In the Rockpile: Bullpen follies and the Phillies sweep

It was another blown save for Rockies reliever Huston Street (left) after giving up the game-tying two-run home run to Philadelphia's John Mayberry Jr. on Aug. 1 at Coors Field. (Aaron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)

It should come as no surprise that the Colorado Rockies were swept this week by the dominant Philadelphia Phillies in a three-game set.

Jason Hammel and, more importantly, the bullpen can be cited as the main reasons the Rockies didn’t win at least one and maybe have had a chance to win the series.

Between Huston Street and Rex Brothers, the Rox could have come out with one more win, yet lost three more games, and at home no less. Street blew a save, and Brothers took losses in two consecutive outings. Street now is leading in a closer category: Most home runs allowed (10).

Brothers has given up six runs in his past two outings from the bullpen and has been relieved of his role as a set-up man by manager Jim Tracy. His ERA ballooned from 2.18 to 4.37. The Phillies’ Ryan Howard said on hitting a two-run HR off of Brothers that he hadn’t seen a pitcher throw so many fastballs in quite some time.

Translation: It was easy to hit off Brothers because he kept coming with the same pitch.

Way to go Meat.

Their blown outings wasted a great one from Jhoulys Chacin, the current “ace” of the Rockies after the loss of Jorge de la Rosa and the trade of Ubaldo Jimenez. The loss cost Chacin what would have been his first win since June 15.

Once again, the series drew quite the crowd and there was more than a minority in attendance to see the team from Philadelphia, which is not unusual when the Phillies come to Coors Field. Their presence made known, just as usual, by their ability to drown out Rockies fans.

Trade update:

Esmil Rogers has been penned into Jimenez’s spot in the starting rotation. Rogers is looking to solidify a spot as a major-league pitcher.

Pitcher Alex White from Cleveland could be up in the bigs in a couple of weeks, depending on how he pitches the next week plus in the farm system. He has been rehabbing a torn tendon pulley in his right middle finger for more than 11 weeks.

“Player-to-be-named-later” Drew Pomeranz is on his way to the Indians’ spring training facility in Arizona to pitch bullpen sessions for the Rockies’ brass and could be made available for September; just in time for the Rockies to close out their monumental disappointment of a season.

Follow me on Twitter @CoryWhitmer

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