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Cook done for '08; Rockies top Lincecum

Pitcher cautious with tight back

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 24, 2008 at 12:19 a.m.

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Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki forces out Bengie Molina and throws to first to complete a double play in the eighth inning.

Photo by Jeff Chiu / Associated Press

Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki forces out Bengie Molina and throws to first to complete a double play in the eighth inning.

The key . . .

* Moment: After Tim Lincecum struck out Joe Koshansky, walked Omar Quintanilla and struck out Ubaldo Jimenez to start the fourth, Seth Smith bounced a double over the center-field fence. Troy Tulowitzki then hit a groundball to the left of third baseman Rich Aurilia, who stumbled and dove for the ball that got by him for a single. Quintanilla scored the tying run and Smith the go-ahead run.

* Player: Tulowitzki continued his second-half surge, going 4-for-5 with a home run. He has had five multihit games in his past 12 games, is hitting .329 since the All-Star break and has improved his average to .260.

* Stat: 11 wins for right-handed pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez in his past 16 decisions, increasing his season record to 12-12. He is the sixth right-hander in Rockies history to have at least 12 wins, joining Aaron Cook, Darryl Kile, Jason Jennings, Kevin Ritz and Pedro Astacio. Jennings did it twice and Astacio three times.

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Five games remain on the Rockies' schedule for 2008.

But the season effectively has ended.

All-Star right-hander Aaron Cook said Tuesday he will skip his final start, scheduled for Friday night in Arizona.

He joins left-hander Jeff Francis and first baseman Todd Helton as key members of the roster who have had premature endings to the season.

Cook will pass on a chance to equal a club record with 17 wins but that also might prompt complaints from the Dodgers, who are trying to hold off Arizona in the National League West title race.

The remaining Rockies, meanwhile, knocked around the NL Cy Young Award hopes of San Francisco right-hander Tim Lincecum in a 9-4 victory against the Giants at AT&T Park.

The win gave the Rockies a two-game edge on San Francisco in what has become a battle for third place in the NL West.

Seth Smith homered and doubled, scoring a second run, and Troy Tulowitzki went 4-for-5 with a home run and a two-run, go-ahead single in the fourth off Lincecum.

While Lincecum struck out nine, giving him the San Francisco Giants' single-season strikeouts record of 252, his record fell to 17-5, which won't help him in his Cy Young Award battle with Arizona right-hander Brandon Webb, who will go into his regular-season finale against the Rockies with 22 wins.

There was a touch of controversy on Tulowitzki's single.

Official scorer Michael Duca initially charged third baseman Rich Aurilia with an error but changed it to a single when Aurilia confirmed after the game he had made a diving attempt at the ball.

That increased Lincecum's ERA to 2.66, slightly behind Mets left-hander Johan Santana, who now leads the NL at 2.64.

Having thrown 607 pitches in his five previous starts, Lincecum failed to get through the fifth inning for the first time in 32 starts.

His previous shortest effort was five innings, which happened twice, including Sept. 2 against the Rockies at Coors Field, a game Colorado won 6-5 in 12 innings.

Ubaldo Jimenez, meanwhile, allowed three runs in six innings and evened his record at 12-12 in the continuation of his rebound from a 1-7 start in which the Rockies lost 13 of his first 14 starts.

The Dodgers could have the division clinched by Friday - they extended their NL West lead over Arizona on Tuesday to three games with five games remaining after beating San Diego and the Diamondbacks losing in St. Louis - which could make matters moot when the Rockies arrive in Phoenix.

Jason Hirsh, who spent the summer at Triple-A Colorado Springs after developing a sprained right rotator cuff in spring training and has struggled in two brief relief appearances since being called up, will start in place of Cook against the Diamondbacks on Friday.

Regardless of the NL West race by the time the Rockies get to Arizona, Cook felt he made the necessary decision in turning down a fifth chance to claim that elusive 17th victory.

"I would expect to have a shot at 17 wins again in my career," Cook said. "I don't feel the risk is worth the reward. I talked with (manager) Clint (Hurdle) and 'Dac' (pitching coach Bob Apodaca), my family and my teammates before deciding this was the right thing to do."

While Cook said he has overcome the back spasms that forced him to take eight days between starts in mid-August, he did admit some tightness in getting loose for his two previous starts.

"Seven wins would be nice, but I don't want to go out and try to do too much," Cook said. "It is more important to go into the offseason healthy and build up for next year.

"I've hit the point in the season where there have been a lot of innings."

Cook has a career-best 16 victories in 32 starts, which equals a career high.

He worked 211 1/3 innings, four outs short of his career high from 2006.

Cook and Hurdle first discussed the possibility last week, and after Cook's start Saturday against Arizona, the pitcher began talking with others about the idea of taking off the rest of the season.

