MEDIA CLIPS – April 11, 2016

Bettis boosted by CarGo, 5 solo home runs

By Owen Perkins and Jack Etkin / Special to MLB.com | April 10th 2016

DENVER -- After a lopsided pair of games to open the series at that saw the Padres outscore the Rockies,

29-9, the two teams reined it in as Colorado took the finale, 6-3, on Sunday afternoon behind the club's first quality start of the season from Chad Bettis.

Colorado returned to the long ball to get the early lead, scoring five of their six runs on five solo shots -- including two from Carlos Gonzalez and another from rookie , his seventh of the season.

"When we're taking our at-bats the right way, it's a tough lineup to get through," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said.

"There's really no breathing room. If we can keep it within striking distance, with our offense, we're going to come from behind to win some games, put some distance between us late."

After the Padres tied the game in the third, the bottom of the Rockies' order played a little small ball to reclaim the lead, with Tony Wolters singling to lead off the fifth with his first big league hit. Wolters scored on 's fielder's choice, giving Colorado a lead it would not relinquish.

"I was just trying to have a good at-bat," Wolters said. "Find a good pitch to swing at. I was trying to get ready later, because I knew an offspeed [pitch] was coming. I was still out in front. It was a changeup. I just tried to keep my bat in the zone as long as I could, and I got a little hit."

The Padres managed only one earned off Bettis after a pair of singles from Melvin Upton Jr. and Christian

Bethancourt to open the second inning were followed by a one-out from Adam Rosales. They recorded an unearned run in the third with inning-opening singles from Jon Jay and , with the runners advancing on

1 Gerardo Parra's fielding error of Spangenberg's single. Jay scored on a sacrifice fly from Wil Myers.

Spangenberg added an RBI double in the eighth inning.

"The biggest part was he pitched [inside] effectively," Upton said of Bettis. "It wasn't just for show. He was able to throw strikes in there consistently today and made us respect it, and he worked his slider off of that."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Back-to-back jacks: After going homerless Saturday night for the first time this season, the Rockies got back on track with back-to-back home runs in the first inning. Gonzalez launched a two-out solo shot into the left-field seats, and Arenado followed with a 462-foot homer -- tied for the longest of the season -- to give the Colorado a 2-0 lead. It was the second set of back-to-back homers for the Rockies, with Story and Gonzalez combining for a pair on in Arizona.

Story and Gonzalez went back-to-back again in the eighth, as the rookie led off the inning with his seventh homer in his first six games of his career -- a 425-foot shot to left -- and Gonzalez bookended it with a 428-foot blast to the second deck in right.

"That's part of our team," Gonzalez said. "We've got thump in our lineup. We have a lot of power. I believe anyone can hit the ball out. A great pinch-hit by [Ryan] Raburn, too. As long as the give us an opportunity to score runs and keep the game close, we're going to have some great success."

Costly single: got 14 ground-ball outs in seven innings. But in addition to allowing three homers, he gave up a single to Bettis in the fifth that helped the Rockies score a run to put them ahead, 3-2. Bettis singled with one out, sending Wolters from first to third before the catcher scored on Blackmon's fielder's choice.

Big bullpen: had a huge hold in the eighth inning, coming in with one out, a man on second and a run already in to cut the Rockies' lead to one. Castro faced Matt Kemp and Myers, inducing groundouts from each to end the inning and the Padres' last threat.

"With the couple of short starts in a row, our bullpen was taxed," Weiss said. "I didn't want to use Castro for too long today. But I knew if we got to that part of the order, he's the guy I wanted to go to against their big right-handed hitters."

Out of reach: Right-hander took over for Shields in the eighth inning and gave up the back-to-back homers to Story and Gonzalez to open the inning. The two blasts increased the Rockies' lead to three and gave Colorado closer Jake McGee breathing room in the ninth.

QUOTABLE

"I think any time you win a series, it's a good thing. Obviously right after the game, you're thinking about what you could 2 have done differently to win a ballgame today. But we feel good about what we did here in Denver. That kind of turned our season around from the very beginning to where we are right now." -- Padres manager Andy Green

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS

Rockies DJ LeMahieu extended his hitting streak to six games, lacing a double down the right-field line.

His 1-for-5 outing lowered his average to .478 and ended a five-game multi-hit streak for him, the longest such streak to start a season in Rockies history. LeMahieu hit .571 (8-for-14) during the stretch.

WHAT'S NEXT

San Diego: The Padres begin a four-game series at Philadelphia on Monday when the Phillies play their home opener. Andrew Cashner will start after giving up five runs in four innings in the Padres' 7-0 loss to the Dodgers on

Wednesday.

Colorado: After a day off Monday, the Rockies host the Giants for the first game in a three-game set Tuesday. Tyler

Chatwood climbs the hill for Colorado, hoping to build on a strong first start. He pitched 6 1/3 innings for the win Tuesday in Arizona, allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits and no walks while striking out three.

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Same ol' Story: Trevor belts 7th blast Rookie launches one of five Rockies homers in victory over Padres

By Owen Perkins / Special to MLB.com | April 10th 2016

DENVER -- Rumor has it he made his bat out of a tree felled by lightning in his boyhood home in . Others say he learned to play in a magical corn field in Iowa. Whatever the truth is, rookie Trevor Story has had a first week that is the stuff of legend, rewriting the record book as he's collected over a half-mile of homers in his first half-dozen games in the big leagues.

Lightning struck in the eighth inning in Sunday afternoon's 6-3 victory over the Padres, when Story drove a Brandon

Maurer offering 425 feet into the left-field seats for his seventh in six games. He holds the record for most home runs through his first six Major League contests, as well as the record for most homers through a team's first six games of the season. But from the confident 23-year-old's perspective, the best may be yet to come.

"I haven't faced a lot of these guys, so it might take a couple times to get familiar with these pitchers," Story said. "You can watch them on video, but I think it's a little different when you actually are in the box facing them. I feel good hitting pitches right now."

