Houston – The Rockies have been one of baseball’s early-season feel-good stories. But at some point, they’re going to stumble. It’s an inescapable fact of a 162-game season.
How they deal with adversity – such as Friday night’s 12-2 loss to the Astros that extended their losing streak to a season-high three games – will be a crucial test for the young team.
“I don’t have any big question marks in my mind about how we’ll deal with it,” manager Clint Hurdle said prior to the Rockies’s 2-1 victory over the Astros Saturday night. “I think we’ll continue to show up, prepare and compete.”
History shows how quickly a season can sour if a team lacks resiliency. On July 3, 2000, the Rockies were 45-33, 12 games over .500, tying the high-water mark in franchise history. That club promptly lost 11 straight and 17 of its next 20.
But the 2006 Rockies are confident that when they fall this season, they will be able to pull themselves back up.
“I think this team will be resilient because I think it’s an unselfish team,” said veteran infielder Jamey Carroll, traded to the Rockies from Washington during the offseason. “And it’s tight-knit. I could tell that from the first week of spring training.”
Pitcher Aaron Cook’s faith is based on fundamentals.
“I think we are playing the game right and we are doing the little things right, which is something we haven’t done around here in the past,” Cook said. “We’ve done things like getting bunts down and executing in the field. That will keep you from falling into those long losing streaks.”
Hurdle theorizes that the club’s rocky past has prepared it for the rough spots.
“I think we are built for dealing with adversity,” he said. “We’ve been there, but we know there is a bigger picture, and I think we can handle it.”
Think pink
The Rockies will take the field today wearing pink ribbons to commemorate Mother’s Day and raise awareness about breast cancer. Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe will be swinging pink bats stamped with the Major League Baseball breast cancer awareness logo.
“I think it’s a great idea and a great way to raise awareness for breast cancer,” Atkins said. “It’s going to be a little bit different holding a pink bat in the box, that’s for sure. My teammates will probably make some fun of me.”
Of course, if Atkins smashes a homer or two or hits for the cycle, his pink bat will become a red-hot commodity.
“I think everyone will start going for the pink bat,” he said. “I guess I’ll just have to leave it in the batter’s box for everyone else to use.”
Night and Day
Former Rockies pitcher Zach Day, claimed off waivers by Washington on April 27, is pitching well for the Nationals, going 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA in three starts. His time with the Rockies was less impressive (1-2, 10.80), and Hurdle credits a change of scenery for the turnaround.
“Look at how well he’s pitched his last two starts,” Hurdle said. “That’s not the guy who was pitching here. The guy who was pitching here wasn’t pitching like a big-leaguer.”
Footnotes
Despite their victory Saturday night, the Rockies still have a problem in Houston, not winning a series there since April 28-30, 1995, in the Astrodome. … Nearly 40 family members and friends from southern Louisiana were on hand Saturday to watch catcher Danny Ardoin and reliever Scott Dohmann. