Sweep? Rockies' chance goes up in dust

Reynolds rapped; clutch hits missing

By Jack Etkin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 12, 2008 at 4:23 p.m.

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Photo by David Zalubowski / Associated Press

Second baseman Jeff Baker hurdles the Giants' Rich Aurilia after a forceout in the third inning.

The Key . . .

Moment: Ryan Spilborghs started the sixth with a walk and stole second. But the Rockies, trailing 8-7, couldn't put the ball in play as Jeff Baker, Matt Holliday and Todd Helton struck out swinging against Billy Sadler.

Player: Rich Aurilia drove in three runs, the first with a one-out single in the third that put the Giants ahead 5-2, and the final two with a two-out single off Manuel Corpas on an 0-2 pitch in the seventh that put the Giants ahead 10-7.

Stat: 7-15 record in day games for the Rockies. They have the fewest amount of wins by any National League club during the day; Florida, Houston and Los Angeles each have eight. In the majors, only Texas (6-14) has fewer during the day.

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A three-game series sweep, something the Rockies have accomplished only once this year, was within their grasp Thursday for the second time in five days.

Instead, two shortcomings, one collective and one individual, left the Rockies to again settle for the satisfaction - no small one, particularly for a team 14 games below .500 - of winning a series, their third in succession.

Woeful clutch hitting, a problem all season, was at the root of a 10-7 loss to the San Francisco Giants. So was losing pitcher Greg Reynolds, who endured the worst of his seven major league starts.

Despite his immense promise, Reynolds, 23 on July 3, has compiled some disturbing statistics as far home runs allowed and his ratio of walks (21) to strikeouts (nine). Lacking command of his fastball, Reynolds lasted a career- low 31/3 innings and allowed career highs in hits (10), runs (eight) and earned runs (eight).

"It still doesn't discourage me that much because I still haven't seen the hitters beat my best stuff," Reynolds said. "They're capitalizing on my mistakes, which is something that I have to keep in mind and not get too frustrated with myself."

Reynolds gave up four runs in the second after a double-play grounder left the Giants with a runner at third.

He hit No. 8 batter Steve Holm with a pitch, pitcher Jonathan Sanchez singled home a run and Fred Lewis hit a three-run homer when Reynolds' 1-2 curveball went down and in, right to Lewis' strength, instead of over the outside corner of the plate.

It was the ninth homer allowed by Reynolds in 37 1/3 innings and third with two runners aboard.

"He's got a taste of the league now," manager Clint Hurdle said. "I do believe he's got enough confidence, but we've got to have better location."

On Sunday, the Rockies, seeking their first series sweep since April 7-9 against Atlanta, lost 3-2 to Milwaukee and went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

Thursday, the Rockies went 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position, whittling their average in such situations to .235 and begging a hard question: Does the team have enough killer instinct, recognizing that's an attribute that, in baseball, unlike, say, football or hockey, only goes so far?

"In a sense, you've got to have some," Todd Helton said. "You're right on. (It's) something that we need to get better at."

The Rockies left 10 on base, only three in the first four innings, and cut the Giants' lead to 8-7 in the fifth, when Garrett Atkins doubled home three runs.

But Brad Hawpe flied out and Yorvit Torrealba grounded out after Atkins' hit and, after a walk to Omar Quintanilla, pinch hitter Ian Stewart took a third strike from Sanchez.

In the sixth, Sanchez struck out Jeff Baker, Matt Holliday and Helton after Ryan Spilborghs had reached second with no out. And in the seventh, the Rockies loaded the bases with two out, but Keiichi Yabu, the losing pitcher Wednesday when the Rockies scored in the ninth to win 1-0, came on and struck out Spilborghs.

"That's why this game is so frustrating is sometimes the more you want to do it, the worse the outcome is," Helton said.

The outcome was dismal for Reynolds, who walked one but didn't record a strikeout, leaving him with one strikeout in 20 innings in his past four starts.

"The walk-strikeout ratio is alarming to me," Hurdle said. "This is the first game he got barreled. The league's hitting .225 against him coming into this game, (and) he's got a (5.24) ERA. So there's some things we need to address. He's got to be able to throw some punches back and make some quick adjustments."