Story is the master of the understatement. The raw rookie has handled his unprecedented success well, shaking off a

"bad" day Saturday, when he didn't homer and only collected one hit, extending what is now a six-game hitting streak to kick off his career. He came back to earth and spent a rare day beneath the radar before returning Sunday to the new normal and his 189-homer pace.

"If that's normal, that would be pretty nice," manager Walt Weiss said. "He's on quite a run."

Story has changed the look of the Rockies lineup. Placed in the two-hole as a "table-setter" to get on base in front of big guns such as Carlos Gonzalez and , he now has nearly half the team's homers and over twice the tally of any other Colorado player.

"If he keeps doing that, I'm OK, I don't care," Gonzalez said of Story's penchant for circling the bases and robbing his teammate of RBI opportunities. "I'll take 40 RBIs with 40 homers if we reach our goals. Our goal is to win."

For his part, Story acknowledged that the best place he's ever had a chance to hit is in front of Gonzalez, who earned his second last season. 4

"That's [huge] for me," Story said. "A lot of pitchers don't want to pitch to him, so I think that gives me some pitches to hit.

It's also having that kind of protection. It showed today what he can do."

Gonzalez had two homers Sunday -- and two RBIs. He's been part of all three back-to-back homers the Rockies have hit this season, pairing with Story on Opening Day, Arenado in the first inning Sunday and Story again in the eighth to add a pair of insurance runs to the victory.

"I don't want to make him mad or take his stakes," Story said of Gonzalez. "I guess that's a good problem to have."

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Bettis lifts Rockies with solid outing Righty's seven frames aid taxed bullpen in Colorado's win

By Owen Perkins / Special to MLB.com | April 11th 2016

DENVER -- After being outscored 29-9 in the first two games of the series, there was nothing the Rockies needed more than a quality start. Chad Bettis gave it to them on Sunday, pitching seven innings and allowing only two runs (one earned) on six hits and no walks for a6-3 win.

"That's exactly what we needed after a couple ugly ones," said Rockies manager Walt Weiss.

Bettis was teamed up with rookie catcher Tony Wolters, who made his first big league start. Though he admitted his knees were shaking, Wolters settled in and "took control," according to Bettis, whose comprehensive approach to preparation made an impact on his battery mate.

"Chad is such a talented ," Wolters said. "He has four plus pitches. He prepares himself. He doesn't just prepare the day of. He prepares four days before. He's in the video room all the time. The last two or three days, we've been just preparing for this game. He executed what he wanted to do. That's a great feeling for a pitcher and a catcher."

That kind of preparation can't be overstated -- particularly at Coors Field, where pitchers need every angle they can find.

Bettis' focus on studying the opposition and developing a solid game plan were as important as his cutter in sawing down the Padres on Sunday.

"A couple days ago, I sat down with Tony Wolters and kind of went over the game plan, how we wanted to pitch to these guys, and it came to fruition," Bettis said. "It changed a little bit. They got hot. There were some things I needed to re- evaluate, how I wanted to attack them."

Bettis and Wolters watched a pair of good Rockies starters get hit hard by the Padres over the first two games of the season, and they made the necessary adjustments to turn the tide for the finale.

"They're a very aggressive ballclub," Wolters said. "They have runners. You want to keep guys off the base. You want to speed them up. You want to pitch each count and not get into patterns. We were in and out, in and out. We kept on going back and forth. That was one of our goals -- no patterns today. I think we did a really good job. It looked like they didn't know what was coming."

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Bettis put the brakes on Weiss' need for frequent calls to the bullpen, needing only two innings of relief after a pair of games when the relievers ate most of the innings. He picked up his teammates and showed them he'd protect any lead they could offer.

"Whenever we have a pitcher like Bettis, the way he pitched today, there's no reason why we should lose a game," Carlos

Gonzalez said. "I was kind of disappointed when the game was going, the way he was pitching and we were not scoring runs, you still want to put more on the board. I guess we waited a little bit longer, and the bullpen shut it down, so that was important, too."

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Weiss has tough task managing overused 'pen

By Owen Perkins / Special to MLB.com | April 10th 2016

DENVER -- The Rockies' biggest offseason activity featured a series of moves to bolster their bullpen. Five games into the season, the need for a deep, resilient relief corps could not be more evident.

Colorado relievers have thrown 20 1/3 of the team's 44 innings so far (46.2 percent). In 2015, the bullpen notched 39.9 percent of the club's innings.

On a homestand that started with Jordan Lyles lasting only 3 1/3 innings Friday and Opening Day starter Jorge De La

Rosa tallying just four frames Saturday, the bullpen is already bordering on "beleaguered" status, with seven of their eight- man crew seeing action in the first two games at Coors Field. Christian Bergman, Miguel Castro and Jason Gurkaeach posted two-inning outings over the past two days. Do they have a reliever ready to go long if needed?

"I guess it depends on your definition of 'long,'" manager Walt Weiss said before Sunday's series finale against the

Padres. "We've got some multi-inning guys down there. I don't see any one guy in the 'pen going four or five innings, but we got enough to get through the game, for sure."

Coming into the homestand, general manager cited "the health of the starting rotation" as the team's top unanswered question. The Rockies started the season with projected starter on the 15-day disabled list with an abdominal strain, and they've made use of two off-days in the season's first eight days to employ a four-man rotation of

De La Rosa, Chad Bettis, Tyler Chatwood and Lyles. Only Chatwood made it through six innings during the first five games.

If all goes well, Gray would be available for a road series with the Reds beginning April 18, and although his Saturday rehab start with Advanced Modesto was rained out, he's still on track.

"He got pushed back a day, but things still line up pretty well for Johnny," Weiss said.

Short term, the tentative plan is to use Bergman for a spot start against the Giants on Thursday.

"He's slated for the 14th, but a lot of it depends on if we have to use him in the bullpen," Weiss said. "Then we'd have to change some things around, and there's a Plan B there. We're not talking about bringing in different guys to make a start, but we can juggle some things around with the same people." 8

Weiss looks forward to the opportunity to use the bullpen the way it was designed, with southpaws Gurka, Boone

Logan, Jake McGee, and Chris Rusin balancing righties Bergman, Castro, Justin Miller and Chad Qualls, but situations have dictated otherwise.

