Rockies' record drops to 10 games below .500

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Matt York / Associated Press

The Rockies' Jonathan Herrera slides safely into home under the tag of Diamondbacks catcher Chris Snyder during the seventh inning Wednesday at Chase Field in Phoenix. Colorado lost 4-3.

The results added another blemish to left-hander Jorge De La Rosa's record.

But De La Rosa was as much victim as culprit in the Rockies' 4-3 loss to Arizona at Chase Field on Wednesday night.

With the Rockies falling 10 games below .500 for the first time since the end of the 2006 season, De La Rosa went from dominating for the first three innings to battling in the fourth and fifth, Arizona scoring twice in each inning en route to its seventh win in eight games against the Rockies.

"I thought De La Rosa was better than his line," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "He made tough pitches in certain situations and handled himself pretty well."

The Rockies lost their fourth consecutive game on a trip that began with a win in San Diego on Friday, and they will try to salvage a second victory in tonight's finale against the Diamondbacks.

Aaron Cook, who has won six consecutive starts, will get the call, but he will be up against Brandon Webb, who has won all eight of his starts this season.

What has been constantly brushed aside in the Rockies' struggle to defend the National League pennant they won last year is the inability of the offense to break open a game, particularly the men in the middle of the order, and that was a failing again Wednesday.

The Rockies managed only two hits in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position, leaving them 5-for-33 in clutch at-bats during the four losses.

"There is a defining moment in each game and we are not making things happen at that time," Hurdle said. "We are not playing a complete game."

Arizona right-hander Micah Owings rebounded from staggering through the first inning to pitching six shutout innings.

Four batters into the game, the Rockies, a team whose confidence could use an early offensive explosion, had the bases loaded. Owings walked Ryan Spilborghs to start the game. After a strikeout of Omar Quintanilla, Matt Holliday shot a double into the right-field corner and Todd Helton worked Owings for a walk.

But four pitches later, Owings was out of the jam. He struck out Garrett Atkins on three pitches and got Brad Hawpe to ground to second on the next pitch.

"They have been our run-producing guys," Hurdle said. "They are both capable of breaking something open. A single, we get two runs; something in the gap and we get three. . . . We left 12 men on base, so you can pick your spot where if we get a hit it gives us a chance."

De La Rosa faced only 10 batters in the first three innings, getting a double play in the first and striking out two in the second and third.

Even when he gave up two runs in the fourth, he showed composure. Stephen Drew, Orlando Hudson and Conor Jackson started he inning with singles, Jackson driving in Drew, then Hudson going to third and Jackson to second when right fielder Hawpe let the single get by him. That prompted an intentional walk to Justin Upton.

Then De La Rosa got struggling Eric Byrnes to ground into a run-scoring double play and struck out Mark Reynolds.

De La Rosa wasn't as composed in the fifth when, with two out and runners on second and third, he got a questionable call from home plate umpire Adrian Johnson on a 1-2 pitch to Hudson, who doubled home two runs on the next pitch. When De La Rosa followed with a walk of Jackson, the bullpen got the call.

"He made a lot of tough pitches those last two innings, but in the fifth inning, they were able to get that big two-out hit," Hurdle said.

Ryan Spilborghs singled home a run in the seventh against Chad Qualls, but after Scott Podsednik's two-run single in the eighth, Tony Pena struck out Spilborghs.

And after Helton and Atkins had back-to-back two-out singles in the ninth, Brandon Lyon closed out his 11th save by getting Hawpe to pop out to third.

"We get a little cleaner play in the outfield, who knows how things turn out?" Hurdle said. "The offense comes up with a clutch hit. . . ."

Bottom line is the Rockies didn't get the big play or big hit, which left them with another loss.

The key . . .

* Moment: In the first inning, the Rockies loaded the bases with one out on a leadoff walk to Ryan Spilborghs, a one-out double by Matt Holliday and a walk of Todd Helton. Garrett Atkins then struck out on three pitches, his 10th strikeout to go with 10 hits in 46 at-bats with a runner in scoring position. He's hitting .217 with runners in scoring position.

