Best of the Worst

For the first time since April 13, the Rockies do not have the worst record in the NL. While the Rockies have gone 12-7 in their last 19 games, the Pirates have gone 4-15 to take the Rockies' place. In the midst of this free fall, the Pirates have fired their manager, Lloyd McClendon. The Rockies were opportunistic last night, scoring six runs on six hits, taking advantage of 10 walks and three errors by the Padres. Cook continued his strong pitching since returning from his year-long absence. Fortunately for the Rox, the Padres made enough dumb mistakes to lose the game. In a full-fledged lapse of concentration, with Helton on second and a throw to home, Miguel Olivo tossed the ball into the Padres dugout, thinking the ball was dead. In actuality, the ball was still live and, since Helton was at second at the time of the error, Helton was awarded two bases and the winning run scored. Good teams do not make these kind of mistakes, so obviously the Padres are not a good team right now. However, someone HAS to win the NL West and it will probably be the Padres. While it is true that once in the playoffs anything can happen, it is also true that the Padres would be no better than third in any other division in baseball with their current record.

For only the third time since August 1, the Rockies walked more opposing batters than they struck out.

For years we as Rockies' fans continued to hear about how Dante Bichette was a fine hitter, but a serious defensive liability in left field. Personally, I always thought that was exaggerated and unfair to Dante. I remember talking to someone from Atlanta once who said at least Dante wasn't as bad as Ryan Klesko. One of the best things the Padres ever did was moving Klesko from left field to first base. One of the worst was to move him back. Watching him play defense makes just about everyone else look like Gold Glove material, Jose Canseco not withstanding.

Even though last night should not have ended as a one-run game, the Rockies are now 22-19 in one-run games this season. This compares with a 16-24 record in 2004. Since August 1, the Rockies are 10-2 in one-run games.