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Home , Chris Rusin, Colorado Rockies, Jon Gray, Jordy Mercer, Long reliever, Trevor Story

MEDIA CLIPS – April 29, 2016

Bucs-Rox finale postponed; no makeup set

By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | April 28th 2016

DENVER -- The Pirates-Rockies game scheduled for Thursday at was postponed well before game time because of inclement weather.

As the announcement came shortly after 11:30 a.m. MT, the scoreboard showed a temperature of 37 degrees.

Intermittent light snow had fallen. Scheduled game time was 1:10 p.m. No makeup announcement was immediately made.

The postponement comes at a good time for the Rockies. made his lineup card with a planned day off for rookie -- his second in three days. He also wanted to give Carlos Gonzalez, who has started every game, off Friday at Arizona.

The Rockies have lost five straight, including six of the last seven. They went 1-5 on the just-completed homestand, during which their starters compiled a 9.72 ERA. They overcame a six- deficit Sunday against the Dodgers and came back from seven runs down Wednesday against the Pirates, yet lost both contests.

Additionally, the bullpen was fatigued because starters and went three innings and 3 2/3 frames, respectively, on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Rockies announced that they were pushing their rotation back for the three-game series at Arizona. , Thursday's scheduled starter, will pitch Friday, followed by lefty Chris

Rusin and righty . The club has not named its starter for Monday's at San Diego, but it could potentially be righty , who was called up from -A Albuquerque on Wednesday and was used for 41 pitches in relief.

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Before the decision was announced, Weiss said during his pregame media session, "I'm not going to kick and scream if we don't play."

The Rockies issued a press release saying they will make an additional announcement when a makeup date is determined.

Also, according to the release:

• Tickets from April 28, 2016, will be valid for the makeup game or be exchanged, value for value, for any game this season as long as the exchange is made prior to the rescheduled game. Complimentary tickets have a value of $0 and cannot be exchanged.

• Discounted tickets may be exchanged only for the amount paid to the Rockies and are subject to any constraints applicable to the original sale.

• There will be no cash refunds. Ticket exchanges will be accepted at the Coors Field Ticket Office and all Rockies

Stores.

• Tickets purchased through StubHub for April 28, 2016, are valid for the rescheduled game. StubHub customers who cannot attend the rescheduled game should contact StubHub customer service. StubHub tickets are not valid for exchanges at Coors Field or Rockies Dugout Stores.

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Weiss unhappy with inconsistency of slide rule

By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | April 28th 2016

DENVER -- An interpretation of the new rule regarding slides into second base -- one that cost his team a run in an eventual 9-8, 12-inning loss to the Pirates -- left Rockies manager Walt Weiss believing "they should just get rid of it."

In question is a slide by Pirates baserunner in an attempt to break up a play, with DJ LeMahieu the pivot man. Harrison stubbed his foot before sliding and slid over the bag with his foot above the ground. LeMahieu escaped contact, but he was unable to attempt a .

Under rule 6:01(j), if the runner does not make a "bona fide slide" and makes contact or attempts to make contact with a fielder, he can be called for interference. On a double play attempt, the umpires can rule both the runner and the batter- runner out.

Under the explanation from MLB replay officials, it was ruled that Harrison did not make a bona fide slide because he couldn't stay in contact with the bag. However, interference was not called because it was determined Harrison did not hinder and impede LeMahieu.

There was no contact, and LeMahieu never made a throw. The Pirates scored a run on the play.

Weiss believes that interpretation was inconsistent with other plays.

"If that wasn't an illegal slide, just get rid of the rule," Weiss said. "There's no sense in having it. Everything that we saw in

Spring Training, all the examples we looked at, it was [a] blatant violation of the rule. I don't know how you look at it, in slow motion, several times, then declare that was not an illegal slide.

"I read the explanation, and the explanation makes no sense. If it's going to be multiple interpretations of the rule, just get rid of it."

Worth noting

• Despite the loss, the Rockies were so productive offensively that they had three players fall one hit short of a cycle --

Ryan Raburn lacked a , while and each were a triple shy.