* Player: Arizona right-handed pitcher Micah Owings bounced back from having to escape a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first to work six scoreless innings, allowing three singles in his final five innings. He won for the first time in four starts.

* Stat: 36 pitches thrown by left-hander Jorge De La Rosa of the Rockies in the first three innings. He retired only five more batters, but he gave up four runs and threw 52 pitches in his final 12/3 innings.

Etc.

Right-handed pitcher Ryan Speier will be placed on the disabled list today with a right shoulder contusion, suffered when he took a line drive by Tadahito Iguchi off his shoulder in San Diego last weekend. Left-hander Josh Newman will rejoin the Rockies to fill the opening in the bullpen. . . . Atkins extended his hitting streak to 12 games when he had a pop up fall in center field in the sixth when Chris Young took a bad break on the ball. . . . Triple-A Colorado Springs infielder Christian Colonel tied a Pacific Coast League record Sunday by getting a hit in his sixth straight pinch-hit appearance. Dick Smith set the record in 1957 and Jack Littrell matched it in 1960. . . . Former Rockies pitching coach Frank Funk, 72, retired and living in the Phoenix area, was a clubhouse visitor.

NUMBERS GAME

.232 batting average for Rockies leadoff hitters after Wednesday's loss, ranking 25th among the 30 major league teams. The only teams with a lower average out of leadoff spots are the Cubs (.229), White Sox (.221), Astros (.201), Athletics (.198) and Brewers (.192).

PLAN AHEAD

Rockies manager Clint Hurdle decided to give shortstop Clint Barmes, above, one of the final two games in Arizona off. He looked at the pitching matchups and decided to rest Barmes on Wednesday and put him in the lineup for today.

And what was the deciding factor?

"Aaron Cook is pitching Thursday," said Hurdle, referring to the Rockies sinkerball specialist, "so I wanted the best infield defense."

As far as the Arizona pitchers, Barmes will be facing Brandon Webb, against whom he is 3-for-20. Barmes never has faced Micah Owings, who started Wednesday, but the stat that caught Hurdle's attention was that right-handed hitters had a .146 average against Owings.

HE SAID IT

"That (42 consecutive scoreless innings last season), with three shutouts in a row, is to me, more impressive. . . . I could be 8-0 and have a 5.00 ERA if the other guys are scoring six runs a game. Wins are something pitchers really can't control, and I've just been fortunate enough to be on the good side of that."

Webb, on being the first National League pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 1997 to win his first eight starts in a season.

• May 15, 2008

  12:44 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  flybys writes:

  The Rockies stew just isn't working. The club will remain patient, as the club M.O. is, hoping Jeff Francis and Ubaldo Jimenez catch on in class, that Franklin Morales earns his way out of the corner, Jason Hirsh gets put back together again, Manny Corpas proves healthy and able to bust out of his purple haze and that the hitters end their strike.

  Sounds like a lot of variables to bank a turnaround on, doesn't it?

  Which means that the ride this summer could have some serious turbulence and leave a sour taste in the mouths of many hoping for and expecting more of the same of the fairy tale that was at the end of last season.

• May 15, 2008

  1:09 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  dj80long writes:

  Yeah, the pitching stinks, but the offense is the baffling part of their woes. They can't hit a lick right now, and haven't produced runs all year. 10 games under .500 in May is a bad position to be in. They won't do it, but the Pebbles need to do something to shake this club up. They've been sleepwalking since the B-Sox whupped 'em in the WS.

• May 15, 2008

  6:59 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  afvx3 writes:

  How pathetic are the rockies. This season goes to show how much the end of last season was a fluke. This team is an embarassment to the Rocky Mountain Region. It's time for Hurdle and especially Apodaca to go. Good riddance!!!!!

