Jekyll, meet Hyde.

You know me, the eternal optimist. Or was it the eternal pessimist? To be honest I'm a little bit of both. It's tough being me, really. On one hand I love the Rockies so much that even back in April I was checking the D-Bags score and calculating the number of games the Rockies were behind. Every day I wake up thinking that the tide is going to turn and the Rockies are going to start playing like they care (as well as have a pair.) That's a fact, but then there are times, like after today's game for instance, where all I can muster are negative thoughts about how much I hate this team and what they do to me. I know I know Mr. Cubs fan, what do I know about losing? We've only had this team for 15 years. Finish slitting your wrists and listen. It's tough rooting for this team especially with the expectations of looking to build on a magical run to the World Series last year. This season hasn't exactly turned out the way the Rockies envisioned their defense of the National League pennant would go. Today's game had a real glass-half-full/glass-half-empty vibe for me. I'm going to enlighten all of you to a trip inside my overactive mind while sitting in the upper deck at Coors watching this game.

Glass Half Full: Boy, Barry Zito sure pitched one heckuva ballgame today. I know he's struggled the last few years but maybe things are starting to turn around for the poor guy. His stuff couldn't have gone away that quickly. I mean, he did win a Cy Young in 2002. He definitely earned his paycheck today.

Glass Half Empty: Yeah, he sure earned that 7 year/$126 million dollar contract he signed in 2006 by dominating a disinterested team on a hot afternoon. He's only gone a combined 20-29 with a 4.99 ERA the last two seasons while nearly cementing his status as the worst free agent signing of ALL TIME. He basically has a 1:1 K/BB ratio (98/89) and opponents were hitting a gaudy .273 off him this season. And he holds us to.....4 hits in 8 innings. But hey at least he lowered that ERA to 5.45 and improved that sterling record to 9-16. No, no, he definitely earned this one.

GHF: It sure was great to see some of the Giants young guys come through. Especially guys who don't really have much of a future left in Major League Baseball. Guys who had toiled in the minors for 15 years finally getting their chance and running with it.

GHE: Yeah, it's real nice when guys who have been career Minor Leaguers are called up to play a meaningless game for a talentless team and completely obliterate a 16 game winner on a team still kind of in a division race. AA superstars like Travis Ishikawa, Nate Schierholtz, and Scott McClain, yes the Scott McClain managed to go a gaudy 9-14 with 6 rbis, 7 runs scored, and a home run from McClain to boot, and yes, that WAS his first Major League home run. If he's not standing next to me bagging groceries once the season's over, I'm going to be utterly SHOCKED. He's a 36 year old making his season debut, getting only his 46th career at bat in the Major Leagues after being in the system for over a decade. Oh, and he was their cleanup hitter. And did I mention that our ace, Aaron Cook was on the mound? No? Well ok then. AARON COOK WAS ON THE MOUND IN A MUST WIN GAME AGAINST A SHITTY TEAM THAT SUBMITTED A LINEUP THAT SCREAMED "WE DON'T CARE IF WE WIN THIS GAME OR NOT."

GHF: Golly gee, it's a shucky dang darn that the Diamondbacks came back to win today. Now I guess we've just got that much more of a hill to climb when the Astros come to town on Friday.

GHE: Yeah, thanks a lot Cardinals bullpen for blowing two fairly sizable leads in your three game series with the D-Bags and letting them suppress any kind of nauseating feelings of deja vu from last season as the Rockies lurked in the shadows. Now we're 6 games back again and oh yeah, we're facing the Astros in a 3 game set starting Friday. The Astros are only the hottest team in baseball, winners of 8 straight and fresh off a sweep of the Cubs at Wrigley. Awesome.

GHF: Jason Hirsh made his season debut today! And pitched a scoreless 1-2-3 inning!

GHE: Yeah, he was supposed to be pitching many scoreless innings for us this year....as our number 4 starter....in the Major Leagues...not toiling in Colorado Springs the entire season and putting up numbers only a mother could love (4-4, 5.80 ERA, 52 BB/51 K in 99.1 innings with a .293 batting average against...yikes.) He made Franklin Morales look like Franklin D. Azar (THE STRONG ARM!) You really have to wonder if he's even considered for next year's big club at all.

GHF: We at least won the series by taking 2 of 3 from the Giants.

GHE: We're past the point of being able to be content with just winning series. We need sweeps and lots of them. Today would have been a perfect time to keep up our momentum as we headed towards the final days of the season but we just fell flat on our faces.

GHF: The boys sure looked tired playing in a day game after a night game.

GHE: Yeah, it sure looked like they quit to me once the Giants went up 9-2. They were hacking at first pitches from a guy who walks 4 men per 9 innings and taking half swings at flat 87 mph fastballs. They looked about as interested in winning this ballgame as two nuns at a cockfight.

GHF: Well, Dexter Fowler got his first Major League at bat and after working the count, lined out sharply to right field!

GHE: .....Actually, I got nothing on this one. He did have a really great at bat. The first of many hopefully. I'm almost hoping the Rockies just fall out of it so he'll get the majority of at bats in centerfield the rest of the season because there's only so much of Willy Taveras popping the ball up to right field that I can take. (Every time he hits the ball in the air he should owe Lou Brown 20 push ups a la Major League.)

GHF: We're only 6 back!

GHE: Yeah, we're only 6 back. Whoop de doo. More efforts like this and you can forget about it. To paraphrase one of our pal Drew Goodman's home run calls, our postseason hopes are "goin' and they ain't comin back."