Colorado Rockies Pitching Worked Despite the Losses

Do not pay attention to the win-loss totals for the Colorado Rockies this week. Their pitching staff triumphed even if the team did not.

David Ross of the Atlanta Braves doubled off of Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood in the third inning of Monday's game at Turner Field. The double drove in a pair of runs.

Then the Rockies pitching staff went to work. They would not let up an earned run for the next 30 innings. Not for the rest of the Monday game nor the entire game on Tuesday, Wednesday nor today.

It was a perfect mixing and matching of pitchers. Four relievers combined for five shutout innings on Monday. Four pitchers combined on a shutout on Tuesday.

No starting pitcher went more than four innings. But when the series was over, Josh Roenicke, Edgmer Escalona, Guillermo Moscoso, Will Harris, Drew Pomeranz, Carlos Torres, Rex Brothers, Matt Belisle, Alex White, Adam Ottavino, Matt Reynolds and Jhoulys Chacin all pitched in the series and put a big fat zero in their earned run column.

The Rockies plan to use pitchers in limited roles worked out perfectly. Or almost perfectly.

The Rockies bats went dead in Turner Field and they were shut out in yesterday and today's game. An error by Josh Rutledge gave the Braves a 1-0 win from the unearned run on Wednesday. And today Chacin made an error, being the only blemish in yet another 1-0 Atlanta victory.

Colorado is finally figuring out how to use their pitching staff. Now they need to do more fielding drills and they might have a contender in 2013.