MLB Game Recaps: Todd Helton walks off Colorado Rockies

Rockies 8, Diamondbacks 7

Although Todd Helton had just one hit, that hit mattered more than any other in this game, as it brought the Colorado Rockies back to .500 (4-4) in a victory over their NL West rivals at home. The Diamondbacks outhit the Rockies 11-10 and Colorado committed three errors to Arizona’s none, but the Rockies had six extra base hits. Helton hit a two-run home run in dramatic fashion off of closer J.J. Putz with two outs with Marco Scutaro on first after walking.

Two new acquisitions hit it off right away, as Tyler Colvin and Ramon Hernandez hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning. The game was delayed for about two hours in the top of the fifth due to rain in the city of Denver, and the whole game was played under clouds in freezing weather. Tyler Chatwood was awarded the win, as he pitched two innings and struck out three while also giving up a run.

Rangers 6, Twins 2

Yu Darvish allowed nine hits and four walks with just four strikeouts to the Minnesota Twins in 5.2 innings of work, but he was only charged with one earned run (gave up two). He wasn’t terrible, but it’s safe to say that his outing left a lot to be desired. Hopefully he’s just trying to get acclimated to the MLB, but don’t be surprised to see analysts picking apart his game even more. Nick Blackburn wasn’t even average either, but he was a little better despite allowing seven hits and two earned in 5.1 innings. However, it was Brian Duensing who was charged with the loss after allowing two earned in the 1.1 innings after Darvish. Josh Hamilton had a monster game going 3-5 with three runs, two doubles, and a home run in the third with two outs; his third of the season.

Orioles 6, Blue jays 4

Although Henderson Alvarez pitched a bit better than the Orioles Jason Hammel, Baltimore won behind a .399 WPA day from Nolan Reimold, who is hitting the ball well these days. He went 2-5 with two RBIs, a double, and a crucial two-run, walk-off blast that traveled 417th feet to defeat the Blue Jays. This was a terrific game, and Francisco Cordero– not much of a surprise- imploded whilst closing for Sergio Santos (out day-to-day). Adam Jones extended his hitting streak to eight games and needs three more to break the franchise record for the longest hitting streak to start the season. Reimold has had two straight games with a double and a homer.

Indians 11, Royals 9

Shin-Soo Choo doubled in the top of the tenth to score Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley to win the game for the Indians, with the double coming off of quality reliever Greg Holland. Jack Hannahan, Many Acta, and Jeanmar Gomez were all ejected after Gomez hit third baseman Mike Moustakas with a pitch; Royals manager Ned Yost was yelling at Hannahan during the altercation. The Indians were able to win an emotional game thanks to Choo, and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera was the high man in the hits column going 3-6 with two runs.

Red Sox 13, Rays 5

Even without Jacoby Ellsbury, the Boston Red Sox are still finding ways to dominate the Tampa Bay Rays. Mike Aviles went 3-5 with two runs and a crucial double, and Cody Ross had two hits and four ribbies while getting the start in center before being taken off by newly called up CF Che-Hsuan Lin. Ross and Aviles both homered and doubled once, with Ross’s shot in the eighth inning traveling 439 feet. Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia also smashed a 439 foot homer in this game. Alfredo Aceves made an appearance out of the bullpen and struck out two in a scoreless inning.

White Sox 5, Tigers 1

Despite pitching well, Adam Wilk was charged with the loss in a 5-1 victory for the Chicago White Sox. In multiple trade rumors during the offseason, Gavin Floyd showed why he is a valued commodity by tossing six scoreless with three hits and three walks allowed, and Floyd also struck out six. Matt Thornton pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth, with a grounder to the mound being the last out of the ballgame. Austin Jackson went 3-4 with a double, and the only run scored by the Tigers was an eighth inning, 409 foot shot from Brennan Boesch.

Mariners 4, Athletics 0

Yesterday, the Oakland A’s defeated Seattle 4-0, but things changed this time. Hector Noesi led the way by tossing eight scoreless and giving up just five hits and a walk while striking out six. Tom Milone gave up four runs, four hits, and two walks in six innings and was charged with the loss, but he had about an average game overall. Cliff Pennington went 2-3 for Oakland, while Jesus Montero went 2-3 with RBIs and a homer and a double for the M’s to lead them to victory and flex his offensive power (.187 WPA).

Angels 7, Yankees 1

The Los Angeles Angels got their revenge on Hiroki Kuroda and the Yankees, as even Vernon Wells got into the act by smashing a home run. Phil Hughes was terrible and allowed eight hits and six runs in just 3.1 innings, with the only good sign being the six strikeouts. C.J. Wilson allowed six hits and a run in six innings to help lead the Halos to a victory. Derek Jeter finished 2-5 and was the only Yankee with multiple hits, and nobody on the home team had an extra base hit. For the Angels, Chris Ianetta and Howie Kendrick also homered, with the star second baseman going 3-5 with 3 RBIs. His homer in the fourth traveled 437 feet and scored Erick Aybar and Ianetta as well.