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It was the second time in club history they've had three players fall one hit shy of the feat. On July 10, 1998, ,

Vinny Castilla and Neifi Perez each were a hit shy. On 29 other instances, the club had two players fall a hit short. Just three times did such a game occur on the road.

Coors Field is the place for a cycle. The Rockies have been involved in 14 of them -- seven by their players, seven by opponents.

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Chatwood aims for deja vu in rematch with D-backs

By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | April 28th 2016

This time, Rockies right-hander Tyler Chatwood can harbor sweet memories as he returns to to face the D- backs and lefty at 6:40 p.m. MT Friday.

On April 29, 2014, Chatwood sustained an elbow injury that cost him the rest of that season and all of 2015 because of

Tommy John surgery. In Chatwood's first start of 2016, he went 6 1/3 innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on seven hits as the Rockies beat the D-backs, 4-3, to take the season-opening series.

Ray was off to a 1.90 ERA through his first three starts before running into a blip Sunday, when he allowed eight hits and five runs over three innings of a wild, 12-10, 13-inning loss to the Pirates.

Three things to know for this game:

• Ray has given the Rockies extreme difficulty -- 1-0, 2.04 ERA with 16 and five walks in 17 2/3 innings over three career meetings.

• Rockies is eligible to return to the active roster Friday, after missing time with turf toe in his left foot.

• Rockies shortstop Trevor Story heads into the series with a shot to break the Major League record for April home runs by a rookie. Story owns the record with nine. The White Sox's Jose Abreu hit 10 in 2014.

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Rockies have lost their grip at Coors Field - and not because of rain Rain, sleet and snow postponed Rockies-Pirates in . It was a reprieve.

By Nick Groke / The Denver Post | @nickgroke | April 28th 2016

Clint Hurdle held court behind his desk in the visiting team's clubhouse at Coors Field this week. That office is a cramped little closet with concrete walls — but it's not a prison.

"It's a piece of cake to come back here for four games," Hurdle said.

In his sixth season as the ' manager, Hurdle has the luxury of flying in and out of Denver before all the home runs land. His days of trying to crack the Coors Field code as Rockies manager are long gone.

"To manage a 10-game homestand here at times, I mean, it's like an obstacle course," said Hurdle, who compiled a 534-

625 record as Colorado's manager from 2002-09.

Rockies Mailbag: Pose a question for Patrick Saunders

Walt Weiss doesn't have that frill. He can only hope for snow.

The Rockies finally found a reprieve. Rain, sleet and snow Thursday caused the scheduled afternoon game in LoDo, the finale of a four-game series with the Pirates, to be postponed. No makeup date has been set.

In the first six games of the homestand, Rockies were blasted for 45 runs. Their starting rotation compiled a 9.72

ERA.

After the won a second of three games Sunday — a 12-10 winding marathon with 10 combined runs over the final nine outs — manager Dave Roberts said he almost always collapses from exhaustion after a series at

Coors Field.

"Emotionally you're just spent," Roberts told reporters.

But he was allowed to leave. The Rockies are stuck playing home games at 5,280 feet above sea level all season. They are 4-8 in LoDo so far.

In the Rockies' second homestand, their starting pitchers gave up 27 earned runs and 38 hits over just 25 innings. Only twice did the starters reach the fifth inning. And the final two starters —Jorge De La Rosa and Jon Gray (the rookie unlucky enough to start two games this week) — lasted a total of just 6 innings.

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That led Weiss, who braved 38-degree chill in shorts and sneakers in his dugout Thursday morning, to look out at tarp- covered Coors Field and say what Rockies fans may have been thinking.

"I'm not going to kick and scream if we don't play," he said.

Wednesday night, behind the ninth home run from Trevor Story and the ninth from Nolan Arenado — tying them for the major-league lead — the Rockies scrambled back from a 7-0 deficit. It was the first time they erased a deficit that big since 2010.

But with two outs in the 12th inning, Pittsburgh shortstop Jordy Mercer lined a double off reliever Carlos Estevez to score

Gregory Polanco for the winning run. Polanco got on base with a walk.

