more than one earned run in any of his starts so far. Yohan Flande also turned in a fantastic outing in relief by tossing three shutout innings with six strikeouts. The Braves extend their winning streak to six games and have a game and half lead over the Durham Bulls in the division.

Julio Teheran returns to the mound tomorrow against the Charlotte Knights.

Montgomery 1, Mississippi 4

W. Cabrera 1-4 3B, 2 RBI, K, .286 Avg
E. Mejia 3-3 2 HR(4), 2 RBI, BB, .333 Avg
J. Sucre 3-3 .261 Avg
B. Oberholtzer 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 1.90 ERA

Now that Atlanta is out of their funk it appears that the minor league teams are following suit as well. Brett Oberholtzer has picked up right where he left off last season. He hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any starts this season and he has been generating a ton of groundballs along with nearly a strikeout an inning and just five walks in 23.2 innings so far. I would say he is passing the AA litmus test. Ernesto Mejia whiffed nine times over the past week - equal to his season total up to that point - but with his two homers today his OPS is 1.060 for the season.

Paul Clemens will bring the heat against the terribly named Montgomery Biscuits.

Lynchburg 1, Frederick 2

L.V Ware 2-4 2B, 2 K, 2 SB(5), .353 Avg
T. Cunningham 1-4 2B, .259 Avg
A. Milligan 1-4 HR(4), 2 K, .245 Avg
J. Leonard 3-4 K, .264 Avg
D. Delgado 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R(1 ER), 2 BB, 2 K, 6.92 ERA

L.V. Ware has been on fire since he was moved to the top of the order. He has four multi-hit games and and six extra base hits in his last five games. Adam Milligan has been a mixed bag so far this season. His contact abilities are still wanting a bit with a .245 Avg and just two walks against fifteen strikeouts, but of his twelve hits on the season ten of them are of the extra base variety. The power is definitely still there he just needs to spend this season working on his approach.

Arodys Vizcaino will continue the trend of top pitching prospects facing off tomorrow against Wilmington.

Rome - Scheduled off Day

Steven Kent should take the mound for Rome in the first game against Asheville.

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Soriano Sat With a Sore Lower Back

post from Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog on 24 April 2011 09:01:34 PM. © Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog

From Chad Jennings:

Rafael Soriano was unavailable because of a sore lower back. He was unavailable yesterday as well, but he said he expects to be able to pitch tomorrow. He went to the bullpen around the sixth inning and tried to get loose, but it was determined that he couldn?t go.

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Braves Complete Sweep of Giants

Nate's only hit of the game was a big one.

Happy Birthday, Chipper!

On Chipper Jones's 39^th birthday, the Braves required 10 innings to pull out a 9-6 victory over the Giants and sweep the three-game series.

The Braves offense gave Brandon Beachy an early lead to work with. Martin Prado started the game with a walk and Jason Heyward followed with a double off Jonathan Sanchez. Chipper drove them both in with a double of his own past third.

Beachy cruised until the fourth inning. He retired the first 11 hitters he faced, but Aubrey Huff doubled to right with two outs and Buster Posey immediately followed with his fourth home run of the season to tie the game 2-2.

Sanchez settled down after the first. Aside from a pair of two-out walks in the third inning, he didn't allow a single Braves hitter to reach base in his five innings of work.

The Braves jumped ahead of the Giants against their bullpen in the seventh. Brandon Hicks and Prado each drew walks against Jeremy Affeldt for Jason Heyward. He saw a 1-2 curveball and crushed it to the deepest part of the park for a three-run homer and a 5-2 lead.

The lead, unfortunately, did not last long. The Giants put together three straight one-out singles against Jairo Asencio in the bottom of the seventh. Miguel Tejada walked to force in a run and a slow groundout by Nate Schierholtz plated another. Aaron Rowand then drove a double to left to score two and give the Giants a 6-5 lead.

Dan Uggla, however, would have none of it. Leading off the eighth, Uggla smashed a deep home run to left off Sergio Romo to re-tie the game. Eric O'Flaherty tossed two scoreless frames to send the game into extra innings.

Brian Wilson pitched a scoreless ninth for the Giants, but ultimately fell in the tenth. He allowed consecutive singles to Heyward and Chipper and walked Uggla to load the bases with no outs. Freddie Freeman struck out and pinch-hitter Eric Hinske hit into a force out, sending Nate McLouth to bat. On a 3-2 pitch, McLouth drove a single into center to score Chipper and Uggla and break the tie. Brian McCann added an insurance run with an RBI single off Dan Runzler. The hit improved McCann to 10 for 13 with RISP.

Jonny Venters pitched a scoreless tenth for his first save of the season.

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Braves win in 10, finish sweep of Giants (AP)

All those times Brian Wilson and his bushy, black beard strutted around AT&T Park after wins last postseason was enough for the Atlanta Braves. They made sure there was no encore Sunday. Nate McLouth hit a two-run single off Wilson with two outs in the 10th inning, and the Braves beat the San Francisco Giants [...]

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Braves beat Wilson in 10th, sweep Giants (AP)

All those times Brian Wilson and his bushy, black beard strutted around AT&T Park after wins last postseason was enough for the Atlanta Braves. They made sure there was no encore Sunday. Nate McLouth hit a two-run single off Wilson with two outs in the 10th inning, and the Braves beat the San Francisco Giants [...]

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