Cincinnati – The Rockies’ road record would make much more sense if fans arrived at Great American Ball Park and saw Billy Bob Thornton throwing batting practice between sips on a beer.
The Bad News Bears, a collection of misfits and miscreants, are capable of such ineptitude. With the Rockies, 7-36 is hard to research and even more difficult to reconcile.
Yes, they are inexperienced, but not so young anymore that they are asking manager Clint Hurdle on bus rides, “Are we there yet?” Can’t a major-league team of tourists, by accident, win 10 games away from home by July 18?
“I would have never thought that would be our record,” said Jamey Wright, Sunday’s starting pitcher. “There’s a difference between being horrible and competitive. We have been competitive. That’s why it’s so hard to believe.”
Even by Rockies standards, their 9-4 thrashing Sunday by the Cincinnati Reds stretched the elasticity of the imagination.
Fourteen pitches separated Colorado from dominance and indignity. One second Wright was working on a one-hitter with two out in the sixth inning, the next moment, 20,736 fans were draping themselves in the glory that is Javier Valentin.
The Reds’ backup catcher finished with seven RBIs, becoming the first Cincinnati player since Pete Rose in 1967 to homer from both sides of the plate.
“Wright was having his way with us, then he gets two outs, and it’s a homer, another homer and a grand slam,” said Reds first baseman Sean Casey, who went deep at Great American for the first time since Sept. 17. “That’s why I couldn’t be a starting pitcher. I’d retire.”
With the Rockies opening a three- game series today in the nation’s capital, Hurdle wasn’t delivering any concession speeches. He’s aware of the record, aware the Rockies are stumbling through the relics of major-league history as only the fifth team since 1900 to begin a season so poorly at visiting parks.
“Nobody is giving up. That’s not what this team is about or what I am about,” said Hurdle, raising his voice slightly. “We are staying with this direction, as painful as it might be. It’s making these men grow up a lot quicker.”
Beyond age, injuries and bad luck, there’s a salient point about the Rockies: If they are going to avoid becoming the worst road team ever, they must get better.
Their starter can’t, in Hurdle’s words, “just blow up,” turning a 1-0 lead into a 6-1 deficit in those aforementioned 14 pitches. Their all-star closer, Brian Fuentes, can’t walk back-to-back left-handers before surrendering a three-run home run to Valentin. Their best rookie hitter, Garrett Atkins, can’t go 1-for-12 in the series.
“I am already a man of few words, so I don’t know else to say,” first baseman Todd Helton said. “I am not looking for a light at the end of the tunnel. I am just looking at (today).”
In that context, there is good news. The Rockies face the Washington Nationals at a stadium – RFK – where they never have lost a road game. Then again, they have never played there.
“We are the only ones who can get ourselves out of this mess,” Wright said. “We have had plenty of opportunities to get wins out here and we just haven’t been able to cash in.”
Rockies recap
With every swing, Reds center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. collides with history. He crushed his 521st home run in the sixth inning Sunday, tying him with Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for 14th all time. Griffey homered in every game of this series, creating a flashback to the superstar who was considered the superior player to Barry Bonds during the 1990s.
“To see what he’s doing now that he’s healthy again is special,” Reds first baseman Sean Casey said.
Griffey didn’t hit a homer until his 80th at-bat. He has 20 in his past 245 at-bats, while playing in his most games since 2001.
HOLLIDAY ON WAY: Matt Holliday, out since June 9 with a fractured right pinkie finger, will join the team today, though he probably won’t be activated until Tuesday. Holliday has said he will forgo headfirst slides from now on, which is how he suffered the injury.
SEAY ON WAY OUT: Left-hander Bobby Seay was outrighted off the 40-man roster, leaving his future with the organization in doubt. Jose Acevedo replaced him.
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-820-5447 or trenck@denverpost.com.