In the bottom of the 12th, DJ LeMahieu and walked. But Pirates Mark Melancon struck out Story on an argued inside cut .

"I disagreed with the call, but (the ) called strike three and the game was over," said Story, whose ninth home run broke Albert Pujols' National League rookie record for April.

The Pirates won 9-8. They have won eight in a row in LoDo since July 2014.

"We have lost some tough ones, but sometimes that's the price you pay for fighting back in games," Weiss said. "You sometimes get your heart broken."

Colorado pitchers carry a collective 5.93 ERA — ranking last — heading into Friday night's game at Arizona. It's the beginning of a 10-game trip that also goes through San Diego and San Francisco.

Just 12 games into their home schedule, the Rockies are picking up the Coors Field dominos — short starting pitching leads to long relief pitching, which leads to a taxed pitching staff all around.

"I've seen it all over the place," Hurdle said, counting off the high-altitude checklist. "Offense never thinks they're out of it.

You have to make sure you have some kind of pitching to get through it. You can't always take a starter out when you think it makes sense, because you have to count the innings for the rest of the homestand."

Baseball officials were working to determine a makeup date for Thursday's game.

Right-hander Tyler Chatwood, who was scheduled to pitch Thursday, will instead start the Rockies' game Friday night against the Diamondbacks.

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Lefty will start Saturday, Chad Bettis on Sunday. The Rockies will wait to announce their starter for Monday's game.

Eddie Butler, who was called up Wednesday for De La Rosa (groin injury), pitched in emergency relief of Gray. He is likely to join the Rockies' rotation.

When Weiss was asked Thursday morning about the health of his relief corps, he smiled.

"Bullpen is great," he said.

It was a coy grin.

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Rockies pitching depth has evaporated. And now they're plugging holes.

By Nick Groke and Patrick Saunders / The Denver Post | @nickgroke / @psaundersdp | April 28th 2016

In less than a month, all that pitching depth the Rockies built into their roster has evaporated into a shallow puddle of tears. Colorado on Wednesday lost presumptive No. 1 starter Jorge De La Rosa to the 15-day disabled list with a groin injury, and his replacement remains murky.

It's the latest in a string of rotation reshufflings.

"We have to sort some things out in the next few days as the picture gets a little clearer," manager Walt Weiss said.

The Rockies called up right-hander Eddie Butler to replace De La Rosa, but Butler will begin in the bullpen, in case a long reliever is needed.

Christian Bergman, the go-to long arm, is not available because he was called on too often in recent days. He replaced

De La Rosa on Tuesday after the left-hander threw just three innings.

Jordan Lyles, who lasted just two innings Sunday, was demoted to Triple-A on Monday and replaced in the rotation by

Colorado's other long reliever, Chris Rusin, who will start Friday.

The Rockies also called up last week, then designated him for assignment. He's now with the Baltimore

Orioles system.

The most pressing pitching issue is regarding De La Rosa. He was removed Tuesday after hobbling toward first base after an at-bat. He had pitched poorly, giving up two home runs to Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen in the first two innings.

De La Rosa, the Rockies' opening-day starter, is 1-3 with a 10.18 ERA. He has pitched past the fifth inning only once.

When asked if his groin was responsible for poor performances this season, De La Rosa said, "No, it's me."

But a groin strain may not be his only problem. The velocity on De La Rosa's pitches, across the board, is down as much as 3 mph.

The lefty said his arm felt "lazy," and he hasn't been able to finish pitches. But De La Rosa said he's not suffering from so- called dead arm.

"The is the only one who knows that, because they can only feel it," Weiss said. "There's nothing to see in any kind of test." 9

Weiss said he doesn't consider De La Rosa's injury to be a long-term problem, adding he expected the lefty to be ready to go after his 15-day stint on the DL.

Butler, 25, returns to the Rockies after posting a 4.09 ERA in four starts at Triple-A Albuquerque this season. He has pitched well in his last three starts, going six innings in each game, with a 3.00 ERA, 10 strikeouts and three walks.

