tulowitzki-troyLast night’s Rockies game was rough, with the team losing 7-3 to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Coors Field. Pitcher Aaron Cook was hurt and didn’t start, so Jhoulys Chacin stepped in to make his first Major League start. It didn’t go so well, with the 21-year-old lasting just two-and-two-thirds innings, throwing 71 pitches with only 31 strikes, notes The Denver Post.

The Rockies uncharacteristically committed three errors, so it was an all-around bad night. But there was some carry-over from the previous night, when the team wrapped up a 3-1 series beat-down of the Chicago Cubs.

Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (pictured) hit his 22nd home run of the year last night, fresh off Monday night’s sizzling performance in which he hit for the cycle (a single, double, triple, and home run) and drove in seven runs. USA Today pointed out yesterday that as Tulo goes, so go the Rockies, a team that has gone up and down in tandem with its young star shortstop.

Another bit of surprising news is that Jeff Francis, the team’s former top pitcher, may be able to throw by the end of the season, according to MLB.com. Center fielder Dexter Fowler is also dealing with an injury, suffering a bruised left knee during Monday night’s game (via The Denver Post). The team put Fowler through a precautionary MRI just to make sure it’s not serious.

Finally, a subject near and dear to any lifelong baseball fan’s heart—baseball cards. Slate has the lowdown on a drama that’s rocking the card industry: Topps may ink a deal to become the MLB’s exclusive trading-card maker, which, card nerds everywhere fear, may drive down their quality.