Boos rain on Rockies' Hernandez

By Jack Etkin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 10, 2008 at 4:30 p.m.

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After a Rockies debut that was short, painful and easily qualified as the worst-case scenario, Livan Hernandez offered no excuses Sunday, only an apology.

He lasted a mere 2 2/3 innings in the Rockies' 16-7 loss to the San Diego Padres. They strafed him for seven hits and nine runs, equaling the most he has allowed in 374 career starts, and sent him trudging to the dugout to a chorus of boos after retiring just eight of 19 batters.

"I try my best," Hernandez said. "It's not happen the way I want. It's difficult. I got to move forward and help the team win. I know I no do good today. I'm sorry. I try my best."

Hernandez took the mound after being off for 10 days, following his final outing July 30 with the Minnesota Twins. They waived him, and the Rockies, in search of an experienced hand at the back end of their rotation, claimed Hernandez and agreed to assume the remaining $1.6 million on his contract this season.

Hernandez, who issued just 29 walks in 139 2/3 innings while going 10-8 with a 5.48 ERA for the Twins, matched his season high with four walks, which he attributed to his layoff. Three came in the second inning, and those three batters scored when Hernandez gave up a two-run homer to Kevin Kouzmanoff and a three-run shot to Jody Gerut.

That blast finished Hernandez after 70 pitches and left him to ponder an outing that equaled his shortest of the season.

"It's difficult sometimes," he said. "There's no excuse. I never put an excuse in my career. But it's difficult. I no pitch for like 12 days, I think. I try to throw a strike and leave a lot of pitches on the top of the plate and I got hit very good."

The Rockies fell into an 11-0 chasm in the third when Brian Giles, who had four hits and four RBI, hit a two-run homer off Jason Grilli, the first of six relievers who followed Hernandez to the mound.

A seven-run fourth, which included Cory Sullivan's two-run triple and Brad Hawpe's three-run homer, swept the Rockies back into the game, but only briefly. Luke Carlin, who rejoined the Padres on Saturday and entered the game with two RBI in 80 at-bats, hit a three-run homer off Matt Herges in the sixth.

Getting thrashed by the Padres in the rubber game of their three-game series left the Rockies 2-5 on the current homestand, a head-over-heels stumble against Washington and the Padres, the two worst teams in the National League.

The homestand continues Tuesday, when the 53-67 Rockies begin a three-game series with Arizona, whom they trail by eight games in the National League West with 42 games remaining.

"We're playing a team that we're trying to catch, and we're not doing a very good job of gaining ground," Troy Tulowitzki said. "So it's pretty close to we have to sweep them."

To do that will require better starting pitching and improved clutch hitting. The Rockies are 12-for-58 (.207) with runners in scoring position on this homestand. And while enduring what manager Clint Hurdle called "one of the most difficult weeks we've had here in a long time," Aaron Cook has lost two games and Ubaldo Jimenez, Jeff Francis and Hernandez one each. Glendon Rusch is the only starter with a win on the homestand.

Indeed, these five starters have allowed 33 earned runs in 30 1/3 innings, a 9.79 ERA bloated by Hernandez's struggle. He threw 35 pitches when the Padres batted around in the first, giving up four straight hits to start the game, and didn't get an out until he threw his 18th pitch.

"The command wasn't sharp," Hurdle said. "We know he shaves edges. He wasn't able to throw quality strikes on either edge. Balls were up and hit hard."

Hernandez will next pitch Saturday at Washington, facing one of his former teams. He'll be in the dugout for the three games against the Diamondbacks, another of his former clubs, a series that could be pivotal for the Rockies and has win-or-else overtones.

"A three-game series is an opportunity for us to get things right," Hurdle said. "And if it gets away from us, then we'll know where we are at the end of those three games. It could be sobering, and it could give us something to hold onto and move forward."

For more than four months, the Rockies have been clinging to their September sprint last year as proof they could again dig down and summon the magic from last season.

"Hopefully, there's still some, but we haven't done a good job of bringing it back, I'll tell you that," Tulowitzki said. "Hopefully, we can turn it around, but we're losing time, quick."

• August 10, 2008

  4:56 p.m.