"My first game, my balls were up in the zone," Butler said. "But since then, I have been pitching smarter, staying down in the zone and getting ahead of batters. Those are the things you need to do to have success."

Butler made his major-league debut June 6, 2014, at age 23. But over the past two seasons, he has bounced between the major leagues and Triple-A. He is a combined 4-11 with a 6.04 ERA in 19 starts with the Rockies.

If the Rockies can hold on until Sunday without using Butler in long relief, then he will start at Arizona against Shelby

Miller.

"We'll see how it plays out," Butler said.

Injury updates. Right-handed pitcher (shoulder inflammation) threw 25 pitches off flat ground Wednesday as part of his rehabilitation. "I was a little afraid about the injury at first," he said, "but now that I have been throwing, and it's been feeling better, I feel good."

He is eligible to come off the disabled list Monday.

Center fielder Charlie Blackmon (turf toe) on Wednesday played the second game of a rehab assignment at Single-A

Modesto. Weiss said he's likely to join the Rockies in Arizona on Friday.

Right-handed reliever (shoulder strain) threw a bullpen session Tuesday at Salt River Fields in Arizona.

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Mercer's double in 12th lifts Pirates over Rockies 9-8

By Associated Press / ESPN.com | April 28th 2016

DENVER -- One less game in April for Trevor Story. One less opportunity to match -- maybe even break -- a rookie homer record for the month.

The game between Colorado and Pittsburgh on Thursday was postponed because of rain and snow. And while Story wasn't in the starting lineup, the Rockies shortstop could've entered as a and he certainly does have the flair for the dramatic these days.

Story has nine homers this season, one shy of the rookie mark set by slugger Jose Abreu in 2014.

Not that he's given this mark any sort of thought.

"Just worried about winning," said Story, who is hitting .241.

Story became the first major leaguer to homer in each of his first four games. He also is the first player to hit seven homers over his first six games.

"I don't think about it at all," said Story, who looked at a called third strike that ended Wednesday's 12-inning loss to

Pittsburgh. "I feel good about the at-bats I've taken. Just trying to compete as best as I can."

There were no complaints from Colorado manager Walt Weiss with the postponement. His overtaxed bullpen can use the rest.

The starters haven't exactly been stellar the last two days for the Rockies, lasting a combined 6 2/3 innings. Given the

Rockies played 12 innings Wednesday, their relievers have thrown 14 1/3 innings over the past two games. That's a lot of tired arms.

This break also couldn't come at a better time given that the Rockies have lost eight straight home games against the

Pirates.

"I'm not going to kick and scream if we don't play, quite frankly," said Weiss as his team finished a 1-5 homestand.

A makeup date was not announced. This kind of weather descending on the city doesn't surprise Pirates manager Clint

Hurdle. 11

"It's always interesting," said Hurdle, who spent eight years managing the Rockies. "I left a pair of shoes in hotel room, as my wife pointed out to me. Can use it as snow shoes."

There wasn't that much snow -- just some random flurries. This is simply spring time in the Rockies.

Pittsburgh headed home after a 6-3 trip and opens a homestand Friday against Cincinnati, which has lost four straight.

FOURTH ?

In this day and age of shifts, right fielder Carlos Gonzalez really wouldn't want to see the Rockies employ a fourth outfielder at expansive Coors Field even against notorious fly-ball hitters.

"It's just not the right way to play. I mean, who are you going to play in the outfield?" Gonzalez said.

How about moving, say, Story from shortstop into left-center and shifting Nolan Arenado closer to second.

"I'm not surprised if they start doing that. That's how the game has changed," Gonzalez said. "If I see four , that won't surprise me."

It wouldn't surprise Hurdle, either.

"Anything is possible, especially the amount of area to cover in this ballpark," Hurdle said.

WEATHER REPORT

The temperature at the time of the postponement was 37 degrees, which would have made this one of the coldest home games in team history. The record is 23 degrees on April 23, 2013, in a doubleheader opener against Atlanta.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Pirates: OF Starling Marte was scheduled to get the day off Thursday. "In our rest program, Marte is the one guy who hasn't had a day off this week," Hurdle explained.