• May 15, 2008

  7:41 a.m.

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  RockiesWin writes:

  Last year's success was not a fluke! Thei record was what it was. The Rockies problem is that they sat pat in the off-season. They have fallen in love with all their prospects and refuse to deal them. Now that everyone in the world knows they need pitching, they can't make a trade because they would get fleeced. Danny boy needs to make a decision on Ian Stewart. The guy is too good to be in triple A. As for Hurdle, quit juggling the lineup so much!!! No consistency can be gained when you keep changing the lineup! Pick a lineup, preferably with Spilborghs in center, and go with it!!! Let the guys get into a rhythm.

  And sportscasters, quit making comparisions to last year. That team started out slow and recovered to make the playoffs. Doesnt mean it will happen again this year, and I guarantee it WON'T! The Rocks are struggling this year an we as fans are going to have to suffer through it yet again. When the off-season comes, please Dan make some deals for pitching!!!!!

  And by-the-way......you might want to find a speedy second baseman who can field. You totally whiffed on Nix. Again you overvalued your farm system!!!

• May 15, 2008

  8:51 a.m.

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  LaszloPanaflex writes:

  "What has been constantly brushed aside..."

  Drew and Gomer assure us every night that "the offense will come around," but a quarter of the season is through and it's the same thing. Doesn't much matter though, since the pitching staff is one man deep.

  Maybe FSN should stop running that commercial where the players have turned into primadonnas. It's starting to make me wonder about what success may have done to the team attitude. If this team really were a diva, it would be in rehab now, fighting for custody of its kids.

• May 15, 2008

  9:52 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Blind_Pete writes:

  Maybe the Rocks were not as good as we thought last year when they played very good ball during the second half of the season and then got very hot at the most opportune time. But they also are not as bad as they look right now.

  For a good team to go to the WS, it typically takes having two or three key players having a career year at the same time. Conversely, for a good team to have a bad year it takes a few key players to have an off year at the same time. With either result, it is still a good team. There is a little luck involved with those career years and injuries avoided.

  The likelihood of consecutive seasons with those key career years and avoidance of key injuries is remote. Hence, there are very few repeats. We fans are all disappointed to see the Rocks at the bottom. Imagine the fans in Detroit, whose team was picked to win it all.

• May 15, 2008

  9:56 a.m.

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  maddogvasion writes:

  rocks fans here comes your answer to success. The Minnesota Twins! Keep your eyes on the action - not only on the field (you will learn from that too) but, mostly on the rule 4, and rule 5 drafts. The Twins are pros at selecting, placing and protecting well evaluated talent. The rockies are not let there - although, they seem to be moving in that direction.

  Twins win Game 1 & 2

  lose game 3 to Francis - who will get his 1st W.

  WIN TWINS WIN TWINS!!!!

• May 15, 2008

  10:55 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  kmeissner writes:

  THe problem isn't Hurdle or Apodaca. The real problem is our offense. Where the heck did their bats go? Atkins and Spilborghs are the only players who seem to be able to hit the ball at all recently. The pitching hasn't been perfect, but the offense should be able to consistently put up at least 4-5 runs per game. I feel bad for Francis and De La Rosa. If only Cooke could pitch every night. The team seems to be able to put up some runs to help him out. Why not with Francis!?!?!?!

• May 15, 2008

  11:04 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  bobba writes:

  Maybe the Rockies' NL worst batting average with runners in scoring position would be better if the right hitters were at the plate with runners on! But the 1 and 2 hitters haven't been getting on base, the 3-5 spots have... probably quite often with two outs and trailing by 3-4 runs at the time.

  So these guys are pressing...

  and that usually doesn't help a hitter very much.

  At least they're trying Spilborghs back in the top spot. He got on three times last night and has the best numbers of all the guys they could use there. If he can keep getting on base 2-3 times per night and Helton can maintain his .390 OBP in the #2 spot, the big boppers will get theirs.