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Rockies Stewart proving his worth

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 19, 2008 at 11:31 p.m.

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The Rockies' Ian Stewart has belted nine home runs this season, including this three-run blast against Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo during the eighth inning Tuesday.

Photo by Matt Sayles/Associated Press

The Rockies' Ian Stewart has belted nine home runs this season, including this three-run blast against Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo during the eighth inning Tuesday.

Brad Hawpe is congratulated by third base coach Mike Gallego after Hawpe hit a two-run homer in the third inning of the Rockies game Tuesday night against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

Photo by Jonathan Moore © Getty

Brad Hawpe is congratulated by third base coach Mike Gallego after Hawpe hit a two-run homer in the third inning of the Rockies game Tuesday night against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

The Key . . .

Moment: With two out in the bottom of the seventh, Jeff Kent and Manny Ramirez singled, and Manny Corpas walked James Loney, but Russell Martin flied out on the first pitch he was thrown to end the threat, leaving the Rockies with a 4-3 lead. The Rockies responded with four runs in the top of the eight.

Player: Ian Stewart was 2-for-3 with a two-run single in the first, and three-run home run in the eighth. The home run came off lefty Hong-Chih Kuo. It was his ninth home run in 150 at-bats in the big leagues this year, and his 14th hit in his last 30 at-bats against a left-handed pitcher.

Stat: .400 average and five home runs for right fielder Brad Hawpe in his last 15 road games. He had a two-run home run in the third inning on Tuesday, his fifth home run in eight games.

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LOS ANGELES — The Rockies wanted to give Ian Stewart two months of regular playing time to get a feel for how ready he might be for the big leagues.

One month into the adventure, Stewart has eliminated any concern the Rockies had.

Stewart, who was given regular playing time at third when Garrett Atkins moved to first to replace the injured Todd Helton, provided the early and late offense in the Rockies' 8-3 victory against the Dodgers on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

"They have a lot to play for, but we like to feel we have a lot to play for, too," Stewart said of the win. "We've got six weeks left to do something."

He delivered a two-out, two-run single off Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda in the first inning, and then, after lefty Hong-Chih Kuo issued back-to-back eighth-inning walks, Stewart drove a 1-2 pitch deep into the right-field bleachers, his fourth home run in 33 at-bats against left-handed pitchers.

"The league's hitting .188 off (Kuo), he's a tough left-hander and he gets two strikes on Stewart and he puts a big swing on it," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "That's a special at-bat there."

Stewart also has 16 RBI, and 14 hits against lefties, reaffirming that his minor league track record against left-handers will translate to the big-league level. Stewart went 1-for-10 against lefties in his brief time with the Rockies a year ago.

"From what we saw early on, there has been a remarkable difference," Hurdle said. "His barrel (of the bat) stays in the (hitting) zone longer against left-handers. He's actually better than against right- handers."

The Rockies, meanwhile, are doing a lot better against the Dodgers than they are the rest of the National League West. While they lost their first five games against the Dodgers this season, they now have won six of the past eight.

For a night, at least, the Dodgers' Manny Mania was silenced.

Recent addition Manny Ramirez managed to go 1-for-4 but failed to either score a run or drive one in for only the fourth time in 17 games since coming over from Boston. The Dodgers are 10-7 since Boston agreed to pick up the $7 million in salary Ramirez had coming if the Dodgers would take him off their hands.

The Dodgers slipped a game back of Arizona, seven ahead of the third-place Rockies.

The Rockies, meanwhile, continued to rebound from a 3-7 homestand that left their hopes of a late-season rally in jeopardy. They won their fourth consecutive game on a trip that began with a weekend sweep of Washington and concludes with games against the Dodgers tonight and Thursday afternoon. The Rockies have won 10 of their past 14 on the road, a marked turnaround for a team that lost 36 of its first 50 road games.

The Rockies got things started in the first when after Clint Barmes popped up to open the game, Willy Taveras and Holliday singled. Atkins drew a two-out walk, loading the bases for Stewart, who fell behind 0-2,and then lofted a 1-2 single into left field for a 2-0 lead.

Oh, there were anxious moments Tuesday, but with the bullpen working the final four innings and running its road trip scoreless streak to 14 innings, the Rockies had the answers for the Dodgers.

Ubaldo Jimenez survived five innings, giving up three runs, thanks in part to a strikeout of Andre Ethier to end the fourth after the Dodgers had rallied for two runs with two outs to cut the Rockies' lead to one run. It was his first win in three starts, and his first career win at Dodger Stadium, where he had two no-decisions despite giving up 11 runs in 61/3 innings.

The Dodgers' other chance to take charge of the game came with two out in the seventh. Manny Corpas gave up back-to-back singles to Jeff Kent and Ramirez and walked James Loney. On the next pitch Corpas threw, he escaped thanks to an anxious Russell Martin flying out to right field.

And the Rockies blew open the game in the next inning.

First, Matt Holliday led off with a home run off Jason Johnson. Then, lefty Kuo got the call, and after walking Brad Hawpe and Atkins, he was the victim of the 1-2 pitch that Stewart drilled deep into the right-field pavilion.

Stewart gave Jimenez an early lead with a two-run single in the first. That, coupled with his three-run homer in the eighth, gave Stewart a career-high five RBI in the game.

"It's nice to get five RBI when you win the game, if you lose the game it really doesn't matter," Stewart said. "It's nice here because this is where I grew up."

Comments

  • August 20, 2008

    12:10 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    SDcat writes:

    Now that's what I'm talkin' bout! GREAT win, great effort. Loved that Ubaldo struck out Manny. Even if we would have lost, that would have made it all worthwhile! Well, okay not really, but still!! Go ROCKIES!!!

  • August 20, 2008

    6:25 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    DeimosJB writes:

    How is it that the Rockies have been Road Warriors over the last couple months, but suddenly can't win at home? If they were doing as well at home as they are on the road, they'd be right back in the thick of things again. What a strange team...

  • August 20, 2008

    7:30 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    kmeissner writes:

    Nice! Keep it up if you wanna get into the playoffs, guys!

  • August 20, 2008

    9:40 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    janfan writes:

    Great game! It was great how they held Manny to only 1 single. Yeah! But, I was getting very sick and tired of Drew and Huson going on and on and on with their worship and adulation of the Manny god. I don't think he needs his ego stroked anymore than it is already. I'm amazed his helmet fits him. They only stopped after Stewart hit the 3 run HR. Then they were forced to shift praise to a Rockie! I'm a Rockies fan (watching a Rockies game), not a Dodgers or Manny fan. Enough, already.

  • August 20, 2008

    9:51 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    SDcat writes:

    Janfan, ironically, I have to watch the games on MLB Extra Innings and picked up the LA feed with Vin Scully and was not subjected to the Manny Mania...thank goodness!