Typical night for Rockies' Rosario: homer, defensive miscue
There have been two familiar sights with Colorado Rockies rookie catcher Wilin Rosario -- trotting around the bases after another home run and scampering toward the backstop for a ball he should have caught.
Rosario did both Tuesday night as the Rockies lost 6-3 to the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. Colorado has lost four straight after beginning the current road trip with a win at San Diego. This is the Rockies' longest losing streak since a five-game skid July 27-Aug. 1. They have also lost six of their past seven games and 11 of their past 13.
Rosario hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning off Santiago Casilla, who was brought in to face him. The homer cut the Giants' lead to 4-2.
It was Rosario's 25th homer of the season, tying him with Todd Helton for the franchise record for home runs by a rookie. Helton hit 25 homers in 1998. The major league record for home runs by a rookie catcher is 35 by Mike Piazza in 1993.
The two RBI gave Rosario 66 for the season, the most by a Rockies catcher. He passed Chris Iannetta, who had 65 RBI in 2008.
Rosario also has a big-league-leading 20 passed balls, the most in franchise history for a single season. He has been behind the plate on numerous wild pitches where had he been able to keep the ball closer to him after it hit the ground, a runner would not have been able to advance. And as was the case Tuesday, there have been wild pitches that should have been stopped.
Rosario stabbed to his right in the seventh for a ball Josh Roenicke threw that was not in the dirt. It was one of two wild pitches by Roenicke in the inning. The one Rosario might have caught, had he moved his body toward the ball and not just his glove, allowed a run to score.
"I'm not sitting here saying it will be the last time we see a ball get by him," manager Jim Tracy said after the game, "but we're going to keep working at it. And we have to continue to work and work hard at it and get him to the point where he gets it figured out, because that type of right-handed power, that's not easily found."
Rosario is in his first full season in the majors. He was recalled in September last year from Class AA Tulsa. He has never played at Class AAA. And the most important thing to remember: He is just 23 years old, so there is plenty of time for Rosario to get better behind the plate.
Before the game, Tracy addressed the need for Rosario to improve defensively.
"We're talking about a number of different things," Tracy said. "I really don't want to get into the details, but putting a program in place for him to get started on sooner than later is something that we are gearing ourselves toward. Moving forward, these things have to improve measurably between now and the start of next season. Those type of things matter, as we have seen."