Giants 4, Pirates 3

Nate Schierholtz was the impact player, as the right fielder hit a triple and a double to help push Barry Zito, who pitched well, and the San Francisco Giants over Charlie Morton and the Pirates. In the fifth inning, Alex Presley scored by taking advantage of two rare, inexcusable defensive mishaps from both Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Crawford, with the latter error (from Crawford) scoring Presley and being the worst. Clint Barmes had the “walk-off error” in the ninth to score Emmanuel Burris and gift the game to the Giants, even though Barmes is a very good defensive shortstop.

Braves 2, Brewers 1

Mike Minor dominated the Milwaukee Brewers by going 7.1 strong and surrendering just two hits, a walk, and an unearned run. Shaun Marcum was also great on this day, as he allowed just three hits and two runs in seven innings of work with six strikeouts. However, he was charged with the loss thanks to a spectacular performance from the young Minor. Craig Kimbrel slammed the door, and only catcher Jonathan Lucroy hit an extra-base hit in the game. Pinch-hitter Norichika Aoki hit an infield single, and Mat Gamel scored the only run of the game after a throwing error from Dan Uggla. And nobody was surprised.

Astros 5, Marlins 4

Well, it happened again with Heath Bell allowing four runs (two earned) and four hits in just 0.2 innings to get handed the loss. He blew the save in the ninth, with the game-winning run coming from an error by Logan Morrison to score pinch-runner Justin Maxwell. Brian Bogusevic had a .300 WPA, and Carlos Lee tied the game with a single to drive in former Braves OF Jordan Schafer; Lee finished with a .526 WPA. Brett Myers kept the Astros safe by striking out two and recording his second save of the year.

Nationals 4, Reds 1

The Nationals are now 3-0 at home and 7-2 overall, thanks to a terrific pitching performance from the undervalued offseason acquisition that was Edwin Jackson. The new Nationals starter worked up a complete game. He did allow a run, but he had a Game Score of 87 and surrendered just two hits and a walk while also striking out nine. A single by Drew Stubbs to score Miguel Cairo in the second was his lone scoring blemish, as Jackson was in command throughout the night. Adam LaRoche finished with two RBIs and Jesus Flores had three hits (3-3) in the victory.

Cardinals 5, Cubs 1

CF Jon Jay hit a home run, Lance Lynn pulled out a win, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs in what was actually an average performance on the mound for Chris Volstad. Average is a gift from Volstad, and most Marlins fans would agree with that. Yadier Molina went 2-4 with two RBIs, and third baseman Daniel Descalso tripled off of Volstad in the 5-1 win.

Mets 5, Phillies 0

The New York Mets scored five runs for the second straight time in the three-game set, and they also shut down the Phillies floundering offense. Yeah, not even Mike Fontenot can fix this offensive problem in Philly (sarcasm alert). David Wright finished 3-5 with two runs and homered to center off of Vance Worley, who surrendered eight hits, four walks, and four runs in six innings. Jonathan Niese is now 2-0, and the solid Mets starter allowed just five hits and a walk in 6.2 scoreless innings for another great outing. No Phillies player had more than one hit or an extra-base hit, and they only had two runners in scoring position with Hunter Pence (0-4, two strikeouts) recording an out in both instances. That’s not exactly what you want from your clean-up hitter and top run producer with Chase Utley and Ryan Howard out.

Dodgers 6, Padres 1

Things are moving along nicely for the San Diego Padres with their team sale and whatnot, but it’d be nice if they could win some games against an NL West rival that had a sale recently. Show Steve Garvey which team he should have spent most of his career for. In any case, this game was all about Ted Lilly and how the veteran pitcher allowed just one unearned run in seven innings of work. He allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out four for a Game Score of 74. Joe Wieland was quite poor for the Padres, as he allowed six earned in five innings and gave up three homers to Matt Kemp (twice) and Andre Ethier. Every single run in this game at Dodger Stadium was scored in either the first or second inning, as the Padres bullpen allowed just two hits in three innings, and the Dodgers pen pitched two no-hit innings with three strikeouts to close out the game (Mike MacDougal had two strikeouts and no hits/walks in his inning).

Be sure to check out all of Call to the Pen’s transaction breakdowns for the 2011-12 offseason. You can follow Call to the Pen on Twitter at @FSCalltothePen or like us here on Facebook.

Follow Joe Soriano on Twitter here.