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 Coors Field 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. Manager Walt Weiss made his lineup card with a planned day off for rookie shortstop Trevor Story -- his second in three days. He also wanted to give right fielder 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-run 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 Jorge De La Rosa and Jon Gray 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. Tyler Chatwood, Thursday's scheduled starter, will pitch Friday, followed by lefty Chris Rusin and righty Chad Bettis. The club has not named its starter for Monday's opener at San Diego, but it could potentially be righty Eddie Butler, who was called up from Triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday and was used for 41 pitches in relief. 1 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 Dugout 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. 2 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 Josh Harrison in an attempt to break up a double 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 double play. 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 home run, while Nolan Arenado and Mark Reynolds each were a triple shy. 3 It was the second time in club history they've had three players fall one hit shy of the feat. On July 10, 1998, Ellis Burks, 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. 4 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 Chase Field to face the D- backs and lefty Robbie Ray 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 strikeouts and five walks in 17 2/3 innings over three career meetings. • Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon 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 National League record with nine. The White Sox's Jose Abreu hit 10 in 2014. 5 Rockies have lost their grip at Coors Field - and not because of rain Rain, sleet and snow postponed Rockies-Pirates in Colorado. 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 Pittsburgh Pirates' 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 pitchers were blasted for 45 runs. Their starting rotation compiled a 9.72 ERA. After the Los Angeles Dodgers 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. 6 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.