"When you get a short start, roles in the bullpen go out the window -- all bets are off," Weiss said. "We're just trying to get through a game. We have the pieces to match up; we just have to get in position to do it. When we have, we've done pretty well."

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Chatwood set to follow great debut after off-day

By Willie Bans / Special to MLB.com | April 10th 2016

The Giants and Rockies square off for the first time in 2016 for a three-game National League West showdown at Coors

Field starting Tuesday night. Coming off an intense four-game set with the rival Dodgers, the Giants will come in a little refreshed from a day off.

The Rockies got a day off as well heading into their third consecutive series against a division club to start the season

(they've faced the D-backs and Padres). Two right-handers square off in their second starts this year: Giants key free- agent pickup Jeff Samardzija and the Rockies' Tyler Chatwood. Samardzija will face a powerful Colorado lineup that includes rookie Trevor Story, who hit his seventh homer of the season on Sunday.

Things to know about this game

• The Rockies edged the season series, 11-8, in 2015. The teams split 10 games at Coors Field, and Colorado was 6-3 at

AT&T Park. San Francisco is 210-166 in the all-time series.

• Chatwood won after allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits and no walks with three in 6 1/3 innings in

Arizona. It was his first appearance since April 29, 2014, after missing most of that season and all of '15 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

• Samardzija allowed three runs on eight hits (one homer) and three walks with six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings in his Giants debut for a no-decision against the Brewers.

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Chad Bettis gives the Rockies just what they need Chad Bettis and five home runs powered the Rockies 6-3 win over the Padres on Sunday

By Eric Garcia McKinley / Purple Row | @garcia_mckinley | April 11th 2016

Chad Bettis gave the Rockies just what they needed on Sunday. In the first two games of the Rockies' first home stand of

2016—a "couple of ugly ones," according to Walt Weiss—the team allowed 29 runs and used seven relief pitchers. While the Rockies have an off day cushion on Monday, they still needed a solid starting performance to give the bullpen some rest, and the team something positive to look upon. Bettis provided seven innings of work, in which he allowed two runs on six hits. He didn't walk a batter and struck out six. Sixty-four of Bettis's 99 pitches went for strikes.

It's early in the season, but that doesn't mean the Rockies aren't investing significance into every game. In his postgame press conference, Weiss stated that it was "important to bounce back" and "turn the page" on the rough way the Rockies began their 2016 season at Coors Field.

Bettis echoed Weiss. He described the game as a "huge bounceback" and a "total team effort." His battery mate, Tony

Wolters, who was making his first career start, had a lot to do with that effort. Bettis credited their pre-game preparation with the efficiency with which he worked. Wolters said that Bettis "made his job easy," but in reality, their combined effort made it all look easy. Wolters also added his first career hit, scored a run, and threw out a would-be base-stealer.

Bettis only struggled in one inning, the third. It was the only inning in which he exceeded 20 pitches, his second highest total was 16, and it was also the only one in which he threw under 60 percent of his pitches for strikes.

Aside from some scuffling from Boone Logan, the bullpen held did it's job to support Bettis. In particular, Miguel

Castro protected a two run lead in the eighth inning. He entered with a runner on second and one out. Notably, Weiss said that Castro "was the guy he wanted to go to against their big right handed hitters," Matt Kemp and Wil Myers. In other words, Castro is already a go-to option, and the Rockies have to like what they've seen so far.

Five solo home runs and a fifth inning run scored on a fielder's choice gave Bettis and the Rockies all of the runs they needed for a victory. Carlos González hit two home runs, Ryan Raburn hit is second of the season, Nolan Arenado hit one

471 feet, and Trevor Story hit his seventh (!!) home run in his sixth game of the season and his career.

In all, this game checked about every box of what a Rockies fan wants from a game. If Dinger unintentionally fell over for all to see, it might have been the perfect game.

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Chad Bettis delivers, Rockies hit 5 home runs in 6-3 victory against Padres. The Rockies got exactly what they needed from starter Chad Bettis, who got a little help from the long ball. Plus, Tony Wolters' first major league start!

By Isaac Marks / Purple Row | April 10th 2016

The righted the ship, defeating the 6-3 behind seven solid innings from Chad

Bettis and five solo home runs; two from CarGo and one from Nolan Arenado, Ryan Raburn and Trevor

Story(SURPRISE!).

Bettis brought an efficiency to the mound, needing only 99 pitches to go seven innings, only allowing six hits and two runs

(one earned) with no walks and six strikeouts. Bettis allowed only one extra base hit - an RBI double to third baseman Adam Rosales in the second - and kept the Padres guessing all game.

After a perfect first inning from Bettis, Gonzalez and Arenado started off the party, going back-to-back off of Padres starter

James Shields. The Padres came right back with the Rosales double in the second and a sacrifice fly from Wil Myers to tie it in the third.

Tony Wolters recorded his first hit in the 5th inning, a single to right field and kicking off a flurry of I-told-you-so messages from Bobby, who is firmly #TeamWolters. Wolters later scored in the inning off of a Charlie Blackmon groundout, making the score 3-2.

In the seventh, Ryan Raburn pinch hit for Bettis and crushed a ball to left, increasing the Rockies lead to 4-2. It was the first pinch hit home run for the Rockies in 2016.

The Padres made it interesting in the top of the eighth after Boone Logan walked a pinch-hitting Jabari Blash, struck out Jon Jay, and gave up a double to Cory Spangenberg, bringing the score to 4-3. Miguel Castro, a huge bright spot in the early days of the season, came in an produced two ground ball outs to effectively end the threat.

The Rockies added to their lead in the bottom of the frame with the team's second set of back-to-back home runs from

Story and Gonzalez. Story set another record as the first player to hit seven home runs in his first six career games. What a start for that guy, huh?

Closer Jake McGee came in and pitched a dominant ninth, avoiding the sweep and finishing a solid all-around game. The

Rockies are off on Monday and will host the in a three game series starting Tuesday night.

