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Rockies hitting road with smile

Rockies finish homestand with two wins in a row

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 8, 2008 at 5:28 p.m.

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Matt Holliday slides safely into home to score on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Spilborghs in the fourth inning of the Rockies' 9-3 victory against St. Louis on Thursday. The win gave Colorado consecutive wins for the first time in three weeks.

Photo by Chris Schneider / The Rocky

Matt Holliday slides safely into home to score on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Spilborghs in the fourth inning of the Rockies' 9-3 victory against St. Louis on Thursday. The win gave Colorado consecutive wins for the first time in three weeks.

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The Rockies would like to feel they finally are starting to get a little momentum in their plight to be a factor in the National League West race this season.

They will get a much better idea of whether that's true tonight.

They are coming off back-to- back victories against the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals, 9-3 on Thursday afternoon at Coors Filed on the heels of an eighth-inning rally for a 4-3 victory Wednesday night. It is the Rockies' first back-to-back wins in three weeks.

Tonight, they go on the road, starting a three-game series at San Diego, and face the challenge of reigning NL Cy Young winner Jake Peavy.

The last time the Rockies saw him, he shut them out for eight innings at Petco Park on April 17 in a game the Rockies rallied to win in 22 innings in the early hours of April 18.

They also won in Houston the night of April 18 and against April 19, the last time the Rockies won consecutive games.

"Peavy is going to come at you," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "But we're going to show up. The big thing is our focus has to be playing one game at a time, one inning, one at-bat. We can't worry about what's going to happen in the next three games or the next week or the next month."

What the Rockies can do is exhale a bit.

Their defense of their first NL pennant has been sidetracked by a rotation that has come unraveled, an offense that struggled and a couple of significant injuries, including the spring training loss of projected No. 4 starter Jason Hirsh and the in-season loss of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.

But with the way the Rockies responded in their past 10 innings, they found hope.

They went into the bottom of the eighth Wednesday trailing 3-0 and were down 3-1 with one on and two out but rallied against closer Jason Isringhausen when Ryan Spilborghs delivered an RBI pinch single and Chris Iannetta followed with a two-run triple.

And they reaffirmed their effort right away Thursday with a four-run rally in the first inning that began with two out and nobody on and was keyed by a two- run single by Iannetta.

Starting in five consecutive games for the first time in his career, Iannetta has driven in eight runs in those five games.

It helped that Jorge De La Rosa rebounded from an ugly Rockies debut in which he allowed nine runs in four innings against the Dodgers on Saturday to give up two runs in 52/3 innings against the Cardinals, limiting St. Louis in the first five innings to a leadoff home run by Ryan Ludwick in the second.

Instead of being rattled by Ludwick's shot on a 2-0 pitch, De La Rosa, 27, regrouped to retire the next nine batters, striking out four.

"Obviously, that has to be a nice confidence boost for him," Hurdle said. "We saw (Thursday) what our scouts had been seeing."

It's not like everything is warm and fuzzy for the Rockies. They are only 14-21, in fourth place in the NL West, and only San Diego (12-23) has a worst record in the majors.

But a turnaround has to start somewhere.

It could be starting with the arrival of starting pitchers De La Rosa and Greg Reynolds, who will make his major league debut Sunday in San Diego.

They are getting a chance because of the struggles of Franklin Morales, sent back to the minors, and Mark Redman, banished to the bullpen with the possibility he could be released by the middle of next week.

It could be built off the return of closer Brian Fuentes, who earned the save Wednesday and is 3-for-3 since being given back his former job because of the struggles of Manny Corpas.

And it could get a kick-start from the likes of Omar Quintanilla, whose door opened when Tulowitzki was lost for at least two months with a torn left quadriceps tendon, and catcher Iannetta, who played so well in his limited chances he has forced his way ahead of Yorvit Torrealba.

"You hear guys say, 'If I ever get a shot. . . . " Hurdle said. "Well, some people are getting a shot. We've had some injuries. Some people haven't performed well. We're looking for some consistency out of the people who are getting the opportunity."

ROCKIES REPORT

Three keys

Three keys to the Rockies' 8-3 win against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday afternoon at Coors Field:

1. With two out in the first inning, a run in and two Rockies on base, right-hander Kyle Loshe got ahead of Ryan Spilborghs and Chris Iannetta with 0-2 counts. Spilborghs battled back to draw a walk, loading the bases, and Iannetta shot a 1-2 pitch into right field for a two-run single, keying a four-run, two-out rally.

2. Left-hander Jorge De La Rosa gave up a home run to Ryan Ludwick to lead off the second, but he remained aggressive and retired the next nine batters, striking out four. He gave up two runs in 52/3 innings.

3. Garrett Atkins and Spilborghs had back-to-back sacrifice flies in the fourth, a bit of situational hitting the Rockies had been lacking. The Rockies had one sacrifice fly the first 27 games of the season but have five in the past eight games.

Etc.

