'Pen pals support Rockies' Fuentes

Closer stops L.A., ties saves mark with help from friends

By Jack Etkin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 23, 2008 at 3:55 p.m.

Text size  

• 12 Comments
• Email
• Print

Photo by David Zalubowski / Associated Press

The Rockies' Brian Fuentes earned his 17th save this season and tied Jose Jimenez's team mark of 102 during a 5-3 win against the Dodgers on Wednesday afternoon. Fuentes retired the first two batters he faced to set a club record by retiring 23 consecutive batters before giving up a single.

Video: Kip Wells' return to the Rockies rotation was apparently short-lived. The team is looking at a possible trade or tapping Colorado Springs to find a fifth starter next week when the team travels to Pittsburgh. Watch »

As they try to sort out the back end of their rotation, the Rockies have one huge plus. Their bullpen, for the most part, has been utterly invulnerable at the outset of the second half of the season.

It was that way again Wednesday, when the Rockies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 to complete a 6-1 homestand. The victory enabled the Rockies to win the three-game series and pull five games behind the second-place Dodgers.

During the homestand, Rockies relievers combined to pitch 141/3 scoreless innings in five of the victories; Ubaldo Jimenez threw a four-hitter Tuesday.

The relievers allowed eight runs Monday, a deceptive figure after the bullpen was pressed into pitching 8 2/3 innings because Kip Wells retired one batter during an eight-run first and six relievers paraded to the mound.

Manager Clint Hurdle called upon four relievers to finish the Dodgers and secure the Rockies' fourth win in their past six series.

When Glendon Rusch left with a 5-3 lead after keeping the Dodgers at bay for five innings, Jason Grilli (1 1/3 innings), Manuel Corpas (two-thirds), Taylor Buchholz (one) and Brian Fuentes (one) completed a scoreless procession.

Fuentes earned his 17th save this season and tied the franchise record of 102 set by Jose Jimenez. Fuentes retired the first two batters he faced to set a club record by retiring 23 consecutive batters before giving up a two-out single to Matt Kemp.

"I knew it had been a while (since a batter reached base), but I wasn't really counting," Fuentes said. "For me, it's just trying to get guys out, trying to keep guys off the basepaths, and I knew I'd been doing a good job of that lately."

Fuentes said tying Jimenez was of far less consequence than nailing down a series-clinching win. He added he already had enjoyed a private moment before this accomplishment.

"A hundred was a nice milestone," Fuentes said. "Having a hundred saves is a neat thing to say. That means we had a hundred wins where I was involved. That's great."

It remains to be seen whether Fuentes returns to Coors Field after the Rockies' 10-game trip that begins Friday in Cincinnati.

The nonwaiver trade deadline is July 31, and several teams have an interest in acquiring Fuentes, who turns 33 on Aug. 9 and who can be a free agent after the season, to pitch in a setup role for two months.

"I expect to be here," Fuentes said. "We're going on a road trip and, hopefully, we continue playing well, and I hope to be here."

Corpas and Buchholz made it possible for Fuentes to be in a save situation, escaping jams in a game Hurdle sized up succinctly.

"From the fifth inning on, with a runner on base and a ball off the barrel, you got a tie ballgame," Hurdle said.

Corpas relieved Grilli in the seventh after a one-out pinch-hit double by Blake DeWitt and struck out Kemp and Andre Ethier.

Buchholz had runners on second and third with one out in the eighth when center fielder Scott Podsednik failed to keep the double play in order by throwing to third base.

Buchholz escaped the jam by striking out Andruw Jones and Andy LaRoche on curveballs.

"It was the pitch that was working (Wednesday) for me," Buchholz said. "I was having a little trouble with my fastball consistency. I was kind of missing out of the zone a lot, but the curveball saved me."

Fuentes earned his third save in three appearances as he made his eighth consecutive scoreless outing. During that eight-inning span, Fuentes has allowed one hit and no walks with 15 strikeouts, including pinch hitter Delwyn Young for the second out and Ethier to end the game.

Asked if he could envision a Rockies bullpen without Fuentes, Buchholz said, "It'd be tough to imagine because he kind of jells us all together down there. He keeps us loose. You need that (type of) guy down in the bullpen, and he's been great also. He's been awesome."

Buchholz said the possibility of Fuentes' departure and trade rumors involving him are a topic of brothers-in-arms conversation among members of the bullpen.

"We all hope that he stays because he's a great pitcher out there, as you've seen," Buchholz said. "Especially this last month or so, he's been lights out and it'd be a big blow if we lost him."

• July 23, 2008

  5:24 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  ColoradoAztec writes:

  I was there and the young 'Rocks' can't be shaken or stirred! I love Todd Helton but we should see if anybody out there would take him if we 'ate' half of his contract. FULL SPEED AHEAD!!!!!

• July 23, 2008

  5:50 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  TheSlinger writes:

  not that easy aztec. he has a no trade clause and a mammouth contract. but i agree. we are better with the young guns in the lineup, if only our rotation wasnt a lock for 2 or 3 losses a week we would have a chance at the division. must get better pitching or its al going to be for not. and im not getting excited yet. because the rockies could easily lose 8 of the next ten on the road and be back in the basement with the lights off, however win 8 of ten, heck i'll take 6 or 7 and they can still have a pulse. i just want 2 years in a row where the rox are playing interesting ball in august. go rox! dont trade holliday!

