The Colorado Rockies ruined the Pittsburgh Pirates' Opening Day at PNC Park with a 7-1 victory on Thursday and now look to capture game two of the four-game series. Jorge De La Rosa takes the mound for the Rockies after leaving his first start early. In last Saturday's game with the Arizona Diamondbacks, De La Rosa threw 5 1/3 innings before he was forced to leave the game with a blister on his middle finger. The medical staff took care of the problem and now De La Rosa is ready to continue where he left off on Saturday.
Before the blister forced an early exit, De La Rosa had struck out five batters and walked only one. He was at 86 pitches, but threw 54 of them for strikes. It was a good message for a team and a fan base that had seen Ubaldo Jimenez pitch with a cuticle injury on Opening Day--until the early exit, of course.
Can Troy Tulowitzki continue his hot hitting? He has a home run in three straight games after having gone 0-for-8 in his first eight at-bats. Many are still expecting the first big blast from Carlos Gonzalez soon.
Maybe it will come off of Pittsburgh's starter in the game, Ross Ohlendorf. He took a no-decision in his first start of the season, allowing four runs in six innings. He allowed a home run on a solo shot by Alfonso Soriano while the other runs scored on a two-run double and a sac fly. His career home run rate in 1.2 every nine innings and he averages only 6.2 strikeouts per nine innings, so most everything happens on ball hit in play.
De La Rosa will need to handle center fielder Andrew McCutchen, left fielder Jose Tabata and second baseman Neil Walker to win this game for the Rockies. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. MT.