Timely hitting takes holiday for Rockies

Colorado misses key opportunities; win streak history

By Jack Etkin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 8, 2008 at 4:29 p.m.

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Photo by David Zalubowski / Associated Press

Rockies right fielder Brad Hawpe is tagged out by Brewers third baseman Bill Hall after being caught in a rundown Sunday.

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The possibility of a season-high five-game winning streak dissolved into a frustrating defeat Sunday for the Rockies and, in particular, Todd Helton.

In a 3-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, Helton went hitless in five at-bats. He came up with a runner on first and one out in the first and flied out and had the same situation in the fifth and grounded into a double play. Helton batted with the bases loaded and two out in the second and flied out and took a third strike he deemed questionable with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh.

"All you can ask for is to be put in those situations," Helton said. "Obviously, I left a small army out there on base (Sunday). One of those days, I'm not happy about it. We had some momentum going and just had to come up with some big hits."

The Rockies stranded 10 base runners, went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and had to be content with winning a series from a torrid Milwaukee team that came here with a six-game winning streak and nine victories in its previous 10 games.

"A ball in the gap would have been nice," manager Clint Hurdle said, "could've provided some separation for us."

And given some breathing room to Jeff Francis. He kept the Rockies in the game despite encountering his typical first-inning speed bump. The two runs he allowed in the first left him with a 10.38 ERA in that inning, compared with 4.45 in all other innings.

"That's frustrating, because every time I go out I try to focus on the first inning, because that's kind of what's got the best of me this year," Francis said.

He allowed a run in the second that proved to be the game-winner when Joe Dillon walked with two out, stole the first base of his career and scored when Gabe Kap ler singled on Francis' 1-2 changeup. Francis only retired the Brewers in order once as he went on to pitch four scoreless innings.

"It was a struggle for him, but he held down the fort," Hurdle said.

Under siege all year, the Rockies, who have won back-to-back series for only the second time all season, soon will find out whether additional manpower will enable them to mount a surge in the National League West.

With 99 games remaining, the Rockies are 15 games below .500 and in last place, 10 games behind a seemingly mortal 34-29 Arizona team that has lost 20 of its past 33 games and is the only team in the division above .500.

"I think if you look at the big picture, it can be overwhelming," Hurdle said. "We just got to stay focused on winning the series. Yes, that's critical. Winning the game we're playing today, that's imperative."

Elsewhere, the news is positive:

* Left fielder Matt Holliday completed his rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Colorado Springs on Sunday and will be activated Tuesday when the Rockies begin a series with San Francisco.

* Right fielder Brad Hawpe returned Friday and made an immediate impact with a game-winning two-run home run that night and a first-inning grand slam Saturday.

* Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki on Tuesday is expected to go on a rehabilitation assignment of nine or 10 games. He suffered a torn tendon in his left quadriceps April 29.

* Infielder Clint Barmes, recovering from a sprained right knee, will travel with the Rockies to Chicago this weekend and work out before games against the White Sox and, if all goes well, likely begin a rehabilitation assignment June 17.

* The look of the bullpen also is changing. Reliever Luis Vizcaino pitched Sunday for the first time since April 3, and left-handed reliever Micah Bowie is scheduled to make four more appearances for Colorado Springs before possibly being activated June 17.

"We still got a long ways to go, and we know that we have to play better baseball as a team and individually," Garrett Atkins said. "The last two series we've done that. We just have to keep building on it.

"We don't have any room for any more missteps or any more bad streaks. We need to put together good baseball for the next four months if we're going to have any chance of playing in October."

That's a long shot and a long way off. Meanwhile, the task at hand beginning Tuesday is the Giants, who are in third place, four games ahead of the Rockies, followed by an interleague series against the White Sox, a makeup game against Atlanta, visits by Cleveland and the New York Mets . . . but that's looking too far down the road.

"We got to keep our focus small and concentrated and go from there," Aaron Cook said. "We honestly can't think big picture right now. If we start to think that, we'll lose focus on our day-to-day activities, and we've got to come out and play good baseball every day."

Key moments: The Rockies had the bases loaded with one out in the seventh and runners on first and third with one out in the eighth and didn't score. In the seventh, Todd Helton took a third strike and Garrett Atkins hit a slow grounder to shortstop. Home plate umpire Lance Barksdale called Carlos Villaneuva's 2-2 curve ball to Helton a strike, and Helton, who rarely voices his displeasure to umpires, muttered a few words to Barksdale. In the eighth, Omar Quintanilla tapped back to Salomon Torres, who threw home to begin a rundown in which Brad Hawpe was tagged out, and pinch hitter Jonathan Herrera grounded out.

Key player: Torres earned his seventh save in nine opportunities by getting the final five outs of the game. He gave up a walk to pinch hitter Ryan Spilborghs, the first batter he faced, then retired the next five batters and allowed one ball to be hit out of the infield.

sKey stat: 0 times the Rockies' record at Coors Field has been above .500 this season. They had won four of their past five home games and seven of 10 but lost to fall to 14-15 at home after reaching .500 for the first time since they were 3-3 on April 9.

ETC.

Clint Barmes (sprained right knee) will run the bases for the first time Tuesday and work on turning the double play and throwing on the run while ranging to his left. He's scheduled to travel with the Rockies to Chicago this weekend and, after working out there, could begin a rehabilitation assignment. Barmes, who was injured May 23, said he feels no pain but has some sensitivity in his knee when making a crossover move and taking left turns running the bases. . . . The Rockies are 11-13 in one-run games and 6-6 at Coors Field . . . Jeff Francis hadn't driven in a run in 18 at-bats this season before his run-scoring single in the second. It was the 14th career RBI for Francis, who is 3-for-20 (.150) this season and 28-for-213 (.131) lifetime. . . . Franklin Morales developed a blister Saturday in his sixth start for Triple-A Colorado Springs, another rough outing. He allowed seven hits, four runs and four walks in four innings with two strikeouts and threw only 46 of 89 pitches for strikes. Morales is 3-2 with a 7.39 ERA for the Sky Sox with 27 walks in 28 innings.

NUMBERS GAME

3 Rockies pitchers in franchise history have recorded 500 or more strikeouts - Pedro Astacio (749), Jason Jennings (622) and left-hander Jeff Francis (502). Francis finished with four strikeouts and reached the milestone with his second-inning strikeout of Ryan Braun.

DONE DEAL

Matt Holliday went 2-for-4 with a home run for Triple-A Colorado Springs in his third and final game on a rehabilitation assignment. Holliday, who strained his left hamstring May 24, went 6-for-10 with one homer and three RBI for the Sky Sox and will be activated Tuesday.

NEXT STEPS

Left-hander Micah Bowie (left forearm strain), who began his rehabilitation assignment Friday at Triple-A Colorado Springs, could be activated June 17.

He's scheduled to pitch one inning tonight and one inning Wednesday at Fresno. Bowie then is scheduled to be off two days and pitch back-to-back outings Saturday and Sunday at Tucson before being re-evaluated one week from today. Bowie last pitched for the Rockies on April 21.

HE SAID IT

"Now that he's healthy, hopefully, we're going to see the kind of guy that we went out to acquire over the winter."

Clint Hurdle, Rockies manager, on Luis Vizcaino, a free agent who signed a two-year, $7.5 million contract in the offseason and made his Coors Field debut by pitching a scoreless eighth with two walks in his first appearance since April 3.

Jack Etkin

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