Rockies Earn Their 11th Shutout of the Season
Among the numerous pitchers who have stepped it up for the Colorado Rockies, Jeff Francis has responded well to the competition provided by the bullpen. Francis is showing that he is more equipped to handle the load than initially believed.
Heading into Tuesday’s game, Francis was eager to prove that he can be the pitcher that the Rockies can rally around and make a case for himself, throwing seven scoreless innings and helping Colorado earn a 10-0 victory over the Marlins at Sun Life Stadium.
The win gave the Rockies their 11th shutout of the season.
Francis provided his club with a lot of production, which included seven strikeouts, 78 strikes in 93 pitches and three hits against.
"I think it's as good as I've thrown," Francis said. "I had a curveball that really hasn't shown up in the last month. The fastball was No. 1.I probably threw more fastballs tonight than I've thrown in a long time."
In the wake of a 9-8 loss to the Marlins, the Rockies, who are very much in the National League West race, got a much needed victory.
"The beauty about tonight is the fact of us bouncing back, after obviously taking a very tough loss last night," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said.
The Rockies revived their offence and have scored 18 runs in splitting the first two games against the Marlins.
This is exactly what the Rockies needed after a tough loss on Monday night. Nothing cures a team’s morale and psyche after a tough loss than a blowout. And that is precisely what the Rockies did, handing the Marlins their largest margin of defeat this season.
The Rockies are 2-3 on an 11-game road trip. Both victories were shutouts. Onetime ace Aaron Cook, previously winless on the road, led a 1-0 victory over the Reds on Sunday. Francis' followed with Tuesday’s victory.
If Colorado can keep getting solid play offensively and keep posting shutouts on the road, they will be very successful.
"Hopefully, this is going to be the way it's going to be the rest of the year," said catcher Chris Iannetta, who also caught Cook's outing Sunday. "But if not, you know what? He's not going to stop working or putting the effort in that he always does."
The Marlins had high hopes coming into Tuesday’s game and had their eyes set on matching their season-high four-game winning streak. But that did not happen due in part to Nate Robertson’s season-high eight runs (seven earned) in five innings.
"Everything starts with your starting pitcher. We've been playing very well. Today, I didn't set a very good tone," Robertson said.
"The weight of the game goes on me. You're always as good as your next day's starting pitcher, basically. You can have all the momentum in the world, but if a guy goes out there and stinks it up a little bit ... we didn't have a chance tonight."
Along with suffering his second consecutive loss, Robertson (6-8) might also be on the hot seat. There have been rumours circulating around the possibility of him losing a spot in the rotation.
After the game, manager Edwin Rodriguez was in a long meeting with team officials to determine what to do with their rotation and if Robertson had a place with the Marlins.
When asked afterward whether Robertson would start on Sunday against Atlanta, Rodriguez said the team is evaluating the situation. It is no secret that the Marlins have been trying to trade the veteran.
This might be his fate if he is pulled from the rotation, or he could end up in the bullpen.
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