"I give Aaron a lot of credit for thinking through this and not just shutting down immediately," Hurdle said. "He's been red-lining it the last few starts. And I think the risk of injury is real if he would go back out there."

Comments

  • September 24, 2008

    7:39 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    flybys writes:

    Said it at the trading deadline and will say it again -- not trading Aaron Cook was a serious mistake.

    He had a career year and will likely struggle next season, never again duplicating this type of season. The man has had, no fault of his own, health problems as well as not reaching his potential.

    The Rockies could have dealt him to a contending team as a low-level no. 2 pitcher for a quality return. That still could happen but considering how Cook finished the season and considering he could be hurt more than the reported inflammation, Colorado made a mistake. Yes, this franchise cannot afford to give up what it has always lacked -- pitching -- but Cook is not a given to be healthy or this-type of quality again.

  • September 24, 2008

    8:05 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    DeimosJB writes:

    I don't follow - why would it be a good idea to trade a guy who wins 16 games and eats up 211 innings? Aren't we supposed to be keeping some of our talent?
    To address the injury concern, I seriously doubt Cook's injury is serious or he wouldn't have pitched his last 2 games. But now with the Rockies mathematically eliminated, why would Cook go out and risk turning discomfort into injury?
    There is no reason to think Cook won't be a solid part of the line-up next year. The real question mark is Francis. With Cook, and the emergence of Jimenez (11-5 since his awful start), if Francis can come back strong next year, the Rockies have a pretty formidable 1-2-3. Now if they can just get a 4 and 5, and if they figure out what to do with Helton, Holliday, Atkins, Stewart, etc, and if they can figure out how to not screw ticket holders, and if...

  • September 24, 2008

    8:24 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    GeeTee writes:

    Cook should take his start. Why is there suddenly "risk" involved? Wuss -- he's being paid to pitch.

  • September 24, 2008

    9:23 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    arvada_mark writes:

    He was never the same after Hurdle threw him for 3 innings during the All-Star game. I still don't understand why Hurdle was willing to put our guy in harms way, but not the D-Backs guy.

  • September 24, 2008

    9:44 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    opinionatedcolo writes:

    nice short term view there GeeTee. Yeah, let's risk next season for a couple of more starts in a lost cause this year. The reality of baseball is that for most teams, late September is a time to play your young guys let your veterans rest and start thinking about how to get better in the off season. Every team not in the pennant race is doing the same thing.

    The bigger issue is where Cook fits next year. I do not agree with flybys, but Cook is not a number 1 starter. He is a solid 2 or a great 3, but we lack a stopper to win the big game. I just do not see how we get a number 1 except in a trade for Holiday or, perhaps Atkins, but likely not. Some of our favorites will be gone this off season and we can only hope that the trades will work out. As the Monforts will not sell and will not fire O'Dowd or Hurdle, the management situation seems set. Not supporting that, but it seems to be the reality.

  • September 24, 2008

    11:46 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    fastnloose writes:

    I'm not sure Hurdle has a lock on his job for next year. He may be in the organization but field manager might not be his role.JMHO

  • September 24, 2008

    12:04 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    clos777 writes:

    Trade Cook at the deadline? that is one of dumbest things I have heard, would it not have been better to trade for a SP instead of trading your best one away...
    Season is over, why risk starting your best pitcher when your season is done.
    When your team is more then 10 games under .500 and no chance for playoffs you give a young guy a chance to start,
    so that way next season that young guy can compete for the #3 spot with a jouneyman pitcher who signed for the League minimum..

  • September 24, 2008

    12:24 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    fjv1026 writes:

    Has Hurdle and Apodaca been fired yet?

  • September 24, 2008

    1:22 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    yamahabass2 writes:

    I think Cook will be the number 1 guy next year with Francis number 2 and Jimenez number 3. With another year of experience, Jimenez could jump to the number 1 slot. He's got the best stuff. 4 and 5 will continue to be a problem. Hopefully Morales gets it together for next year.

  • September 24, 2008

    4:17 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    arvada_mark writes:

    We should be able to get a #1 starter for Ian Stewart. And we already have a 3rd baseman that has been as good as anybody over the past few years...at least as good as anybody not named David Wright. I know, I'm a genuis.

    Imagine for a second if we had an ownership group that wasn't affraid of winning...we somehow find a way to lock up GA & Holliday, & then we go get CC...he's a bad, bad man. Helton is healthy...oh, & B-Fuent was also there when I had this vision (vision?...more like a hallucination). We are back in the series next year if we do that. But then again, who wants to play for somebody who's #1 goal is mediocrity. Do you think the Brothers Monfort consider this season successful? I mean, they raised ticket prices again, but this time attendance actually went up with it. They pulled more money out of my pockets this year, I know that. We already know their idea of success is not a matter of what happens on the field.