Reynolds, a sinkerball pitcher not prone to strikeouts, nonetheless is averaging 2.15 strikeouts per nine innings, meaning far too many balls are being put in play.

By contrast, Aaron Cook, another sinkerballer, is averaging 4.32 strikeouts. Compounding matters, Reynolds is averaging 5.02 walks per nine innings - a figure skewed by eight walks in a start - compared with Cook's 2.30.

"That's definitely against what I did previously in my career," Reynolds said, referring to his home runs allowed and skewed ratio of walks to strikeouts. "It's something I got to make adjustments with and make better two- strike pitches when I'm ahead. I think, overall, I haven't been ahead of enough hitters.

"Every guy, you got to be careful with up here. Every guy can hurt you in any count - that's why they're up here. That's a little different than what I've had in the past, but, at the same point, I'm not going to back down from anybody. I'm not going to try to pitch around (hitters) or nibble. I'm going to go right after guys."

Etc.

Injured infielder Clint Barmes (sprained knee) will travel with the team to Chicago to continue his workouts and hopes to begin a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Colorado Springs on Tuesday. . . . Todd Helton went 2-for-4 and has recorded a hit in 15 of his past 17 games. Helton has hit .379 (22-for-58) during that span. . . . Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba matched his career best with three hits, a feat he has achieved 18 times. . . . Spilborghs is hitless in his past 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position. . . . A two-run single by the Giants' Ray Durham in the fourth was the 2,000th hit of his career. . . . Brad Hawpe struck out three times in a game for the third time this season but the first since a four-strikeout game April 17 at San Diego. Hawpe went 0-for-5, his first hitless effort since since he was reinstated from the disabled list last week.

Scouting report:

Chicago White Sox

* Series history: The White Sox lead 3-0, having swept a series at Coors Field in 2005 and outscoring the Rockies 26-9. This will be Colorado's first visit to U.S. Cellular Field.

* Roster: Left-handed reliever Andrew Sisco is out for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

* Quickly: The White Sox, who lead the majors with a 3.36 ERA, are 20-9 at U.S. Cellular Field, where they went 7-0 against Kansas City and Minnesota on their previous homestand. That was the fourth undefeated homestand of seven games or more in franchise history. . . . The White Sox are coming off getting swept in a three-game series at Detroit, the first time they have lost three straight since May 30 to June 1, when they lost the final three games of a four-game series at Tampa Bay. The last time Chicago was swept in a series was May 11-13 at the Los Angeles Angels. . . . Chicago has outscored its opponents by 63 runs, the biggest differential in the American League, and its starters are 12-6 with a 3.13 ERA in the past 23 games.

SECOND CHANCE

Left-hander Jorge De La Rosa on Saturday will make his sixth start for the Rockies, against the Chicago White Sox. De La Rosa made five starts earlier this season, surrendering 23 earned runs in 23 innings, but was banished to the bullpen after giving up six earned runs in 31/3 innings in a 20-5 loss May 26 at Philadelphia.

Since then, De La Rosa has made three relief appearances, allowing two earned runs in 42/3 innings. De La Rosa will be backed up by right-hander Jason Grilli, who threw one scoreless inning Thursday and has thrown more than one inning in five of his 13 appearances with the Rockies.

MANAGING CORPAS

Manuel Corpas continued to struggle, giving up two runs in the seventh inning to allow the Giants to extend their lead to three runs. Yet despite allowing six runs in his past five appearances (six innings), Corpas had the backing of manager Clint Hurdle after Thursday's performance because only one ball was hit squarely - a ground-rule double by John Bowker.

Corpas recorded five consecutive outs before Aaron Rowand dribbled a single through the right side. After Bowker's double, Rich Aurilia drove in two runs with a roller up the middle against a drawn-in infield.

HE SAID IT

"Any time I go back to U.S. Cellular (Field), I'll reflect on what happened back in '05. We grinded all the way to the end, and that's why we all play this game. It will be good to see those guys."

Scott Podsednik, Rockies outfielder, who played for the World Series-winning White Sox in 2005 and hit a walk-off home run in Game 2.

Pat Rooney contributed to this report.

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