Rockies' goose Cook-ed in desert

Arizona plucks Colorado's most reliable starter

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press

Arizona's Brandon Webb avoids a pitch from Rockies starter Aaron Cook in the fourth inning as Chris Iannetta misses the catch.

In a season gone awry, the one thing the Rockies had been able to cling to was the hope of every fifth game and Aaron Cook pitching.

So much for that idea.

Even Cook couldn't salvage a bit of pride for the free-falling Rockies, who arrive at Coors Field to open interleague play against the Minnesota Twins having seen their latest losing streak extended to five games with an 8-5 loss to the Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Thursday night.

Cook, who provided the Rockies with what turned out to be their only victory in the six-game trip in a 4-2 victory at San Diego a week ago tonight, saw his six- start winning streak broken in what was his shortest and least- effective effort of the season.

He came out after five innings having given up five runs, and now the Rockies are left to wonder what's next after seeing their record slip 11 games below .500 for the first time since the end of the 2006 season - and with Cook not scheduled to pitch again until Tuesday against San Francisco.

"Anytime you look up and I have six strikeouts in five innings, you know I'm not getting the ball where I am supposed to get it," said Cook, whose calling card is one of the hardest sinkers in the majors.

"The frustration for me is not giving my team a chance to win the game."

The five-game losing streak equals the Rockies' longest of the season. It is seventh time they have had a multiple-game losing streak. Cook has been the starting pitcher to end six of those slides.

But as good as Cook has been Arizona pitcher Brandon Webb has been on a record-setting tear of his own.

In holding the Rockies scoreless for six innings, Webb ran his record to 9-0 in nine starts, three against the Rockies.

He is the first pitcher to win his first nine starts in a season since Andy Hawkins started 10-0 with San Diego in 1985.

The Rockies now look for refuge at Coors Field, where they have played only 17 of 41 games (winning only seven). And tonight, they face the Twins, a team they have played only once before in the regular season - five years ago.

But familiarity hasn't been much help. The Rockies are 6-18 against their four National League West rivals this year.

"We have unfamiliar faces and a change in environment," manager Clint Hurdle said. "It will be good to go home. We need to find our way back from where we are, and (tonight) would be a good place to start."

But where the Rockies are playing and who they are playing won't matter if they don't start playing better, which is no secret.

The only thing standing between them and the worst record in baseball is San Diego - which is 15-27, compared with the Rockies' 15-26 - and the Rockies lost two of three games to the Padres last weekend at Petco Park.

"We are aware of where and why we are here," Hurdle said before Thursday's game. "Now it's a matter of going out and doing something about it."

Cook had been the one player who seemed to make a difference. The Rockies are 6-2 in his eight starts - 9-24 in all other games.

And his six quality starts (minimum six innings, maximum three earned runs) are one more than the rest of the Rockies rotation combined.

Cook didn't have the right recipe Thursday. He limited the Diamondbacks to one run in the first inning - which began with consecutive singles by Chris Young, Stephen Drew and Orlando Hudson - by striking out Justin Upton and getting Chris Snyder to ground into a double play.

But Snyder got even, and then some, in the fifth. With one out, two runners on base and Arizona leading 2-0, Snyder turned an 0-2 pitch from Cook into a three-run home run.

"It was supposed to be a sinker down and away and ended up looking like a four-seamer right down the middle," Cook said.

Even with that, the Rockies rallied late to get back into the game, the fifth time in six games they were shut out for at least five innings on the trip.

With a run in the seventh and two in the eighth, they pulled to 5-3, but Arizona added three unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth for a cushion it wound up needing.

"We played until it was over, but we have to play better," Hurdle said. "We hit the ignition button a little too late again."

Key moment: With two runners on, the Rockies trailing 2-0, one out in the fifth and an 0-2 count on Chris Snyder, Aaron Cook served up Snyder's third home run of the season. It was only the fourth home run Cook has allowed, the second in his past five starts, and the first home run he has given up this season with runners on.

Key players: Right-handed pitcher Brandon Webb of Arizona became the first pitcher to win his first nine starts in a season since Andy Hawkins of San Diego won his first 10 in 1985. Roger Clemens started the 2004 season 9-0 spanning 12 starts. . . . Shortstop Stephen Drew, 8-for-13 in the series, had a career-best four hits, including a double and triple.

Key stat: 1 time in the Rockies' just completed six-game trip they scored before the sixth inning of a game. In Tuesday's 8-4 loss to Arizona, the Rockies scored once in the second and three times in the fifth. The Rockies were shut out for the first five innings at San Diego on May 9 and Saturday and for the first six innings at San Diego on Sunday and Arizona on Wednesday and Thursday.

Etc.