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Colorado Rockies prospects Jon Gray, make season debuts down on the farm Minor league notes from the Colorado Rockies affiliates' games on Sunday, April 10, 2016.

By Bobby DeMuro / Purple Row | @BobbyDeMuro | April 11th 2016

Sunday was a big day down on the farm; Colorado Rockies pitching prospects Jon Gray and Peter Lambert were both scheduled for their season debuts at High-A Modesto and Low-A Asheville, respectively. Gray is in Modesto rehabbing an oblique injury, while Lambert was making his full-season debut after spending last summer at rookie level Grand Junction.

The Rockies' -A affiliate were also in action on Sunday, though Sunday would prove a long, long day for them. Double-A Hartford had the day off and completed their media day in Connecticut instead of having a game. Let's get to the updates.

Triple-A: Tacoma Rainiers 13, Albuquerque Isotopes 1

That was a tough one to watch on MiLB.tv. The 'Topes were never really in the game, as Tacoma put up four runs in the first inning and two more in the second off Albuquerque starter Shane Carle. We've seen Carle before—recently, in fact. Here he is on video getting hit around a little bit in a intrasquad scrimmage a couple weeks ago; it happened again on Sunday. Twelve runs (eleven earned) on twelve hits and three walks over four innings netted him the loss. Yohan Flande, Nelson Gonzalez, and combined to toss the final four innings, allowing just one unearned run.

On offense, the Topes were held in check by Adrian Simpson and two relievers; Albuquerque only mustered five hits on the day, and scored their lone run in the seventh inning on a wild pitch. They return to action Monday night in Reno, for the start of a four-game series.

Double-A: Off Day

The Hartford Yard Goats were off on Sunday, thanks to a doubleheader Saturday in Richmond, but they used the off day wisely, spending it back home in Connecticut at their inaugural Media Day. Here is a nice Story from their media day.

High-A: Stockton Ports 4, 2

On an afternoon with a few interesting minor league tilts, this was probably the one most Rockies fans had an eye on while watching the big league club beat San Diego. That's because Jon Gray made a rehab start for Modesto, and by all accounts despite the loss, he threw pretty well. In 4.2 innings, he allowed two runs on four hits and a walk, while striking 13 out three hitters (and getting five more ground balls). Reliever Yoely Bello entered in the fifth and allowed an inherited runner of Gray's—and two more runners of his own—to score, to spoil the line a bit and hand Gray the loss.

Of note, Carlos Polanco—the day's scheduled starter before Gray's rehab appearance—went the last three innings, allowing only a walk while striking out three hitters. Modesto's offense never came around, though, scoring just two runs on five hits, including an RBI double from Collin Ferguson. I wonder what Ferguson's walk-up song will be when the team gets back to Modesto.

Starting tomorrow, Stockton heads to Bakersfield for a three-game series against the Blaze. I'll be in Bakersfield for all three games, so look for some good stories from Sam Lynn Ballpark on the Nuts' prospects.

Low-A: Greenville Drive 7, 4

In his season debut, Peter Lambert allowed two runs on eight hits—but no walks—in 4.2 innings, striking out six hitters on

75 pitches (50 strikes). The Tourists had nothing going early in the game, and reliever Dylan Craig allowed five earned runs in two innings of work later on, putting the game out of reach.

On offense, the Tourists scored two runs apiece in the seventh and eighth innings, including solo home runs by Mylz

Jones and Brendan Rodgers in the eighth. Max George was also 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI. On the other end of the spectrum, Jonathan Piron went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. Get 'em tomorrow.

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MLB Network compares Trevor Story to The praise for Trevor Story has gone from the local to the national media. What a week he's had.

By Matt Gross / Purple Row | April 11th 2016

Trevor Story's start to the season has been nothing short of remarkable, proving once again that just about anything is possible in small sample size baseball.

Story's always had decent power for a middle infielder, but he's never shown anything like this. In 2012, he hit 18 home runs in 122 games at homer friendly Low-A Asheville. That number dropped to 12 long balls in 2013 during a trying year in

High-A Modesto, and only increased slightly to 14 in 108 games across multiple minor league levels in 2014. Last year was his new peak in power; he hit 20 home runs in 130 combined games at Double-A New Britain and Triple-A

Albuquerque, but that still did nothing to foreshadow what was in store for the first week of 2016.

In just six games, he's hit seven home runs. No rookie, at any point in any debut season, has ever done that. Two decades from now, Story could look back on a long and successful major league career, all while never being quite as hot from a home run perspective as he is right now. Baseball is weird.

In recent Rockies history, you have to go right through the biggest names to wear the purple pinstripes to find brief bursts of power displays this impressive. Last year, Nolan Arenado hit eight home runs in a seven game stretch from June 21 through June 27, and Carlos Gonzalez actually tagged seven home runs in a five games stretch from July 22 through July

27 that was largely overshadowed by the Troy Tulowitzki trade that occurred at about the moment the last long ball came down.

This isn't the only positive sign. When Story homered in each of the team's first four games of the season, he joined a list that included only , Mark McGwire, Nelson Cruz and Chris Davis. This isn't to say Story will end up hitting home runs like any of these guys, but it does start to give you an idea of how high Story's floor likely is as a player. Even in small sample sizes, when you have to go to short lists that include players like these (and only players like these), it's usually a smoking gun that you've got something in a player. Only time will tell exactly what that something is once the large sample size gods take over.

At some point, the game of baseball will get its revenge. It always does. Pitchers will adjust, the ball will look smaller,

Story's home run to fly ball rate will plummet, and the game will become if he can cut down his swing and miss rate enough to remain productive at the plate.

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For now though, he's doing amazing things, and the baseball world is noticing. For instance, MLB Network recently ran a segment where they compared Trevor Story to a young Troy Tulowitzki, and it's clear that pieces of Story's swing should look familiar to longtime Rockies fans.

