Rockies done in by no-name trio, lose 4-2

Rockies lose third straight game to unproven starter

Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 2, 2007 at midnight

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Todd Wellemeyer was a washout in Kansas City's bullpen who was picked up by the St. Louis Cardinals on a waiver claim May 15 and never had started a big-league game until Wednesday night at Coors Field.

Brad Thompson was a 16th-round draft choice of the Cardinals five years ago, the 492nd player selected in that draft, and never has won more than nine games in a professional season at any level.

Then there is Bobby Livingston, whom Cincinnati claimed off waivers from Seattle in December and hadn't won a game at Triple-A this year but got the call Friday night to fill a void in the Reds' rotation against the Rockies.

A rather nondescript trio that took a feeling of promise for the Rockies three days ago and turned it into a search for answers. A 4-2 loss to Livingston and the Reds at Coors Field on Friday left the Rockies with a three-game losing streak on the heels of the franchise's first seven-game winning streak in nearly nine years.

Things are so bad that Matt Holliday, the top run producer, was so frustrated after he popped up on the first pitch with one out and runners on first and third in the third inning that he injured himself. When he tried to bang himself on the head with his helmet, he instead slashed his head by hitting it with the bill. While the Rockies downplayed the seriousness of Holliday's injury, it was severe enough that he came out of the game.

The Rockies weren't mauling teams offensively during the winning streak. But they got big hits that rewarded quality pitching and provided some hope that the team could meet expectations and be a factor in the National League West.

Then along came Wellemeyer, Thompson and Livingston, the strong arms of the unknown who have combined to allow six runs, five earned, in 19 innings the past three nights in Coors Field of all places.

While Ken Griffey Jr., with the bases empty in the first, and Alex Gonzalez, with a runner on in the fourth, homered off Rockies starter Taylor Buchholz on Friday, Colorado couldn't even get an extra-base hit off Livingston and three relievers.

"It's why you play the game," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said when asked about the mastery by the mystery pitchers. "They have been able to stay out of trouble, but we have not been able to get the big hits."

The opportunities have been there, but an offense that was believed to be the most balanced in franchise history has continued to stumble through the opening two months of the season. The Rockies are 4-for-30 with runners in scoring position the past three games. They were only 1-for-11 on Friday when, among other things, they failed to cash in after the first two batters reached base in the third.

"What they were able to do in the winning streak is get big hits," Hurdle said of the difference from a week ago. "We had opportunities (the past three games) but haven't gotten them. We have to keep working at it. Nothing builds confidence more than getting a few big hits."

But the Rockies have had more than a few big hits of late. That seven-game winning streak was the product of solid overall play, not any offensive explosion. The Rockies won four of the games by two runs or fewer. And they got team efforts offensively, particularly during the first sweep in San Francisco in franchise history. In consecutive games against the Giants, the Rockies had seven, six and six players produce runs.

The past three nights?

"We're not where we should be," first baseman Todd Helton said. "We're putting too much pressure on ourselves. It tends to be one big hit and you start over again."

There were no big hits Friday. The Rockies got their first run, in the seventh, when Gonzalez booted Helton's bases-loaded groundball with two out. They got the second run, in the eighth, when Griffey backed off Willy Taveras' flyball, allowing it to fall in for a two-out, run-scoring single.

And Taveras' fluke single was the only hit they managed in 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position. The Rockies did, after all, strand 12 baserunners, seven in scoring position.

ringolsbyt@RockyMountainNews.com

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