Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Rockies' homestand woes continue with loss to Diamondbacks

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 12, 2008 at 10:05 p.m.

Text size  
Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta is congratulated after hitting a home run off Randy Johnson during the Rockies-Diamondbacks game Tuesday night at Coors Field.

Photo by David Zalubowski © AP

Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta is congratulated after hitting a home run off Randy Johnson during the Rockies-Diamondbacks game Tuesday night at Coors Field.

The Key . . .

Moment : With one out and two on in the bottom of the fifth, after a walk of right-handed pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, Randy Johnson needed only two pitches to get out of the jam, getting a first-pitch popup from Willy Taveras and fly ball from Troy Tulowitzki.

Player: Arizona left-handed pitcher Randy Johnson continues to dominate the Rockies, even if he isn’t as overpowering as he once was. He went six innings on Tuesday to improve to 17-7 with a 2.42 ERA in 26 career starts against the Rockies, more wins than any other pitcher has against Colorado. He also is 7-4 with a 3.50 ERA at Coors Field.

Stat: 2 double plays grounded into by center fielder Willy Taveras in his last eight at-bats, including with men on first and third to end the seventh inning on Tuesday. Before this stretch, Taveras had gone 176 games and 669 at-bats without ground into a double play.

Arizona's Chad Tracy follows the flight of his two-run home run off Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez during the teams' game Tuesday night at Coors Field.

Photo by David Zalubowski © AP

Arizona's Chad Tracy follows the flight of his two-run home run off Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez during the teams' game Tuesday night at Coors Field.

Related Links

Related Stories

More Colorado Rockies

More stories »

Reality is starting to settle in at Coors Field.

It's no fun for the Rockies or their fans.

Tuesday began with the decision to have Aaron Cook skip his Thursday start because of back issues. Then manager Clint Hurdle had to scratch first baseman and cleanup hitter Garrett Atkins from the lineup because of strep throat.

And then things went bad.

Looking for a sweep of National League West-leading Arizona to try to put some oomph in their hopes of a late-season surge to a division title, the Rockies suffered a 4-2 loss at Coors Field.

Suddenly, all the good vibes built on a season-best 6-4 trip have turned into disappointments, thanks to six losses in the first eight games of a 10-game homestand that began with Washington and San Diego, who have the worst records in the NL, and now ends with a three-game visit by Arizona.

But then, there hasn't been anything but disappointments from the Rockies this season against Arizona, the team they swept in four games in the NLCS a year ago to claim their first NL pennant in franchise history. They now have lost nine of 10 games to the Diamondbacks, who swept the Rockies' opening home series in April, and will return to Coors Field for a third time Sept. 19-21.

The Rockies have fallen nine games back of Arizona with 41 games to play, the biggest deficit they have faced since July 1, and after Thursday's game against Arizona, they embark on a stretch that has them playing 12 of 15 on the road. The Rockies' 20-40 road record is the worst in the major leagues.

"Right now, we are in a really deep hole," said right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez, who gave up four runs in six innings Tuesday. He has lost back-to-back starts for only the second time this year and the first time since May 10-16.

Not that it was all Jimenez's fault, although it was his inability to command a fastball that allowed Chad Tracy to hit a two-run home run in the second, and a run-scoring single by fellow pitcher Randy Johnson after back-to-back doubles by Chris Young and Chris Snyder gave Arizona a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth.

The impatience of leadoff hitter Willy Taveras cut short both shots the Rockies had to add on to the two runs they scored in the second, when Chris Iannetta led off against Johnson with a home run and, with two out, Clint Barmes and Ian Stewart delivered back-to-back doubles.

It was not like longtime nemesis Johnson, just 29 days shy of his 45th birthday, needed much help to raise his career-win total against the Rockies to 17, the most of any Colorado opponent. He allowed only two singles and a walk in his final four innings, and he struck out the side - Iannetta, Jeff Baker and Brad Hawpe - in the fourth.

"We had a chance to win the game but made just enough mistakes across the board to put us down," manager Clint Hurdle said.

And nowhere was that more obvious than with Taveras, who accounted for five outs in four at-bats, while seeing only nine pitches - only one of which he took for a ball.

There was the fifth inning, when, after a lead-off single by Barmes and Stewart sending left fielder Conor Jackson to the wall to haul in a line drive, Johnson actually walked the .039-hitting Jimenez. Two pitches later, Johnson was out of the inning. Taveras popped up to left, and Troy Tulowitzki flied to left.

Then, in the seventh, after Chad Qualls issued a one-out walk to Stewart and pinch-hitter Seth Smith singled him to third, Taveras fouled off one pitch and grounded into an inning-ending double play on the next one - his second double play in three games after going 176 games without one.

