HOUSTON — Shawn Chacon has worn Yankees pinstripes, Pirates gold and now the brick-red uniform of the Astros. But part of him still bleeds purple, especially when the Rockies advanced to the World Series.
“I was so excited and happy for them,” the pride of Greeley said Saturday. “At the same time, being a hometown guy, I wanted to be a part of it, because I had been part of it before. You kind of feel like, ‘Man, I should be with them, I should be with that team.’ ”
Chacon makes his first start against the Rockies today. Chacon has pitched well for Houston this season, even though his first three starts failed to produce a victory. He shut out the Phillies for eight innings on Tuesday, limiting them to four singles, but Houston lost the game when closer Jose Valverde blew the game in the ninth.
“The big key has been throwing my sinker,” said Chacon, whose April ERA is a nifty 2.25. “That’s been No. 1, being able to get strikes with it and throw it when I’m behind in the count.”
Chacon is excited to pitch against the team of his youth.
“A lot of my family and friends all have the baseball package, so they try to watch me anytime I pitch,” he said. “But this will be a little bit more special because the whole state of Colorado will be able to watch it.”
The Rockies drafted him out of Greeley Central High in 1996. He pitched for the Rockies, as a starter and reliever, from 2001 into the middle of the 2005 season, when he was traded to the Yankees. A free agent after last season, he considered returning to Colorado. But the Rockies wanted to use him out of the bullpen and he wanted to start.
Balk talk.
Starter Franklin Morales was called for his second balk of the season Friday. According to manager Clint Hurdle, it’s not a matter of Morales losing his poise with men on base. Rather, it’s a mechanical issue Hurdle wants cleaned up.
“He didn’t step toward first base,” Hurdle said. “We’ve worked on it constantly and will continue to work on it until he can master it. He’s got a good enough move, but for some reason he thinks he has to so-called cheat over there. He just hasn’t been able to replicate the move.”
Footnotes.
Add catcher to Clint Barmes’ job description. Hurdle said Barmes would be the emergency catcher if Yorvit Torrealba and Chris Iannetta go down in the same game. “Just don’t go telling him. I don’t think he knows yet,” Hurdle said. Barmes would have been the pitcher of last resort in the Rockies’ 22-inning victory over San Diego. . . . Garrett Atkins has started each game this season, the only Rockie to do so. . . . Rockies relievers entered Saturday with a combined ERA of 2.95, best in the National League.
Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