"This is when you're that kid in the backyard saying, 'I'm Troy Tulowitzki!'" said Harold Reynolds. "He's done some kind of job imitating Tulo and carrying it to the big leagues. But whether it was intentional or not, it sure looks like it. Not a bad guy to pattern your swing after."

In this video, you can see what Reynolds is talking about:

"Hats off to [Trevor] Story for setting his eyes so high," said Pedro Martinez. "Because trying to imitate [Troy Tulowitzki] or be like Tulo is a lot to ask. So hats off to his start so far into the season and hats off to trying to be and do everything like

Tulo because Tulo is one special player and if this kid is just as good as Tulo is, oh boy baseball is becoming more exciting."

It's unlikely the Rockies will ever have another shortstop as good as Tulo for as long as any of us are living, especially when you combine what he did at the plate with his defense, but the fact that Story's been able to do anything that reminds us of the former Rockies great is outstanding for both him and the club.

Also, while we're on this subject, I just wanted to point out one other rather thing Story does that reminds me of Tulo.

As both players go through their batting routine leading up to each pitch, they tend to hold the bat out in front of them straight up waist to chest high from the handle to the barrel, almost like the top of it's on fire -- hey, as hot as these guys get at the plate maybe it is. They then stare at it, and make funny faces in the process.

We only have one picture of Story doing this in our Purple Row photo archive so far (I'm sure they'll be more to come), but

I placed it between a couple where Tulo does it below so you can see the similarities though juxtaposition.

It's actually quite amusing.

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Colorado Rockies DJ LeMahieu owes hot start to steady approach DJ LeMahieu continues to go the other way, but he's also hitting the ball harder than usual.

By Eric Garcia McKinley / Purple Row | @garcia_mckinley | April 10th 2016

DJ LeMahieu just keeps hitting. In fact, if it weren't for Trevor Story's historic start to the 2016 season, we might be talking a little bit more about LeMahieu's .526 average and two home runs in his first five games of the season. He's doing it by intensifying an area of his game in which he already excels, but so far this season, his results have unexpected results.

Among all qualified batters in 2015, LeMahieu had the lowest pull rate, according to FanGraphs. Not only that, but his

21.2 percent pull percentage was not even close to second place Jean Segura's 24.8 percent mark, and it was even further away from third place Nick Markakis's 28.7 percent mark. This is how LeMahieu found success at the plate in

2015.

So far this season, LeMahieu is pulling the ball at an absurdly low rate. Just 11.8 percent of his balls have been pulled so far this season. In other words, he's getting more extreme at an aspect of his game that has fueled his success. So far this year, he's been barreling the ball either up the middle, or he's gone the other way.

Asked if these results were the product of a conscious effort, LeMahieu indicated that he hasn't changed anything in particular—"nothing conscious." He also acknowledges that five games is a small sample. Yet, it's hard to ignore the fact, at least so far, the opposition has not been able to neutralize LeMahieu's greatest strength at the plate.

There's more to LeMahieu's hot start, however. Though the sample is small, and the final leaderboards will look drastically different, right now LeMahieu is hitting the ball with extreme authority. MLB Advanced Media's Daren Wilman tweeted that

LeMahieu has the second most balls in play with an exit velocity over 100 mph. He has one more than Carlos González.

Asked what he thinks about being included in such company, he had a simple response: "that's pretty cool." He feels that he is "in a good place" and is "squaring some balls up." The numbers agree.

While there re surprises in LeMahieu's profile so far in 2016, ultimately he's excelling by knowing his strengths at the plate. As the season progresses, both of these data points will normalize. But right now, there's no doubt that LeMahieu has been earning his hits. And he's been doing it in both expected and unexpected ways.

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Rockies' Tony Wolters successful in major-league debut De La Rosa still struggling

By Nick Groke / The Denver Post | @nickgroke | April 10th 2016

Tony Wolters attended Big League U for six days, taking a crash course on the major leagues. The Rockies rookie catcher sat in the dugout, studiously taking notes on a pad of paper, waiting for his turn behind the plate.

His chance came Sunday. Wolters, the 23-year-old former infielder who had never played above Double-A, started his first game. He passed.

"That first pitch, my knees were shaking," Wolters said. A single to right field off San Diego's James Shields in the fifth inning marked Wolters' first hit.

But his threw to second to catch Alexei Ramirez trying to steal in the seventh was the highlight in Wolters' mind.

"I loved it. If I have a chance, no one will steal on me," he said.

Wolters helped Rockies right-hander Chad Bettis work through seven innings in shutting down the Padres, after they collaborated for two days on a gameplan.

Two years ago, Wolters was a minor-league middle infielder, until Cleveland manager Terry Francona convinced him to change. He flashed a shortstop's hands twice in the second inning, tracking back to catch two pop-ups, from Wil Myers and Ramirez.

"He took control," Bettis said. "There weren't many shakes. We clicked well together."

De La Rosa struggling. The Rockies somehow made it through nine innings Saturday in a blowout loss to the Padres — a minor miracle in itself when you're on the wrong side of a 16-3 score — but it left them with plenty of pitching problems going forward.

No. 1 starter Jorge De La Rosa struggled again, throwing just XXX. In two starts this season, De La Rosa allowed 12 runs in just 8 innings.

"He didn't look like himself," manager Walt Weiss said. "The command was very un-typical. His velocity looked a tick down. He went very soft, a lot of changeups."

De La Rosa, who walked XXX, left the clubhouse Saturday night without speaking. Weiss insisted the left-hander was healthy and strong after throwing 97 pitches, even if his velocity was down.

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"It just looked like he was laboring from the get-go," Weiss said. "I guess you can say he got stretched out a little bit, but that's not the formula we're looking for here."

De La Rosa in his career struggles out of the gate. He has a 4.96 in the first half of seasons, but 4.19 in the second half.

"He's a notoriously slow starter, so we'll keep that in mind," Weiss said.

De La Rosa's abbreviated outings left the Rockies with a ragged bullpen. They used four pitchers in relief Saturday, forcing Chris Rusin and Miguel Castro to throw two innings apiece. Castro, though, bounced back for another scoreless inning Sunday.