"We didn't get a lot of shots (with runners in scoring position)," said Hurdle, whose team had one hit (Stewart's double) in five at-bats with runners in scoring position. "And we were not getting good at-bats when we needed them. We didn't do enough to get good results."

The Rockies did keep Adam Dunn from doing any damage in his Diamondbacks debut. Acquired from Cincinnati, he did manage to get a double, but was stranded on second base in the fifth. He walked twice but also struck out twice, including one to end the seventh after Jason Grilli issued back-to-back walks to Augie Ojeda and Jackson.

Comments

  • August 13, 2008

    6:22 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Mike846 writes:

    The good news is, its only 18 days until CU vs CSU at Invesco. Stick a fork in the Rockies, and Go BUFFS! Mike

  • August 13, 2008

    6:45 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    kmeissner writes:

    It's almost Broncos/Nuggets season. I was hoping the Rox could pull it together after the All-Star break but they are choking. Disappointing after the run they put together last year. Maybe they can still scrape a few wins together and make it a race...

  • August 13, 2008

    6:51 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    fjv1026 writes:

    Season over...Go Broncos!

  • August 13, 2008

    8:36 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    dgocoman writes:

    It seems the whole season has been out of sync. Lots of injuries played a part, but something seemed to be missing from the beginning. Maybe World Series hangover? Regardless, the Rocks should shake things up this winter. Bring in a manager who is a little tougher than Clint; trade Holliday for 3-4 good players; sign Atkins and keep him at first base; work out some type of arrangement with Helton so he can retire and still get his money; keep Stewart, but lose Taveras; and even though he is expensive for a reliever, I would try and sign Fuentes. Corpas/Buchholz/Fuentes gives us a solid bullpen to build around. You can then bring up Weathers and start him in middle relief until he gets his feet wet.

  • August 13, 2008

    8:51 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    RDenver writes:

    Probably will be some changes next year. Taveras has really unachieved this year. Thought I read in the paper that Willy had nine pitches to make 4 outs. That doesn't show much patience from a lead off player. He maybe leading league in steals but his OBP % is bad! I think it is time to get a different attitude in here as well. Hurdle and his pitching coach need to go as well as their hitting coach. The players body language says it all.

  • August 13, 2008

    10:07 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    P_Denver writes:

    The front office held off on mass trades this year, hoping that a miracle would repeat. It didn't.

    Expect lots of activity in the off season.

    Wait 'till next year! Or maybe the year after that, Or maybe . . . .

  • August 13, 2008

    10:48 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    1somelikeithot writes:

    Poor Willy, it's all his fault. Guess somebody has to be the scapegoat, huh? The season is coming to a close and fan's of 29 out of 30 teams will be disappointed and will hope for a better year in 2009. For the love of baseball, don't be too hard on these guys, it's just a game. And for what it's worth, with all the good and bad, ups and downs of a season, I for one will miss it. I go through withdrawls until spring training. With hopes and high expectations I will be waiting for the next year to be the "one".

  • August 13, 2008

    11:03 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    meteorite writes:

    Its not "just a game", it is a business. Colorado wants and deserves a winning product, especially after the run last year and now the resulting increased ticket prices.

    The season was done when Livan took the mound. He threw in the towel and the other players followed suit. Still as always, I will look forward to some good changes in 2009 (dump the management crew). Hopefully Holliday will stay, but if not, get some goodies for him.

    Go Packers.

  • August 13, 2008

    11:26 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    TheSlinger writes:

    go rams. go broncos. rockies......are the rockies

  • August 13, 2008

    11:28 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    rapelje writes:

    Some people will have you believe that Hurdle and his coaches are blameless. Poor substitutions and poor handling of pitchers are coaches mistakes. A lack of patience at the plate is coachable and having guys make mental errors is coachable, or does Hurdle get paid a million a year to just fill out the roster card? The Rockies have made these type of mistakes for years and continue to be inconsistent this year as well. The Monfort's being too cheap have also led to this situation. Can O'Dowd find anymore worn out arms that everyone else has given up on? I don't believe so. Quantity does NOT make up for a lack of quality! This is an organization that has problems from top to bottom. There is some good talent but inconsistent coaching and cheap ownership and management mistakes ($3.1 M for Kip Wells for example) keep every year (with one miracle year being an exception) being another, wait until next year! It appears that the Monfort's earlier mistakes have made them gun shy to make bold moves now and without some bold moves this team is going to be stuck in mediocrity. Injuries this year exposed the weakeness of the organization for everyone to see, but it doesn't appear that the Monfort's have the inclination to make things right, they are just willing to ride the financial gravy train of one years success and hope people will have short memories and hope that guys can play above their abilities and hope that coaches can coach above their abilities and management can manage above their abilities, and in the end it spells out, "wait until next year...again!"