• July 23, 2008

  7:18 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  arvada_mark writes:

  Nice, Fuentes!

  Remember, a healthy Helton is as good as anybody. And his defense is irreplaceable from within the organization.

• July 23, 2008

  7:34 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  1somelikeithot writes:

  Thank you Taylor for saving the inning when Podsednik made that boneheaded blunder. Good game. Keep it up on the road will ya guys. I'll be watching. Also, Baker is the official second baseman now and Barmes is moving to the outfield. V...e...r...y interesting.

• July 23, 2008

  9:48 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Mike846 writes:

  Sadly, as bad as the NL West is, if the Rocks can put on a surge here, they may win the Division. And still be under .500. Sheesh. Mike PS: If the Monforts are stupid enough to trade Matt Holiday, they should be tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail. Mike

• July 24, 2008

  7:08 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Hambone writes:

  Though I disagree that a healthy Helton is as good as anybody, he is rarely in good health anyore. Pitching is the far greater problem right now. Having Glendon Rusch and De La Rosa in the rotation as 3 and 4 starters is brutal. I would like to see a capable starting pitcher before the trade deadline.

  I don't want them to trade Holliday but can you really expect ownership to shell out 20+ million per year for one player? I do expect some reciprocity from them for the gargantuan influx of funds from teh run last year though. The Monforts need to consistently provide a better product. This area supported them for way too long.

• July 24, 2008

  10:03 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  mkcampin2 writes:

  todd helton,

  a healthy helton is hard to replace, also his glove is mint.
  great defender....

• July 24, 2008

  10:56 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  mdnantkes writes:

  I love Helton like I love Elway but his contract is a too large for his declining bat and getting someone to take a bite out of that contract will allow us to sign Holliday and Atkins, convert Atkins to 1B and give Ian Stewart a chance to play. If we do trade Fuentes we can get top of the line minor league starter (hopefully someone who throws harder that 89mph like Reynolds) and we can call up Casey Weathers to stabalize the pen. I would prefer we put together a package that offers Helton, Willy T for some pitching and we give Seth Smith a chance in Center. We will have a scary lineup with an outfield that can hit 90 HRs.

• July 24, 2008

  11:17 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Buff4Life writes:

  Given the pitiful state of the NL West, the Rockies need to be thinking about acquiring pitchers, not trading away the solid ones they have. Together with Francis when he comes back we could make a decent run and win this thing...

• July 24, 2008

  12:07 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  BoostHard writes:

  Helton is not going anywhere! As much as I would love to see the Rocks get rid of him, they cant and wont. Its tough, but thats baseball. I dont think Helton will ever be as good as he was 3-4 years ago.

  Holliday and Atkins would be nice to keep, but niether one shows interest in staying with the club in '09.
  I trust Dan and the organization to do whats right, although that might mean giving up some quality players.....

  Spils, Scott and Brad wouldn't be a bad outfield.

• July 24, 2008

  1:47 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  arvada_mark writes:

  You guys baffle me at how much you under-value Helton. He is the best defensive 1st baseman in the world. The numbers agree with me.

  Since the year 1998, Helton has played more games than anybody at 1st, & he has the best fielding percentage of anybody at 1st base (www.mlb.com).

  What this means is that he is not injured very often, & once again, he is the best defensive 1st baseman in the world. So you may continue to lie to yourselves, but I know that we already have a 1st baseman. I honestly hope Helton plays out his contract. Like I said, you can't do much better than him at that position, & he'll be sticking it good to the Brothers Monfort in the meantime. The Rox need to cool it with all this tade talk, we've got talent as of today, & the division is very winnable.

• July 24, 2008

  9:45 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  1somelikeithot writes:

  arvada, couldn't agree with you more. That is IF Helton stays healthy. Having chronic back problems can easily become serious and possibly requiring surgery. Hope that doesn't happen, but disc problems do not go away. I've had disc problems for years and had those same type of injections. They are not a permanent fix. Most of the time surgery is the only answer and that does not mean you will ever be 100%. In my opinion I don't think Helton will be able to play out his contract as an everyday player. Too bad, because he is the best 1st baseman around.

Featured

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.

• Holiday Lights

  

  Is your house the jolliest on the block? Submit your holiday lights display.

• Holiday Gift Guide

  

  Looking to get a jump-start on the holiday shopping season?

• Mount Crushmore

  

  Which four Broncos greats should be immortalized on Mount Crushmore? Vote here.

• Bronco Dean's rant

  

  Listen to Bronco Dean's midweek rant on the Chiefs.

• Broncos Video

  

  Get the latest from Dove Valley as the Broncos prepare for Sunday's matchup.

• Calendar wallpaper

  

  Download this month's desktop wallpaper calendar

• Sam Adams' Open Mic

  

  Open Mic: Stirrin' the Soup with Matt Iseman

• The Rocky @ 150 Years

  

  Read the Rocky's coverage of Colorado's cannibal, Alfred Packer, in 1886.