"The last couple nights, we were just trying to get through the game," Weiss said. "We have the pieces to match up, but you have to get into a position to do it."

Bergman in the rotation. Right-hander Christian Bergman is penciled in to start Thursday for the Rockies against the

Giants, moving from his long-relief role in the bullpen into the rotation. He would be the Rockies' fifth starter — but only if they don't need him in relief before then.

Jon Gray (abdominal strain) pitched 4 innings Sunday in a rehab start for Single-A Modesto, giving up two runs on four hits. If another rehab start goes well, Gray will take back Bergman's place in the rotation.

Footnotes. James Shields had won four consecutive games against the Rockies before losing Sunday. He's now 6-2 with a 4.75 ERA in nine starts at Coors Field... Carlos Gonzalez extended a hitting streak, dating to last season, to 16 games.

Trevor Story has hit safely in all six games this season (seven home runs, two singles).

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Carlos Gonzalez homers twice, Trevor Story hot again as Rockies top Padres The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres on Sunday in front of 27,587 fans.

By Nick Groke / The Denver Post | @nickgroke | April 10th 2016

When the bearded and beleaguered right-hander finally got a batter to ground out the first inning, James Shields yelled, loudly enough to hear in the second deck, one of those phrases your grandma said to never say.

For the first time in the Rockies' season-opening homestand, the other guys were cursing.

Gonzalez pushed a home run the opposite way to left field. And Shields threw up his arms. Nolan Arenado homered in the next at-bat, even farther into the left field bleachers. And Shields dipped his head.

The Rockies, finally stretching out their Coors Field legs, knocked around the Padres pitcher and his relief, pulling away for a 6-3 victory Sunday in front of 27,587 fans.

Colorado hit two pairs of back-to-back home runs, both involving Gonzalez. And rookie Trevor Story's amazing power run continued when he nailed a seventh-inning home run — setting another record with seven homers of his first six games.

"We've got thump in our lineup," Gonzalez said. "We have a lot of power. I believe anyone can hit the ball out. As long as the pitchers give us an opportunity to score runs and keep the game close, we're going to have some great success."

Right-hander Chad Bettis pitched the Rockies' best game of the season, going seven strong innings. And Ryan Raburn pinch-hit a home run as the Rockies scored on five solo shots and a fielder's choice RBI from Charlie Blackmon.

After an embarrassing start to their first homestand — the Padres had outscored them 29-9 in the first two games — the

Rockies rallied behind Bettis (six hits and six strikeouts, no walks) and two scoreless relief appearances by Miguel

Castro and closer Jake McGee.

"That's exactly what we needed after a couple ugly ones," Colorado manager Walt Weiss said. "Good, bad or indifferent, we have to show up the next day. To start our home-opener the way we did, and to play ugly the first two times out in front of our fans, was disappointing. But it's only two of 162. And our guys put an end to it today."

The Rockies held a thin 3-2 lead when Raburn pinch-hit a two-out homer off Shields in the seventh inning. In the eighth, with Shields gone, Story and Gonzalez picked on reliever Brandon Maurer. And their homers broke open the score.

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Bettis, though, set up everything. After a ragged run of pitching to begin the season — the Padres set a record with 30 consecutive scoreless innings before bombing the Rockies — Bettis stopped the skid by giving up just one earned run on

99 pitches.

"It's our home. We have to protect it," Bettis said. He pitched to rookie catcher Tony Wolters, who started his first major- league game and singled in the fifth for his first hit. Wolters also threw out Alexei Ramirez trying to steal second in the seventh.

But after working for two days with Wolters on a gameplan, Bettis said he scrapped part of the blueprint after the Padres got hot. Instead, he worked them quick and keyed off a 93-mph fastball back-ended with a 61-mph curveball.

"I was efficient with all my pitches. Our offense took off. It was a great game," Bettis said.

After Coors Field fans booed the Rockies on Saturday in a season-opening homestand, it seemed like hope already ran thin. But between Bettis' ace-like outing, Gonzalez's pair of homers and Story's continuing run, Colorado came back around.

"This is a team that can hit the long ball, and we can turn things around quick," Gonzalez said. "We should never be worried about that. But whenever we have a pitcher like Bettis, the way he pitched today, there's no reason why we should lose a game."

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Dick Monfort Q&A: Rockies owner says more changes may come to Coors Field, is pleased with pitching depth

By Nick Groke / The Denver Post | @nickgroke | April 10th 2016

Rockies owner Dick Monfort sat in his regular aisle seat behind the home dugout Friday for Colorado’s home-opener. But before the game, during his team’s batting practice, Monfort answered questions about the Rockies new-look lineup, Jose

Reyes’ possible suspension, the Troy Tulowitzki trade and rebuilds, and how he might make more changes to Coors

Field:

Q. What do you think of this year’s Rockies?

A. It’s a little different. I guess you really don’t know until you get further into it. You hope you don’t have too many injuries.

Those always hurt everybody. Unless you’re the Dodgers or maybe the Yankees, if you lose a big player, it really hurts.

The lineup looks strong, there aren’t many weak spots in there. The defense should be incredible. We have a great outfield defense, athletic guys. I think they look good. Pitching-wise, that’s always anybody’s guess. But we have strong- arm guys, guys who are working hard. We have a little bit, especially in the bullpen, some veterans mixed in.

Every year we try to win. That doesn’t always happen. But we’re trying to win, so you spend the offseason trying to figure out ways to do that.

Q. Jeff Bridich believes if he can get quality pitching, and some of the offseason moves were in that direction, the outfield fences were raised. Are you on board with that direction? Were there offseason discussions about that? What was your input?

A. Every year it’s been, ‘We need to get to spring training and we need these five guys to be our five starters. That’s who we’re hanging our hat on.’ And if it’s not, then there’s a big drop. But what he’s done over time, he’s brought in (pitchers who), maybe the drop is significant because of youth, but not because of potential or strength or toughness. His goal since he was hire is, we have to get a lot of arms here. And they’re not all going to work out. Last year we drafted three high school kids in the first 45 guys. You go back to any time in the history of the Colorado Rockies and look at how many times we did that. It would be great if all three work out. But if they don’t, and one is incredible, then that’s what you do.

