This was another one of those games that had me yelling at the TV multiple times throughout. Jim Tracy has done an excellent job of coaching since he took over for Clint Hurdle, but tonight he was definitely off of his game and outdone by Braves coach Bobby Cox. For those of you that have been following my writing this will seem redundant, Carlos Gonzalez needs to be traded or sent back down to AAA, and Seth Smith or Ryan Spilborghs should replace him in left field. There was a prime example of why in the bottom of the 7th inning when the Rockies (46-40) had 2 men on base and Cargo came up to the plate to bat. At this point Jim Tracy could have sat Cargo and let Seth Smith pinch hit (Smith was batting next), instead he let Cargo bat. The result; Cargo chasing bad pitches out of the zone and striking out, inning over, no runs, men left on base. In the very next inning Seth smith comes up and promptly smacks a double into center field, almost as if on cue he looks to Jim Tracy in the dugout. Cargo finished the night 0-3 at the plate and his batting average dipped to an appalling .205. Need I say more, really?

On to the details of the game I guess. Ubaldo Jimenez (6-9) was shaky at first giving up 2 runs in the first inning, but he settled down nicely, enduring 6 quality innings, striking out 8 Braves and walking only 1. Derek Lowe (8-7) returned to quality form lasting 6 innings as well, giving up 1 earned run, walking 1, and striking out 5. Rafael Soriano recorded his 11th save, the Braves are now 42-44. The lone run the Rockies scored was on Todd Helton’s homerun, it was his 10th on the season.

The game was delayed for 52 minutes by severe thunderstorms in the Denver area, cutting both pitchers performances short. Alan Embree came in after the delay and was struck on his lower right leg by a zipping comebacker. Embree immediately went to the ground in pain and was taken off the field in a cart. The report following the game is that he fractured his leg and will have to have screws put in surgically. The broken leg will effectively end Embree’s season and possibly his career. This is a huge blow to the Rockies bullpen. The Rockies will have to bring someone up from AAA or even AA due to the limited options. The only other choice is to trade for another pitcher. I have to admit, this gets me excited. There are a lot of great pitchers out there so breakout (no pun intended) the checkbook Monfort brothers; you owe it to your fans, so I am told. The Red Bull should be aplenty in the clubhouse as the Rockies front office tries to figure out this mess before the All-Star break ends next week. Jim Tracy did say in an interview after the game that Jorge De La Rosa will pitch out of the bullpen for the next 3 games before the break, it will be very interesting to see how he handles the change of scenery.

http://isportsweb.com/2009/07/11/roc...he-braves-4-1/