Washington – History assaults the senses. Even as tourists wear the weather – hello, humidity – they can’t ignore knowledge. Every gaze reveals a relic, a monument or a museum.
Manager Clint Hurdle jogged around some of the country’s most famous landmarks Monday morning. It was perhaps overkill for the leader of a team that can’t escape its past.
“It’s a challenge,” said Hurdle, his team off to baseball’s worst road start in 42 years. “But eventually there is going to be one group that turns this thing around.”
The nation’s capital seemed a poor place to start. Washington is tied with Houston with the league’s best home record (30-14), with the Nationals stepping on throats in close games. Colorado, meanwhile, has blown more promising leads than Inspector Clouseau.
Naturally, the Rockies slithered away with a 5-4 victory at RFK Stadium, which doubled as the world’s largest sauna.
The upset put them in position to win their first road series since last Sept. 3-5 at San Diego. The Rockies are 10-45 in visiting parks since that accomplishment. Of all the ways to post a rare victory, a Vinny Castilla error ranked among the most unlikely.
Castilla, bothered by tendinitis in his left knee, watched a ninth-inning groundball scoot through his legs, scoring Eddy Garabito with the decisive run.
“I put my glove down, and I missed it,” Castilla said. “There’s no excuse. I should have made the play.”
That kind of mistake has haunted the Rockies on the road. Monday appeared primed to follow suit. After his team secured a 4-2 lead, center fielder Cory Sullivan, in an otherwise terrific evening, attempted to rifle out Jose Guillen at third base on a sacrifice fly. The throw ricocheted off Guillen’s helmet, tying the score in the seventh inning.
“It was a weird night,” reliever Mike DeJean said. “How often are you going to see something like that where a great throw costs you a run?”
“Strange” was the most uttered word in both clubhouses afterward.
The teams combined for six errors, not counting a flyball Nationals center fielder Preston Wilson should have retrieved in the fifth that led to a run. The gaffes were hard to recall with specificity because of the oppressive heat.
Washington pitcher Tony Armas Jr. left in the second inning because of dizziness and dehydration, burnt after running the bases. Rockies catcher JD Closser, whose sacrifice bunt set up the winning run, looked as if he had just boxed 10 rounds as he sweated through his postgame meal.
“It must be global warming. I don’t ever remember it being this hot as a kid when I was playing tournaments in Memphis and Mississippi,” Rockies first baseman Todd Helton said. “I bet I lost 10 pounds out there.”
That the Rockies didn’t lose can be traced to bookend moments. Byung-Hyun Kim provided a terrific start, navigating six innings of two-run ball. In the ninth, all-star closer Brian Fuentes worked through wildness and drama.
After not getting loose quick enough and forced to sit through a delay after Jose Vidro was ejected, Fuentes calmed his nerves, finishing off the first-place Nationals for his 13th save.
“For us, this is a big win,” Fuentes said, “because this is the kind of game we have usually lost in the past.”
Rockies recap
It hurt even for Vinny Castilla to smile. Patella tendinitis in his left knee, first developed in spring training, has become “a nightmare.” Castilla favors the leg when he runs and believes it has short-circuited his power. Still, the third baseman doesn’t regret taking Washington’s two-year, $6.2 million contract, more than $4 million what the Rockies were willing to pay for the reigning NL RBI leader.
“Obviously, I would have liked to finish there. That’s where I live. But they were going young,” Castilla said.
Castilla struggled against his former team, committing two errors, and failed to drive the ball with his typical authority.
MILES AWAY FROM ORDINARY: Aaron Miles extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a first-inning single. He later scored, marking only the fourth road game in which the Rockies have scored in the first inning. Opponents own a 31-4 advantage in the first at-bat in visiting parks.
TIME FOR HOLLIDAY: Outfielder Matt Holliday will be activated today. He is expected to replace Ryan Spilborghs.
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-820-5447 or trenck@denverpost.com.
