Throwback day got the best of Chicago Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux.
On a day when Coors Field played like the Coors Field of old – eight home runs left the park, the most since opening day against San Diego – Maddux suffered his first Colorado knockout.
The pitcher they call “The Professor” came into the game with a 5-0 record in six lifetime starts at Coors. He left after six innings, with a loss in the offing, after giving up six runs on eight hits. Three Rockies – Dustan Mohr in the fourth and Matt Holliday and Garrett Atkins in the fifth – clubbed homers off Maddux. It was the first time this season he suffered the indignity of giving up three home runs in one game.
“They got to me big-time,” said Maddux, who fell to 10-10. “You’ve got to keep the ball down here or you’ll pay. I should know that. Mohr got a good pitch, and he crunched it big-time.”
Mohr’s homer, a 431-foot, two-run shot to center, was his 15th of the season, most on the team.
“I just had some patience and waited for a good pitch,” Mohr said. “I think we took advantage of some of Maddux’s mistakes today.”
Atkins, facing Maddux for the first time in his career, had a single in the fourth to complement his homer in the fifth.
“I know that he’s a pitcher who makes you hit his pitch,” Atkins said. “I tried to be patient.
“The pitch I hit for the homer was a pretty good low pitch by him, but I stayed down on it and stayed with it.”
Bigbie’s Achilles
Center fielder Larry Bigbie’s right Achilles tendon was taped up tight Sunday, and he did not play. Bigbie was injured Saturday night when his foot slipped as he was making a throw.
The Rockies will make a decision on his status today. There is a chance he won’t make the club’s nine-game West Coast road trip, and he could go on the 15-day disabled list.
If Bigbie is out for an extended period of time, the Rockies might bring up Choo Freeman from Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Bigbie described the injury as a “burning sensation up into my calf.” As much as he wants to keep playing, he knows he has to play it smart.
“When you are messing with an Achilles tendon and you go out there and try to play with it, you could tear it, and that’s serious,” he said. “Then you could really be out for a long, extended period.”
Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said a center fielder is useless with a bad wheel.
“A center fielder with a right-Achilles issue? That’s an oxymoron,” he said. “If you have an Achilles problem, you’re not going to be roaming center field.”
Day’s big night
Zach Day made an impressive start in Colorado Springs on Saturday night, throwing seven strong innings and inducing three double plays and nine groundball outs.
“His command improved dramatically,” Hurdle said. “This was the biggest step in the right direction he’s taken so far.”
The Rockies have an opening for a starter Saturday in San Diego, but Hurdle hasn’t decided if Day will get the call. If he doesn’t, there is a good chance current reliever Sunny Kim will start against the Padres.
Footnotes
The Rockies have been cutting a lot of games close this season. Almost half their games have been decided by two runs or fewer. After Sunday’s two-run margin of victory, the Rockies are 14-17 in two-run games. They stand 16-17 in one-run games. …
Holliday has hit safely in 17 of his past 18 games, posting a .366 average (26-for-71), with 11 runs scored, four doubles, three homers and 11 RBIs. His season average stands at .316.
