Houston – If all Texans lived up to their bodacious image, the electronic billboards outside Minute Maid Park could have flashed a pompous missive while hyping the afternoon game Wednesday:
“Mismatch of the Season”
Roger “The Rocket” Clemens vs. the lowly, road-beaten Rockies. Get your tickets.
To further promote the National League game, the Rockies momentarily put the fear of an upset into the Texas-sized crowd of 39,415.
But by game’s end, Clemens’ Houston Astros pounded the Rockies 6-2, and the baseball world settled as it should. Clemens picked up his 334th career victory, while the Rockies – who are threatening to become the worst visiting team of the 86-year-old live-ball era – suffered their 31st loss in 36 road games.
“It was pretty special (facing Clemens),” Rockies rookie Cory Sullivan said. “But it was kind of the story of our season. We’ve had trouble delivering the knockout punch when we’re on the road. Unfortunately, we leave teams in the game and we can’t finish them.”
The Rockies’ 5-31 record away from home continues to match the 1982 Minnesota Twins for the worst road start since the big leagues put a little juice into their baseballs in 1920.
Clemens has never brought his “A” game to the Rockies. This was his third start against them, and each has been a struggle, at least by his lofty standards. While pitching for the New York Yankees at Coors Field in 2002, Clemens had a 7-1 lead entering the fifth, but was knocked out after he was struck by Juan Pierre’s liner. He beat the Rockies at Coors Field last season but gave up nine hits, including three homers, in 5 2/3 innings.
Wednesday, Clemens needed 40 pitches to get through the first two innings, 104 to finish the sixth.
“There are times where at my age you do have to will your way through some innings,” said Clemens, who is six weeks from his 43rd birthday. “You have to make good pitches. You have to continue to be stingy, a little bit hardheaded.”
Clemens would not be ninth in career victories without occasionally figuring out how to win when it didn’t appear to be his day. The Rockies had the bases loaded and nobody out in the second, but Clemens allowed just one run after inducing a double-play grounder from JD Closser and a pop fly from opposing pitcher Jason Jennings (4-8).
The Rockies scored their second run in the third without hitting a ball out of the infield. Sullivan led off with a swinging bunt that Astros third baseman Morgan Ensberg threw away. Bunted to third, Sullivan scored when second baseman Craig Biggio charged, bobbled and failed to take care of Brad Hawpe’s slow roller.
At that point it was 2-0 Rockies, the ball seemed to be rolling their way and with Jennings pitching well, the upset of the season seemed possible.
The game turned, however, when Jennings nicked Biggio’s elbow pad with two out and nobody on in the third. Lance Berkman followed with a single, and Ensberg crushed a hanging slider high off the brick wall beyond the left-field fence for his 17th homer of the season.
“That was a frustrating game,” Jennings said. “I felt like I pitched better than my line showed, but that happens in this game.”
Clemens (6-3) took it from there. When Astros center fielder Willy Taveras overran Hawpe’s flyball that fell for a leadoff double in the sixth, Clemens left him stranded there three outs later.
ROCKIES RECAP
Closser only the latest to make costly error
The Rockies’ road mantra this season has been how they’re in every game, they just need to find a way to win. Yet in almost every game, the Rockies make a major blunder that hastens defeat. Third baseman Garrett Atkins turned a double play into a two-run error Tuesday. And catcher JD Closser turned a wild pitch into a two-run play Wednesday. After hustling for the wild pitch up the first-base line in the seventh, Closser whirled from his knees and threw the ball in the dugout. “Our inability to execute in pressure situations puts us in the wrong column,” Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said.
Rocket the Intimidator
After Rockies pitcher Jason Jennings popped up to shallow center in the seventh, he slammed his bat so hard it hit catcher Brad Ausmus. Jennings quickly apologized to Ausmus, but Astros pitcher Roger Clemens glared at Jennings as he ran to first and then as he jogged back to the dugout. What did Clemens say to Jennings? “I didn’t say a word to him,” Clemens said tersely. Said Jennings: “I didn’t know he did that. I respect him, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be mad for popping up.”
New pitch, new pitcher
Jamey Wright is not a journeyman retread; he’s a pitcher whose career has been reborn. Credit Paul Bako, his catcher with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002. “He’s the one who told me I should try the cutter,” Wright said. Bako had been Greg Maddux’s personal catcher in Atlanta. After seeking Maddux’s help in throwing the cutter, Wright found the grip didn’t take for him, so he made an adjustment off his regular fastball. The result is a pitch that has made Wright considerably more effective against left-handed hitters than he was during his first stint with the Rockies.
Mike Klis can be reached at 303-820-5440 or mklis@denverpost.com.
