Will the Colorado Rockies and the Philadelphia Phillies be able to turn in another game that features outstanding pitching? On Wednesday night, Jorge De La Rosa and Cole Hamels each turned in outstanding eight-inning performances, but Hamels came out on top with the 2-1 victory. A wild pitch and a sacrifice fly led to Jorge De La Rosa giving up that second run (though Chris Iannetta deserves some fault for not blocking the wild pitch).
On Thursday night, the Rockies will have Jhoulys Chacin on the mound. He has received no decisions in his last two starts. Had the rain not picked up in the seventh inning and had Jim Tracy gone to the bullpen earlier, Chacin may have finished with a victory. Instead, he pitched to four batters in the seventh inning and left after he made two errors on one play, allowing two runs to score. The Rockies eventually lost the game, 9-7, when ex-Rockie Brad Hawpe hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth.
Joe Blanton gets lost among the Phillies starters with Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee ahead of him. He's not much of strikeout pitcher (6.3 K/9) and gets ground balls at a 56.3 percent rate. Though he has a 5.50 ERA, a 3.92 FIP and a 3.41 xFIP demonstrate that he isn't bombing out there. After allowing 12 runs in his first two starts, he's allowed nine in his last four starts.
First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. MT. Tune into ROOT for the game.
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