Rockies: OF Charlie Blackmon (turf toe) went 1 for 4 in a rehab assignment for Class-A Modesto on Wednesday. He's eligible to return from the DL on Friday.

UP NEXT

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Pirates: So much for pitching against his former team. RHP (2-2) won't face Colorado due to the postponement and will instead take the mound Friday against the Reds.

Rockies: RHP Tyler Chatwood (2-2) throws Friday in Arizona as the Rockies begin a 10-day trip.

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Jon Gray has had a really unlucky start to his career

By Ryan Freemyer / Row | @RFreemyer | April 29th 2016

Have you ever had one of those days when nothing seems to go your way? You know, the kind where you sleep through your alarm, spill coffee on your shirt (that is also inside-out) as you rush out the door, get pulled over for speeding on your way to work, then get stuck in the elevator with the guy who hasn't showered in three days? We've all been there.

Colorado Rockies' pitcher Jon Gray has been there, too, but instead of spilling his coffee, he allows check swing ground ball singles through the infield. It's been a rough start to the 24-year-old right hander's career. Through his first 11 starts

(49⅓ innings), Gray has gone 0-2 with a 6.57 ERA. He's allowing a lot of hits and a lot of runs. It hasn't been pretty so far, but it hasn't been as bad as it looks on the surface. This is something Eric Garcia McKinley examined last year, but given the new season, it's time to talk about it again.

Instead of just looking at things like record and ERA on their own, we should consider some of the underlying numbers to see how those surface numbers have been formed. average on balls in play (BABIP) against Gray is one way of doing this. It's a very easy-to-understand metric; it's the opponents total batting average with strikeouts and home runs removed.

So far in 2016, league average BABIP is .295. In 2015, it was .296. What is Gray's, you ask? It's .408. That puts him more than 110 points higher than league average! The last to throw at least 45 innings in a single season and have a higher BABIP against was Willis Hudlin in 1936. It's been 80 years since we saw the kind of batted ball luck we're seeing Gray have.

Before we move on, we need to mention that Coors Field – Gray’s home ballpark – inflates BABIP more than anywhere else in baseball. In 2013-15, the Rockies’ staff as a whole had a BABIP that averaged 19 points higher at Coors Field than on the road, so we can assume a similar inflation of roughly 20 points on Gray’s home BABIP. However, Gray’s .452

BABIP at Coors Field is a whopping 130 points higher than the cumulative team average of .322, and 140 points higher than his road BABIP of .313, so there must be something else at play here.

Something else to note about BABIP is that, while it has an element of luck, there is a skill factor involved as well. We can intuit that a pitcher who allows fewer hard hit balls will have a lower BABIP and vice versa. Looking at the numbers leads us to the same conclusion. Since 2013, the 11 pitchers who have induced the least soft contact all have a BABIP against higher than league average (though none of them are close to Gray). Conversely, 10 of the 13 pitchers who have induced

14 the most soft contact have a BABIP lower than league average. Can Gray’s batted ball profile help to explain what appears to be bad luck?

If we turn to expected BABIP (xBABIP), we can use the actual batted ball data against Gray to estimate what Gray’s

BABIP should have been so far in his career. This isn’t perfect, but it might help to give us a better idea of how Gray’s luck has gone. Ryan Schoppe did the gory math on this one and came out with a .339 xBABIP for Gray so far in his career.

Even if you include the Coors Field BABIP inflation, we still have a significant amount of bad luck here. In fact, to get his xBABIP to match his actual BABIP (assuming everything else was equal), Gray would need to be allowing more than twice as many hard hit balls as he is now – from his current 36.1 percent all the way up to an insane 74.5 percent.