The nine-game homestand the Rockies open tonight equals the second longest of the season. They have a 10-game homestand in August, when they have a four-game series with Washington (Aug. 4-7) and three-game series with San Diego (Aug. 8-10) and Arizona (Aug. 12-14). . . . Left-handed pitcher Josh Newman spent only 11 days at Triple-A Colorado Springs and made two appearances, working three shutout innings, before rejoining the Rockies when right-hander Ryan Speier was placed on the disabled list.

Scouting report: Minnesota Twins

Series history: The Rockies lost two of three games at the Metrodome in 2003 in the only regular-season meetings between the teams.

Roster: Pitchers Scott Baker (right groin strain) and Pat Neshek (right elbow surgery) and infielder Nick Punto (strained left hamstring) are on the disabled list.

Quickly: The Twins were swept in a three-game series against Toronto at the Metrodome, only the second time they have been swept this season. Detroit took a two-game series April 14-15. . . . The Twins are 6-10 on the road. . . . Outfielder Delmon Young has played in 205 consecutive games, the second-longest active streak behind the 367 games of Atlanta outfielder Jeff Francoeur. . . . Left- handed reliever Dennys Reyes is a former Rockies pitcher. Right- handed reliever Jesse Crain grew up in Boulder and attended Fairview High School. He was a second-round draft choice out of the University of Houston in 2002, the 61st player drafted.

NUMBERS GAME

.091 batting average for left-handed hitters against right-hander Taylor Buchholz, lowest in the National League.

RESTED

Third baseman Garrett Atkins became the final member of the Rockies to be left out of a starting lineup. Jeff Baker was at third base in place of Atkins against Arizona right-hander Brandon Webb. Atkins had his 12-game hitting streak end when he flied out to right as a pinch hitter in the eighth.

"At times, we can be slaves to schedules," manager Clint Hurdle said.

CATCHING ON

Chris IannettaDOWN and Yorvit Torrealba continue to share the catching duties. Hurdle said he wants to keep them fresh, and he admitted a struggling pitching staff can impact a catcher.

"The catcher takes it personally when things don't go well (for pitchers)," Hurdle said.

HE SAID IT

"I'm probably as surprised he is a manager, as he is surprised I'm a manager. We didn't talk to each other about managing. We were trying to resurrect our careers. I think I may have more range now. I'd play shortstop and he'd have to play third."

Hurdle, on Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. They were infield teammates in the Mets' farm system at the end of their careers.

• May 16, 2008

  12:38 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  flybys writes:

  A season ago the Rockies-Diamondbacks were two combatants worth watching slug it out.

  In 2008, the boys from the desert are the only ones doing the punching.

  The Diamondbacks are markedly better than a season ago, ripening before our eyes into a legitimate pennant winner while the Rockies are again nobodies, despite their intriguing talent.

  How quickly the worm turns.

  The sad reality is the Rockies appear to need more than a tuneup. a full engine overall seems more appropriate. The team will insist on patience, stating fairly that it needs health and development time for its' pitching and that the hitting will come along, especially once Troy Tulowitzki returns from injury.

  Of course that philosophy is oversimplified and has holes in it. Colorado was not expected to struggle this season. It was expected to compete for the division crown and as we can all see this team is much more likely to lose 90 than win 90.

  Many of the good feelings from last season are gone because of the violation of trust the team showed the fans during the offseason.

  It will take the Rockies a while to regain that trust.

  It's a good thing the fans are still in love.

• May 16, 2008

  7:32 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  ashanab writes:

  Despite the losses, the Rockies actually played fairly well against MLB's top team, the second and third games of the series were close. In both games the Rockies only needed one or two base hits at the end to tie or win the games. They're struggling yes, but it appears as if they're coming around slowly. The best thing we can do as fans is continue to support the team and it's leaders, and remember the year has only just begun. Go Rox!

• May 16, 2008

  7:33 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Firefox writes:

  Terrible!

• May 16, 2008

  11:12 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  dd618 writes:

  Sorry to trespass on your turf but I am a Dbacks fan and interested in your comments. I think it is great to have a Dbacks-Rockies rivalry which may have started in last year's NLCS dominated by your Rockies. Neither team has had a natural rival before.

  All I can say is don't give up yet. The Rox have amazing hitters who are going to catch fire at some point. The biggest disappointment has to be Francis, Morales, etc basically all the starters except Cook. Fogg was a Dback killer and I was glad to see him leave the division but maybe he couldn't beat anyone else.

  If the woes continue, it would probably be worthwhile to consider trading Holliday for top prospects, especially young pitching. I hadn't realized he was represented by Scott Boras, and that says a lot - that agent's ridiculous demands were too much even for ARod to stomach. As good as Holliday is, the Rockies might be better to "sell high" and reap a boatload of young talent ala Oakland A's.