The Rockies and Cardinals finished their season series, the fourth earliest end to a season series for the Rockies. Their 2006 season series with Philadelphia ended April 27. The 2003 series with the Cubs ended May 4. The 2002 series with Philadelphia ended May 5. The Rockies lost four of seven games to the Cardinals. . . . Cardinals left fielder Ludwick was limited to a pinch-hit appearance in the opener of the four- game series, but he made his presence felt in the next three games. He went 9-for-13 with three home runs in his visit to Coors Field. . . . Rockies manager Clint Hurdle was unsuccessful in his bid to get first-base umpire Bob Davidson to change his call on a hit by Todd Helton from a double to a home run in the first inning. The ball went off the top of the right-field scoreboard. While it didn't affect the outcome of the game - Helton eventually scored in the midst of a four-run rally - the Coors Field ground rules would seem to support the ball was a home run. Replays appeared to show the ball hit off the yellow strip on top of the wall, and Rockies officials say the ground rule is any ball that hits the yellow is a home run. . . . Matt Holliday equaled his career-best with four hits - all singles. It was the fifth four-hit game of his career, and it left him 11-for-27 with six RBI in the seven-game homestand.

Scouting report: San Diego Padres

* Series history: The Rockies lead the all-time series 120-114. While they trail 58-61 in San Diego, they do have a 21-19 edge at Petco Park, including winning two of three this season, including a 22-inning game to end the series. This is the Rockies' second trip of the season to San Diego. The Padres don't play in Colorado for the first time until June 30.

* Roster report: Left-hander Shawn Estes, 4-2 with a 3.67 ERA in six starts for Triple-A Portland (Ore.), was called up Thursday and right-hander Kevin Cameron (sprained right elbow) was placed on the disabled list. Also on the disabled list are right- handed pitchers Tim Stauffer (right shoulder strain), Mark Prior (right shoulder strain), Clay Hensley (right shoulder strain) and Carlos Guevara (right groin sprain); left-handed pitcher Justin Hampson (left shoulder tendonitis); and catcher Michael Barrett (sprained right elbow ligament).

* Quickly: The Padres have lost 17 of 21, including 15 of 19 since a 2-1 loss in 22 innings to the Rockies. . . . The Padres have lost five in a row and are coming off a 2-7 trip. . . . The three games with the Rockies are the only home games in a 19-game stretch for the Padres that continues with trips next week to Chicago to play the Cubs and Seattle for the first series of interleague play. . . . First baseman Adrian Gonzalez is 15-for-40 during a nine-game hitting streak. . . . Since the start of last season, the Padres have allowed more stolen bases (225) than any team in baseball and have stolen fewer bases (62) than any team in the National League. The Cubs have allowed the second-most stolen bases (132).

FIRST PITCH

NUMBERS GAME

5 consecutive starts for catcher Chris Iannetta, a first in his career. He has a hit in all five games, including a two-run first-inning single Thursday, and has eight RBI in the past five games and 14 RBI in 16 games this season.

STOPPER

Rockies manager Clint Hurdle wasn't buying the question.

"How does it feel to be going to San Diego (tonight) and facing Jake Peavy?" he was asked during the postgame media session.

"How do you think the Padres feel about facing Aaron Cook?" Hurdle replied. "We've got Cook going. I feel good about that."

There's reason to feel good about Cook. He has won his past five starts. And until Jorge De La Rosa earned the win Thursday, Cook was the only member of the Rockies rotation to earn a victory since Franklin Morales won April 18 in Houston.

HE SAID IT

"I knew we were flying to Houston after the game. What I was worried about was getting stuck in Houston rush- hour traffic, and we got stuck in it."

Todd Helton, Rockies first baseman, on concerns he had in the late moments of a 2-1, 22-inning victory at San Diego that began April 17 and ended at 2:21 a.m. MDT on April 18.

Comments

  • May 8, 2008

    7:49 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    porkchop writes:

    hey yella, stop being a hater or move back to where ever. if you were not frustrated watching the first month your not a fan anyway.

  • May 9, 2008

    3:52 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    dj80long writes:

    Oh, I see. A two game winning streak changes everything. Start chillin' the champagne.

  • May 9, 2008

    10:14 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    spencerr writes:

    They have the same problems this year as they had last year early on; shaky pitching and sub-par hitting by guys who are better than that. They do the best with what they have. It is frustrating to watch them lose, but they are very young, and they probably always will be as long as the Rockies are a middle market team that depends on home grown players. They can't afford to keep most of their stars around forever, so they will probably always have these problems. Occasionally, they will have the chemistry to have 85+ wins, but it will not be the norm.

    It is frustrating to watch them lose, but what can you do? At least Cookie and Fuentes are playing well. Maybe Cookie is finally going to break out and become a premier pitcher in the league.

  • May 9, 2008

    6:15 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    TonyStup writes:

    After living in Denver for the first 10 years of the Rockies experience, I have moved back to the middle of Cardinal Territory. I listen to the Cardinal announcers when they play my Rockies, but I get frustrated and offended when their announcers refuse to say the name of the Rockies Stadium. It's always, "The Ballpark in Denver" and has been this way since the beginning. I understand the competition between Busch and Coors, but this is juvenile. It seems kind of unfair, considering how much money is in the naming rights business. I remember hearing that Old Augie Busch forbad them to say "Coors" before he died. I don't remember that infantile behavior from the Rockie announcers, though. What's the childish deal?