Pretty much any way we frame this, it’s clear that Gray has had quite a bit of bad luck on batted balls. However, there are other things we can look at here. What does Gray’s ERA look like when compared to some ERA predictors that attempt to remove luck and defense from the equation? The table below shows Gray’s ERA, FIP, xFIP, and SIERA. We’ll also park- adjust with ERA-, FIP-, and xFIP- (SIERA- isn’t available) to get a better sense of how he compares to average. As a reminder, 100 is league average and lower numbers are better. The latter three have all proven to be better predictors of

ERA going forward than past ERA, so let’s check out what we have:

ERA/ERA- FIP/FIP- xFIP/xFIP- SIERA

6.57/139 3.76/89 3.62/93 3.73

One of these things is not like the others. FIP, xFIP, and SIERA are all pretty much in agreement with each other, while actual ERA is way out on its own, nearly three full runs higher than all of the ERA predictors. Raw ERA thinks Gray has been 39 percent worse than league average. FIP and xFIP think he has been 11 and seven percent better than league average, respectively. That’s a difference of nearly 50 percent!

Batted ball luck and ERA predictors both seem to think Jon Gray has gotten really unlucky so far, but no statistic is perfect. Maybe there’s something else about Gray’s profile that is causing him to appear to be really unlucky, when in reality he just isn’t good. To find this out, we’ll examine pitchers with similar peripheral numbers and compare their results to Gray’s results.

The invaluable Baseball-Reference Play Index is the tool of choice for this kind of work, but first we need to set some parameters. I want to find pitchers with similar and walk rates and a similar FIP to Gray. If their actual results

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were good, this is another point in favor of bad luck. If their results were bad, then maybe something we haven’t thought of

yet is the issue here.

In Gray’s 49 1/3 Major League innings, he has struck out 9.49 per nine innings (SO/9), has walked 3.1 (BB/9), has a 3.06

strikeout to walk ratio (SO/BB) and a 3.76 FIP. To find similar pitchers from the last 20 seasons (1996-2015), I set

parameters as follows:

1. Starting pitchers only (anyone with a relief appearance was excluded)

2. Minimum of 45

3. SO/9 of 8.5 or higher

4. BB/9 of 3.5 or lower

5. SO/BB of 2.75 or higher

6. FIP of 4.00 or lower

The search yielded 181 matching seasons. Of those 181 seasons, 169 produced an ERA better than league average and

another 10 produced an ERA no more than 10 percent worse than league average. The absolute worst ERA+ (just like

ERA-, but reversed so that higher is now better) of anyone in this group was 85 by Ricky Nolasco in 2009 and Drew

Hutchison in 2014. So, our low water mark among pitchers similar to Gray is an ERA about 15 percent worse than league

average. Gray’s ERA+ is 73, 27 percent worse than league average. That’s 12 percent worse than the next worst pitcher,

and the evidence of his unbelievable bad luck continues to mount.

Maybe none of this means anything to you or you don’t think the numbers are reliable enough to draw a conclusion from.

Sometimes, the best way to determine whether something is real is the good old eye test. So let’s take a look at this on a

more micro level. Take the third inning on Wednesday night as an example. The Pirates scored three runs on four hits in

the inning.

John Jaso led off the inning with a bloop single into center field on an 0-2 pitch. Andrew McCutchen was next. After a

lengthy at-bat, Gray fooled him with a 3-2 . Normally that’s a good thing, but this is the type of thing that has been

happening with Jon Gray on the mound:

The cheapest hit of the season had the Pirates in business with runners on the corners and nobody out for David Freese.

Another long at-bat (that should have been a three-pitch strikeout) ended with a ground ball single between third base and

16 shortstop. I wouldn’t say it was hit hard, but I also wouldn’t say it was hit softly. Had it been hit a few feet in either direction, the Rockies likely get at least one out and potentially turn a double play.

The next three hitters were a Starling Marte fielder’s choice, a walk to Francisco Cervelli, and a off the bat of

Gregory Polanco. The plays in the field were routine and there were no questionable calls on the walk, so no real luck to speak of either way. Gray was one out away from getting out of the inning when he threw Josh Harrison an 0-1 slider right where wanted it:

It was a good pitch, and Harrison did well to even get a bat to it, but it wasn’t hit hard and it fell right in front of Ryan

Raburn to drive in the third run of the inning. Raburn has spent a lot of time as a DH over the past few years and the reason why was apparent on this particular play, as he wasn't able to get to a ball that is most likely caught by a better defensive player. Jordy Mercer popped out to end the inning.