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  RDenver writes:

  Turned off the game when it got to be 11-0! The Rockies management should be shamed how they have fleeced the fans who have come out over the years to support this debacle. Especially those of us who got on the bandwagon last year and supported them when all longed pretty dim. To get over 45,000 fans out to a game and to have them perform this way is shameful. If you see the body language of this team it directly mimics that of our so-called manager….! Hurdle looks confused and uninspired. We have paraded out on this home stand our so-called best pitchers and they all have lost. And today they bring out Livan Hernadaz and he gets shelled. The common denominator with all this is Hurdle. His managing techniques have fallen on deaf ears. The team is no longer responding to him. To lose 6 out of 7 games to the two worst teams in all of baseball is unacceptable. And not only lose, but get thumped and not even be competitive. We have been a season ticket holder since 2000 but if Hurdle manages (term loosely used) this team in 2009, we will spend our hard earned money on something more enjoyable. To the Monforts: you should be ashamed of how you have handled this team and how you have treated the fans. Shame on you and your ignorance!

• August 10, 2008

  5:26 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  1somelikeithot writes:

  It's a shame, but I already read your comment on the Denver Post story. I get so tired of people whinning all the time. If you don't like this team or how it's run, STOP spending your money on them, go on and do something else. Wonder how the Bronco's will do this season. There's something else you can do. Don't think anyone in the Rockie's front office reads these comments. Send them a letter directly to their offices. Maybe that's what people should do, bombard them with letters of complaints. Let THEM know how you feel.

• August 10, 2008

  8:33 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  MileHighPatriot writes:

  These comments are for the readers of the articles. I doubt Rockies managment or RMN editors spend their time reading thoughts of the day from the peanut gallery... or the Rock Pile. Anyway, it's a dam shame to loose by that much. It's rather humiliating. They humiliated Denver in the World Series. I don't think I can step foot in Boston after that. HOWEVER, I'm still a Rockies fan and always will be. It's the idea of the team that I'm in love with... not Baylor, Hurdle, or whoever.

  I'm sad to say I don't have a favorite player. I think the days of 'The Big Cat", Bichette, Hayes, etc, etc, are over.

  I second that motion that the team, including the leadership is unenthusiastic. It seems they just look forward to a paycheck, however small that may be.

• August 11, 2008

  7:03 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Hambone writes:

  Bandwagon fans do not have a legitimate voice. Don't even go there. It's the die hard fans that the club "should" listen to. Ownership gave some smaller contracts and expected that to show commitment to winning. I'm not impressed and won't forget the playoff ticket fiasco last year!!

• August 11, 2008

  11:25 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  arvada_mark writes:

  Way to be RDenver. I think that's the only way they (the Brother's Monfort) will listen. My dad dropped his season tix after the way they treated the likes of Neifi Perez & Juan Pierre. That was some time ago, but he had 'em for the first 5 or 6 years. They got rid of Gold Glover Perez for who? Juan Uribe...the SS of our future? There has been a history of either bad moves or no moves at all. What is the best move the front office has made in the last 5 years? I don't know either...maybe inking Tulo for a long term deal? A move, from within the organization. Either way, my six year old niece could have made that call.

  The reason we continue to go to games is because of the love for the game. You may not know anything about that, but that is why we continue to go to games. We are Colorado Rockies supporters, not fans of the front office or how things are done up there (maybe by drawing straws of rolling dice). We go because we know how special it is to se Tulo fire one side armed from the outfield grass, or to watch Hawper throw a perfect one hopper (no pun intended) to 3rd from the warning track....or to watch one the best left handed relievers in the game...or to watch the greatest 1st baseman over the last 10 years (ok, maybe next to Pujols). That's why we go...why do you go?

• August 11, 2008

  1:53 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  dgocoman writes:

  I wish O'Dowd would have done more at the deadline, but maybe his hands were tied? I do think he falls too far in love with some of his prospects (remember Ryan Shealy?) and holds them until they lose their highest value. I agree that the common denominator is Hurdle. I have always been, and will always be, a die-hard Rockies supporter. But, does that mean I can't share my frustration without being called a whiner, etc.? Take away a 22 game stretch last fall and Hurdle has won at a .450 clip. It is probably time for a change and get some new blood in the dugout.

• August 11, 2008

  3:05 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  BalltownIA7 writes:

  Huge Kudos to the Monforts for bringing in top notch talent for Faith Day. Steven Curtis Chapman, Dave Draveck and Seth Smith, told awesome stories of HOPE. Please continue with Faith Day each year it gets better and better. Life is more than wins and losses on a baseball field, although sometimes we as fans can only see the on-field stuff and forget about the big picture.
  Thanks for a GREAT day even though the scoreboard didn't show it, sometimes it's the things that don't show up in the box score that make all the difference.

• August 11, 2008

  5:39 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  1somelikeithot writes:

  BalltownlA7 - you hit the nail on the head. Kudos to you.

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