Cold Brewed Baseball-Brew Crew is Flat, Rockies are Rockin' - mkilcNYR's Dynasty

mkilcNYR's Dynasty Blog

Cold Brewed Baseball-Brew Crew is Flat, Rockies are Rockin'

Posted on July 22, 2015 at 06:05 PM.

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Hey everyone, decided to make a few changes to the Colorado franchise I'm making. Instead of updating every 10 games I'm going to update every series that the Rockies play that we it's a bit more involved. I will however make the peek into the MiLB (Henceforth known as Cold Brewed Light) every 10 games to see how the prospects are doing. That being said onwards to the first batch of games!

Game 1- Colorado VS. Milwaukee: 5-4 Rockies Win! (13 innings)

Opening Day came and went and then everyone just stayed at the ballpark a little while extra (but who doesn't want opening day to be longer than advertised?) as the Rockies edged the Brew Crew in 13 to win it 5-4. Jordan Lyles took to the mound and pitched 7.1 innings in a great performance. 2 earned runs allowed with 3 K's over that time frame ensured that he showed that the #1 spot in the rotation is in safe hands.

Kyle Lohse for the Brewers put up pretty similar numbers also going 7.1 while striking out 5 and allowing 0 runs to cross the plate. That did not mean though that the Rockies did not pester him constantly. 8 hits and 2 walks resulted in his exit from the game in favor of Jonathan Broxton who struck out the last 2 in the 8th to hand it over to K-Rod in the 9th hoping for a Brew Crew win at home.

K-Rod promptly ran up against the wall of Tulo and Morneau who singled in 2 runs in the 9th to tie the score at 2. The Rockie rally was started by backup catcher Michael McHenry who doubled as a PH batting for LaTroy Hawkins. Going to extra's was a perfect chance to allow new rookie Kyle Parker some chance to show what he's made of. A 3 run homer by the rookie in the top of the 13th frame pushed the Rockies to a 5-2 lead (he would finish the day 2-6 with 3 RBI). Axford had some trouble handling things out of the pen in the bottom of the frame but after allowing 2 runs and putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, Axford buckled down and struck out the next 2 batters on 95 MPH fastballs out of the zone to end Opening Day.

Game Notes: Justin Morneau finished the day 3-5 with an RBI. Eddie Butler was masterfully coming out of the bullpen in long relief throwing 4 innings. He struck out 4, walked 1, and was responsible for 1 of the 2 runs Axford gave up.

Game 2- Colorado VS. Milwaukee: 7-3 Rockies Win!

The second part of the law firm of Lyles and Matzek took the mound in game 2 of this young season. Matzek threw 6.1 innings and struck out 5 but also surrendered 3 runs, 3 walks, and 8 hits. While not giving up any homers a couple of pitches were taken deep to the warning track. Hopefully those were just opening week jitters and not something indicative of an issue with his command.

Thankfully though the Brewers seemed to have no idea what was going on game wise and imploded. Nelson, Thornburg, and Smith combined to give up all 7 runs, 10 hits, and the Brewers dreams of winning over the 7 innings they pitched. Justin Morneau continued to mash hitting a 3 run homer while Blackmon and Hundley added triples of their own

Game Notes: Tulo went 2-4 and drove in a run. Nick Hundley went full "Heavy Hitting Hundley" mode and went 2-3 with a walk and increased his batting average to .438 through these first 2 games. Axford picked up his 2nd save of the year and 2nd in 2 games.

Game 3- Colorado VS. Milwaukee: 5-4 Rockies Win!

The Rockies finished off a 3 game sweep to open the year with a 5-4 win over the Brew Crew in Milwaukee. Colorado was down 4-0 going into the 8th inning but rallied in epic fashion off Matt Garza and the Brewers bullpen in those final 2 frames. Charlie Blackmon and the rookie Kyle Parker (again his name is in lights!) drove in 3 runs in the Top of 8th and Michael McHenry once again was called off the bench to provide offensive support in the 9th inning. With K-Rod already the owner of 1 blown save this year McHenry provided the 2nd after he homered with Nolan Arenado on first. That came 1 pitch after K-Rod threw a fastball up high and tight near his head making the homer not only the go ahead runs but also a perfect revenge hit.

Game Notes: Once more into the breach Eddie Butler, once more he answers the call to arms. Butler came on in the 5th inning and finished the game out in the 9th going 4.1 with 3 K's. He lowered his ERA to 1.08 and wound up with the win. He's now 2-0 through only 2 appearances this year so far

That's a wrap on the first series, will the Rockies go 162-0? Tune in for the next post and find out as we face the Chicago Cubs and the beloved Joe Maddon for the home opener at Coors Field in Colorado. The matches will look like this:

Friday April 10th: David Hale vs. Jason Hammel
Saturday April 11th: Jorge de la Rosa vs. Tsuyoshi Wada
Sunday April 12th: Jordan Lyles (0-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. Jon Lester (0-1, 6.35 ERA)