A lot of credit has to be given to the Pirates in this inning for taking some good at-bats and putting the ball in play, but

Gray allowed three runs in an inning that had no hard hit balls. It was a microcosm of his career so far and contributed to what certainly wasn't the kind of start he had hoped for. He isn't letting it get to him, though.

"I'm not going to change my opinion about how I'm throwing and I think I'm throwing the ball real well," Gray told Purple

Row's Jordan Freemyer on Thursday. "It's just about staying positive and getting through the hard times."

At some point, Jon Gray’s luck is going to change. Until it does, remember that the on-field results have not been indicative of the type of pitcher he is.

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Rockies' series finale vs. Pirates postponed

By Bryan Kilpatrick / Purple Row | @purplerowBK | April 28th 2016

The and Pittsburgh Pirates won't be playing any baseball on Thursday due to inclement weather at 20th and Blake. No make-up date has been announced.

The Rockies, who were trying to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Bucs, had Tyler Chatwood scheduled to start. He'll instead pitch on Friday in Arizona, where he had a dominant outing against the Diamondbacks in the third game of the season. Chris Rusin, initially scheduled to start the series opener at Chase Field, will start Saturday and

Chad Bettis on Sunday, the team announced. Everything after that is to be determined at a later date.

The Pirates were set to counter with former Colorado hurler Juan Nicasio.

Though it's never fun to not have weekday afternoon baseball, the news is welcome to the Rockies and manager Walt

Weiss, whose bullpen is shot after a string of poor starts and a 12-inning game.

"I'm not gonna kick and scream if we don't play," Weiss told reporters in the home dugout before the game.

At least one thing went right for the Rockies this week.

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Rockies' Trevor Story robbed of opportunity for big hit by atrocious strike 3 call

By Bryan Kilpatrick / Purple Row | @purplerowBK | April 28th 2016

It's tough being a Colorado Rockies fan right now.

The team has lost seven of its last eight games, is already mired in injury hell and even somehow lost two separate games in which it stormed back from six- and seven-run deficits.

Rockies hurlers can't seem to execute that one key pitch they need to get out of the inning. And, even when they do make the pitch, more often than not it has resulted in a broken-bat flare or 300-bounce grounder that somehow winds up in the outfield. When Colorado is at the plate, scorched line drives always seem to end up in a glove, and would-be home runs keep getting taken away by the newly raised right-center field fence.

As if all of that isn't enough to make you sick to your stomach, the Rockies also keep getting jobbed by the umpires.

It happened in Cincinnati, when umpires failed to see that before Dustin Garneauappeared to score the tying run in a key spot, he tripped over third base rather than completely missing it, as was ruled. It happened in Game 1 of the Rockies' series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, when Walt Weiss and were thrown out of the game for arguing horrible strike calls.

And it happened again on Wednesday night, when with runners on second and third in a one-run game with two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning, Trevor Story was saddled with a called third strike by Ramon DeJesus that made the calls linked above look flawless.

The call looks bad in live, regular speed. It looks even worse slowed down -- and it looks downright horrendous when looking at it in strike zone plot form:

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Via Brooks Baseball

Story, who set a National League rookie record by hitting his ninth April home run earlier in the game, had a good chance to tie the game or even give the Rockies an important win. Instead, he was left walking back to the dugout with a familiar feeling. The 23-year-old shortstop has struck out in 37 percent of his major league plate appearances; he doesn't need any help in that department. DeJesus gave it to him anyway.

One argument I saw is that DeJesus "called that pitch a strike all night." A simple look at the graphic above proves that's really not the case. Another defense was that Story "was too aggressive," putting the umpire in a position to favor the pitcher. And in fairness to Pirates closer Mark Melancon, that pitch was right on target.