Get a bunch of arms in here.

Q. Other teams around baseball take the route of tanking, wanting to lose for awhile knowing that the high draft picks will help them. Is that against your organizational philosophy? Or do you feel it doesn’t work?

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A. I don’t know if it works or not. The Cubs or Houston might say it does work. But we’ve always drafted young players.

We have a lot of good young players. And usually when you guys talk about a team tanking, it’s usually because they don’t have kids in their farm system and they have to start stocking up. But we feel every year our farm system is getting stronger. I don’t know if it works or doesn’t work.

I’m against losing a game any time. Every time we try to do something, it’s meant to get better — not just now, but also in the future.

Q. In retrospect, with Troy Tulowitzki gone and seeing some of the young pitchers who came in return, what are your feelings about that trade?

A. It’s still early, isn’t it? One of the kids we got is pitching with us (Miguel Castro) and it’s still early on him. (Jeff) Hoffman, everybody in baseball thinks he’s a talented guy and he’ll be a big-league pitcher. I’ll take everybody’s word for it and say that deal will work out. The fact that Trevor is playing good just helps it. We knew we had these young guys who would eventually play shortstop. You never know, time-wise, when they’ll take that final step.

I miss Tulo. I miss having him. He’s a great talent. He’s a hard-working guy. But in an effort to get a lot of pitching, sometimes you have to make those moves. I love Corey Dickerson. I love the kid we gave up with Corey Dickerson. But we got a couple pieces that we think help us pitching-wise.

Q. Do you hope this season goes in a way where we’re not asking you this question about Carlos Gonzalez?

A. Yeah I hope you don’t have to ask that question. I hope you’ll be asking me, ‘Hey are you going to get such-and-such?’

Q. With the fences up, was there any talk about bringing the fences in?

A. We never talked about bringing the fences in. An interesting concept, that a fan actually gave to me, since we tore up the field for ice hockey, why not move home plate out? That does the same thing and more. Because now you have more foul territory. But I’ll tell you, once these things are built, they get a life of their own. There are sight lines for people in those seats. In left field, the handicap section happens to be in the front row there and we want to take care of them. A fence there would block them.

But we’re going to continue to find ways to make it not so offensive a park. We all know it’s the most offensive park in baseball. Part of that, there’s nothing we can do about it. But if there are things we can do to take some of the offense

23 away from it, that’s what we should try to do. Other teams, Seattle has a very pitcher-friendly park and they’re trying to make it more offensive. San Diego is doing the same thing. It’s prudent for us to at least look at all of that.

Q. For planning and budget, how difficult is it having the uncertainty with the Jose Reyes situation?

A. We’re paying him. So I really don’t know how to answer that other than we’ll deal with it. We knew when we made the trade – the only reason Toronto gave up those three pitchers was because we took an equal salary back from them. We knew that going in. We knew that was what we were going to deal with. Now, because of the incidents that happened, it makes it a little more difficult. But we’re going to work our way through it.

Q. Have you heard anything from the commissioner about a timetable on Reyes?

A. I did talk to him yesterday. I was in New York and I think they’re getting some information. I think the goal was to have the trial, get the information, do their own analysis of it, and then come down tiwht the decision. Since there wasn’t any trial it makes it a little more difficult. They want to get the information. The No. 1 thing they want to do is be fair. They want to be fair to everybody. That means to all our fans, all of us who have a little bit of a problem with whatever happened. But you’ve got to be fair, and they want to do it right.

Q. Will the public relations aspect to the Reyes decision and the fans reaction to it, will that play a part in what you do with him?

A. I’d like to know exactly what exactly happened. It’s easy for us all to speculate on whatever happened. But until we really know, it’s hard. You’re dealilng with a guy’s life, too. But if he did something wrong, he should pay for it.

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Let's break down Trevor Story's unbelievable first week

By David Schoenfield / ESPN.com | April 10th 2016

You want to talk Trevor Story? OK, let's talk Trevor Story. The Colorado Rockies rookie shortstop slammed his seventh home in six games, a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth that gave the Rockies a 5-3 lead on their way to a 6-3 win against the San Diego Padres. There are all kinds of fun trivia related to his exploits and those of his teammates.

A few good ones:

-- Story became the first player to hit seven home runs in his team's first six games. (1997),

(1976) and Willie Mays (1964) had each hit six. Pretty good company.

-- Story has more home runs than 16 teams.

-- Also, the Rockies are the second team to hit 17 home runs in their first six games, joining the 2006 .

How's he doing his damage? Let's review's Story's seven home runs, four of which have traveled 425-plus feet:

1. Off : 0-1 fastball, line drive to right field.

2. Off Zack Grienke: 2-0 slider, fly ball to left-center.

3. Off : 1-0 changeup, fly ball to left-center.

4. Off : 1-0 fastball, line drive to left-center.

5. Off : 0-0 curveball, fly ball to left field.

6. Off Ryan Buchter: 3-2 fastball, fly ball to left field.

7. Off Brandon Maurer: 1-1 slider, fly ball to left-center.

You can see the impressive thing about these home runs: He has hit them against four different pitches. Sunday's home run came against a hanging slider from Maurer that stayed up and over the plate. That's what good sluggers are supposed to do -- make you pay for a mistake.

It's obviously too early to draw any kind of conclusion on Story. He has struck out eight times in 28 plate appearances and that was the knock against him coming up through the minors. Will his swing-and-miss tendencies get exploited at the major league level? While he had 70 extra-base hits in the minors last year, including 20 home runs, he also fanned 141

25 times in 130 games. He has just one walk so far but he hasn't been overly aggressive and swinging at bad pitches. His chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone is 28.6 percent, just a tick above the major league average of 27.3 percent, and better discipline than teammates Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez.

