St. Louis – After 20 games in 20 days, the Rockies are relishing their day off today in Houston.
All except Matt Holliday.
“It’s probably a time when I would say I’d like to keep going,” the left fielder said Wednesday after the Rockies’ 7-4 loss to the Cardinals. “But we’ve played 20 straight, so it will be nice to relax a little bit tomorrow and come back on Friday.”
In a season when the Rockies have taken turns having the hot hand, it’s Holliday’s time. He finished the three-game series against the Cardinals batting 7-for-12 (.583) with three homers, four RBIs and five runs scored. Taking Garrett Atkins’ cleanup spot Wednesday – Atkins got the day off – Holliday was 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI single.
If Holliday only had to face St. Louis, he would be a lock for immortality in Cooperstown. Holliday, who made his major-league debut at the old Busch Stadium in 2004, is 18-for-36 against Cardinals pitching.
His opposite-field triple to right Wednesday illustrated just how well he’s seeing the ball.
“That’s the idea, for me to stay inside the ball, get a good hitter’s count and put a good swing on it,” Holliday said.
Holliday started the season slowly, but he has been on a tear recently. He has six homers in May and is hitting .434 (23-for-53) over his past 14 games to raise his average to .307.
In a funk
While Holliday has sizzled, Todd Helton and Atkins have cooled.
Helton went 1-for-4 with a double as his average slid to .301, the lowest it has been since he went 1-for-4 on opening day. Against the Cardinals, he was 1-for-13 with three strikeouts. Since coming off the disabled list Friday following an intestinal ailment, his average has dropped 46 points. Helton, who hit a three-run homer Sunday against Houston, insists he’s feeling fine.
“He’s gone from taking the best swing he’s taken, on Sunday, to six or seven flyball outs the last two games, which is very uncommon for him,” manager Clint Hurdle said before Wednesday’s game.
Atkins, who had missed just two games all season, got the day off to recharge.
“We have the day off tomorrow, so that gives him two days off,” Hurdle said. “There is probably as much of a fatigue factor with (Atkins) as anybody.”
Atkins’ batting average has dropped from .363 to .320 after going 7-for-34 (.206) in his past 11 games.
Footnote
ESPN analyst Steve Phillips tried to make nice with the Rockies during Wednesday’s game. First, play-by-play man Gary Thorne said, “Bob Apodaca excellent pitching coach, Clint Hurdle excellent manager – both fired by Steve Phillips.” Phillips, the Mets’ former general manager, then said he was “proud to be associated with Clint Hurdle and Apodaca and they are the perfect fit for Colorado.”
ROCKIES RECAP
The best news to come out of the Rockies’ three-game series in St. Louis was the performance of starting pitcher Josh Fogg on Tuesday night. Although the Rockies lost 4-2, and lost the series 2-1, Fogg regained some confidence in his ability to locate his pitches. Fogg said the recent success of Jason Jennings, Aaron Cook and Jeff Francis made it imperative for him pitch better.
“I think everybody feeds off everybody else,” he said Wednesday. “I think early on, Cookie was throwing the ball well, but J.J. had a couple of rough outings. So did Francis. So I think Cookie set the tone. He was giving us seven strong innings every time out, and the rest of us kind of played catch-up. You definitely don’t want to be the guy not pitching well.”
MILES THRIVING: Former Rockies second baseman Aaron Miles took it to his old team Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Miles, part of the trade that brought reliever Ray King to Colorado, is hitting .325.
LATE BREAKDOWN: Heading into Tuesday night’s game, the Rockies had been untouchable with a late lead. Until Albert Pujols hit his three-run homer in the eighth to lift the Cardinals to victory, the Rockies were 16-0 when leading after seven innings.