It seems the best way to eliminate all of the gray area would be to, you know, make calls based on the actual strike zone.

Or does that take away from the "human element?"

Baseball has done well to examine its rules and determine which ones need to be implemented differently or changed altogether. Balls and strikes -- and specifically, how they're called -- should be high up on that list. For as much as this sport cares about "integrity of the game," it seems logical that changes are made to a system that allows for games to be decided by people other than the players.

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Rockies’ Jon Gray has been “unlucky” thus far

By Aniello Piro / Mile High Sports | April 28th 2016

Colorado Rockies pitcher Jon Gray was pulled after 3.2 innings of work in Wednesday’s extra inning loss to the Pittsburgh

Pirates, allowing six runs on nine hits and one walk.

Gray didn’t have a horrible outing; he just got poked around an aggressive yet patient Pirates lineup.

Through his 3.2 innings of work Gray racked up 96 pitches due to the fact that the Pirates fought in every situation that was presented.

“A ton of pitches,” said Manager Walt Weiss. “He was throwing the ball good, but was in a lot of deep counts, working behind hitters. It makes it tough.”

The mood after the game was a gloomy one, as tension and emotion filled the clubhouse.

The game was four hours and 58 minutes long and ended in bitter fashion with a questionable strike three call on Trevor

Story. However, the Rockies woes all started with the performance of Jon Gray.

“I’m just feeling unlucky at this point.” said Gray following the game. Gray has the right to feel unlucky, as his entire career has been somewhat of a question mark.

“I really don’t know what the issue is, I guess. I just feel real unlucky,” said Gray. “I don’t know, man. I feel like I attacked everything I was supposed to tonight … The results didn’t matchup.”

Baseball is a game of twists and turns and Gray has done everything in his power to be successfully, but the success just hasn’t come yet; however, Gray remains hopeful that things will get turned around.

“That’s what I’m hoping for because I feel great.” Gray said in reference to karma surrounding the game. “I feel like everything is there.”

Gray has expectations the Rockies need him to live up to in order for him to help anchor their rotation, and while things have not gone as planned thus far, there are still plenty of opportunities to get things straightened out.

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Colorado Rockies: Foes Have Upper Hand With Two Outs

By Kevin Henry / Rox Pile | @Rox_Coverage | April 28th 2016

If you’ve watched much of the Colorado Rockies this season, you know that the team has had a tough time closing out innings. Taking a look at the statistics, however, it’s amazing just how tough of a time it has been.

The Rockies currently trail all of the with a 5.93 ERA, certainly part of the reason why Colorado has dropped five straight and seven of their last eight games. The Rockies received a break of sorts on Thursday afternoon when the final game of their four-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates was called off because of foul weather in downtown Denver. The “off day” comes at a good time for the Rockies as they were scheduled to play 20 straight games between April 22 and May 11.

But let’s break that 5.93 ERA down a little bit as the inning goes along. With no outs in the inning, the Colorado Rockies rank seventh in all of MLB with a 2.06 ERA. That’s pretty darn good. However, that’s also where things start to go downhill pretty quickly.

With one out in the inning, Colorado’s ERA jumps to 6.90, which ranks 29th out of MLB’s 30 teams. That’s bad … but it gets worse.

With two outs in the inning, the Rockies pitching staff has posted an unfathomable 9.10 ERA, easily the worst in baseball.

The are ranked 29thwith a 7.76 ERA, meaning Colorado is more than a run worse in two-out situations than its nearest competitor.

Also with two outs in the inning, Colorado opponents are batting a league high .307 and have hit 13 homers. Only the

Yankees (15) have surrendered more two-out homers than the Rockies.

The inability to close out innings bit the Rockies once again on Wednesday night as a two-out double by Jordy Mercer in the 12th inning provided the winning run for the Pirates in a 9-8 decision. Overall, Colorado has surrendered 64 of its league-high 133 runs allowed with two outs in the frame.

If Colorado’s pitching is to improve any time soon, focusing on finishing the inning should be high on the list of things to do immediately.

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