Date: 6/17/10

Opponent: Colorado Rockies

Home/Away: Home

Starting Pitcher: Liriano

Final Score: L 5-1

Record: 38-28

Recap: Offensive incompetence and one wild and crazy 1st inning added up to a loss today. We actually did better versus Jimenez than I expected. We had a number of baserunners, at least 1 an inning, but we could never get anything started. Our only run in fact came after a pinch-hit double for Thome and then a single by Butera of all people. The offense was hampered by grounding into 3 double plays and lining into another. Span also got picked off 2nd base at one point. And Jimenez just shut us down beyond that, with lots of ground balls. 

Liriano, on the other hand, pitched really well for 6 innings. Unfortunately that all came after his out-of-control 1st inning. It started innocuously enough with a strikeout. But then came single, triple, hit by pitch, single, single (with a runner out at 3rd on an outfield assist by Skinny Delmon), hit by pitch, walk, and then mercifully a strikeout to bring the inning to an end. Mercifully only 3 runs scored, and it was a quality start for Liriano, but it was still too much for the offense to recover from. Burnett had a rough outing in the 8th to make the game a little more lopsided. He also hit someone with a pitch, breaking Tulowitzki's wrist (I'm betting the Rockies are pretty pissed at us), and he gave up 2 hits including a home run. At least we managed our series win. Detroit won today and are now within a game and a half of us. I'm pretty much pissed that they got to play Pittsburgh and the Nats (especially since they neatly avoided facing Strasburg). That's bullshit, MLB, bullshit I say! And now they get the Diamondbacks while we face the Phillies. 

Best Moment: Not getting shut out.

Most Questionable Moment: Bert's continued insistence on calling Tulowitzki "Tulowinski". 

Worst Moment: The 1st inning.

Quotations of the Day:

• "He's good. Obviously, he's in the upper echelon, but nothing we haven't seen before." - Cuddyer on Jimenez. I'm kind of impressed he used the word "echelon".
• "I was a little too excited. Trying to overthrow I think. It was hot out there too. I was missing my spots a little bit, and that's what happens when you miss your spot, you get hurt too." - Francisco Liriano

Suck-Ass Performance of the Game: Alex Burnett (1.0 innings pitched, 2 hits, 1 hit by pitch, 1 home run, 2 earned runs).