St. Louis – More than two hours before Tuesday’s game, Rockies shortstop Clint Barmes mopped rivers of sweat off his brow, the byproduct of a 45-minute batting-cage session with hitting coach Duane Espy.
“I am trying, I’m working, to getting back the feeling I had last year,” Barmes said. “I feel like I am very close to doing that. I made some big strides today, even just working in the cage, as far as my hand position and my swing goes.”
The extra work paid off in the second inning when Barmes, back in the starting lineup after sitting out Monday, doubled down the left-field line.
It’s no secret that last year’s spring phenom has been in a deep slump. Heading into Tuesday, he was 3-for-31 in his past eight games and watched his average fall from .284 to .235.
“I hate talking negative because it puts negative thoughts in my head,” Barmes said. “But I am struggling, and everybody knows I’m struggling. But I also know I’ll find a way to work out of it.”
General manager Dan O’Dowd believes that, too. That’s part of the reason the club has no immediate plans to promote Omar Quintanilla from Triple-A Colorado Springs, even though Quintanilla is fielding superbly for the Sky Sox. Quintanilla was hitting .243 before Tuesday, with a .326 on-base percentage.
“‘Q’ has been playing well, but we want to keep getting him more at-bats,” O’Dowd said. “We’re very high on him, but he just needs more time.”
And O’Dowd isn’t panicking over Barmes’ early-season woes.
“We know what a tenacious player he is, and how talented he is,” O’Dowd said. “We expect he’ll fight through this. Everybody has some tough times in this game.”
At this point last year, Barmes could have been Roy Hobbs in “The Natural.” That’s how spectacular Barmes’ rookie season began. He hit over .400 well into May and was hitting a team-best .329 with eight homers and 34 RBIs when he went on the disabled list June 5.
While Barmes doesn’t expect to recapture last year’s early thunder, he vows not to be buried by this year’s early doldrums.
“There’s a lot of confidence involved in hitting, and lately I’ve been battling and I know I’ve been battling,” he said. “But I’m contributing as much as I can, and we’re still winning.”
Kim falters
Right-hander Sun-Woo Kim’s rehab start Monday in Colorado Springs was supposed to be an audition to rejoin the big club, possibly as a starter. But Kim, making his third rehab start, gave up seven runs on six hits, with a homer and three walks in five innings. He struck out five.
According to O’Dowd, Kim is eligible for three more rehab starts, although Kim can refuse those assignments.
“I think he’ll work with us,” O’Dowd said. “Sun-Woo understands where he’s at and what he needs to work on.”
Manager Clint Hurdle’s assessment was blunt.
“The outing wasn’t good,” he said. “The one positive was that he threw 38 pitches in the last three innings. That was after he threw 30 pitches in the first inning, misplayed a bunt and didn’t back up at home. … We have all seen him good, but we haven’t seen him good this year.”
Rockies recap
Veteran reliever Jose Mesa thought he had struck out St. Louis star Albert Pujols during the decisive eighth inning Tuesday night at the new Busch Stadium. But plate umpire Tony Randazzo saw it differently, ruling that Pujols checked his swing. Had Mesa gotten the call he wanted, Pujols wouldn’t have hit the three-run homer that lifted the Cardinals to their 4-2 victory. But, Mesa said, renowned sluggers such as Pujols don’t get rung up in situations like that. “It’s like Barry Bonds before. Now it’s Albert Pujols. They don’t want to call that,” Mesa said. “For you to get him out, he has to swing through it. … They don’t want to call a strike on him like that.”
ERRORLESS STRETCH STOPS: The Rockies’ error-free ways came to an end Tuesday when right fielder Brad Hawpe misplayed a single by the Cardinals’ So Taguchi during the eighth inning, allowing Taguchi to reach second base. The Rockies didn’t commit an error in their previous eight games, their longest errorless streak since the team opened the 2004 season with nine consecutive errorless games. The Rockies’ record is 13 consecutive games without an error, set June 12-24, 1998.
STARTLING STAT: The Rockies’ 4.08 team ERA heading into Tuesday was the lowest mark the club has had at any point, in any season, after the first 10 games of a season.