I suspect it's that ability to lay off those breaking balls off the plate that will tell the long-term future of Story. As we can see from the list above, he has the ability to punish mistakes when he's ahead in the count. Of course, that's a general statement you can make about most hitters, but many hitters with bat speed and raw power have found themselves on the bench or in Triple-A, victims of a poor approach.

Considering the Rockies have 18 games remaining in April, it's not inconceivable Story could challenge the record for most home runs hit by the end of April. That mark is 14, shared by Albert Pujols (2006) and (2007). The

Rockies are off on Monday before hosting the Giants for three games and then heading to Wrigley Field on the weekend.

Maybe that's getting ahead of ourselves. The Rockies just hope Story gives them another solid bat alongside leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon and Arenado and Gonzalez. The latter two combined for 82 home runs last year with Arenado hitting 42 and Gonzalez belting 40. While the Rockies led the National League with 737 runs, the hard truth is it wasn't a great offense. Playing in Coors Field, the Rockies need to score more runs than that to have any hopes of competing for a playoff spot. The last time they scored 800 runs was 2009 -- when they just happened to make the postseason. That was an era for slightly higher run scoring, but 800 runs is a goal this offense must have, not merely leading the league in runs.

(The Rockies were 14th in the NL in runs on the road in 2015.)

Then there's the pitching staff, which -- as usual -- remains a work in progress. Chad Bettis, coming off a solid 2015, pitched seven strong innings on Sunday. Tyler Chatwood is healthy again and had a strong first outing against the

Diamondbacks. They have big hopes for Jonathan Gray, currently out with an abdominal strain. In the bullpen, the

Rockies are trying a new plan, acquiring relievers who rely primarily on and should be better bets in Coors. That's why they traded for Jake McGee and signed Jason Motte. Expectations aren't high for the Rockies and while they won on

Sunday they did give up 29 runs the previous two games to a Padres team that had just been shut out its first three games.

And while the Trevor Story saga was the most exciting result of our first week, Rockies fans have seen hot Aprils before:

They went 16-13 in 2014, 16-11 in 2013 and 17-8 in 2011. Heck, they haven't finished under .500 in April since 2010. So maybe that's the moral of Story's first week in the majors: It's a long grind of a season.

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Trevor Story caps first week with MLB-record 7th HR as Rockies win

By Associated Press / ESPN.com | April 10th 2016

DENVER -- Rookie Trevor Story kept reporters milling around his locker for about an hour Sunday while doing what a team spokesman described as his first "monster workout" of the week.

He hit seven home runs in his first six major league games without pumping any real iron.

Story isn't your typical, buffed slugger with the six-pack abs and bulging biceps. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound shortstop generates his tremendous bat speed and powerful punch at the plate with a strong core and terrific technique honed through five minor league seasons.

"He uses his lower half well. That's usually where it comes from," Colorado manager Walt Weiss said. "The guys that hit from the ground up tend to have more power, and that's what he does very well. He really uses his backside. Yeah, that's where he generates. He's a strong kid."

Story capped his amazing first week in the majors by hitting his seventh home run Sunday and helping the Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 6-3.

In doing so, Story set the Major League record for home runs in a team's first six games of a season, ahead of Larry

Walker (6, 1997), Mike Schmidt (6, 1976) and Willie Mays (6, 1964), according to Elias Sports Bureau research.

"It has been fun so far," Story said.

Story's homer was one of five solo shots by the Rockies. Carlos Gonzalez went deep twice, and Nolan Arenado and Ryan

Raburn also connected for Colorado, which salvaged the finale of its three-game series.

Story, whose home run streak ended Friday, after he had become the first player in the majors to homer in the first four games of his career, sent a pitch from Brandon Maurer 425 feet into the left field bleachers in leading off the bottom of the eighth. The shortstop has 12 RBIs through six games.

Chad Bettis (1-0) allowed two runs, one of them earned, on six hits in seven innings. He struck out six and didn't walk a batter.

Bettis retired 13 consecutive batters at one point, a streak that ended with Alexei Ramirez's single in the seventh. Ramirez was thrown out by rookie catcher Tony Wolters, who picked up his first major league hit Sunday, while trying to steal on the next pitch.

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San Diego scored a franchise-record 29 runs over the first two games at Coors Field, after becoming the first team in the majors to get shut out three times to start a season.

Cory Spangenberg's RBI double off Boone Logan in the eighth made it 4-3 before Miguel Castro came in to get the last two outs of the inning. Jake McGee pitched the ninth for his second save in two tries.

Gonzalez, who went back-to-back with Arenado in the first inning off James Shields (0-2), followed Story's homer with a

428-foot shot.

Batting second, before Gonzalez and Arenado, who received Silver Sluggers this weekend, Story is getting good pitches to hit. And "whenever he gets a pitch around the strike zone, he just hits it out of the ballpark," Gonzalez said. "Hopefully he can continue to do that for the entire year, and we're going to see a special season."

Shields gave up four earned runs on six hits -- half of them homers -- with two walks and two strikeouts.

"I made three bad pitches," he said.

San Diego manager Andy Green said the Padres went back to study Story's minor league at-bats to try to find some clues about how to keep him in the ballpark, but he didn't unearth any answers.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Padres: Placed 3B Yangervis Solarte on the 15-day DL with a strained right hamstring and recalled INF/OF Alexi

Amarista from Triple-A El Paso. Solarte left Friday's game in the fourth inning after getting hurt while running down the line on a long single to the gap in left-center. He needed help leaving the field.

Rockies: RHP Jon Gray (abdominal strain) was scheduled to make his first rehab start for Class A Modesto on Sunday, after his start Saturday was scrubbed due to rain.

UP NEXT

Padres: RHP Andrew Cashner (0-1, 11.25) starts for the Padres when they open a four-game series at Philadelphia on

Monday. RHP Aaron Nola (0-0, 1.29) gets the start for the Phillies.

Rockies: After a day off Monday, the Rockies return to action Tuesday, when RHP Tyler Chatwood (1-0, 1.42) takes the mound against the San Francisco Giants and RHP Jeff Samardzija (0-0, 5.06).

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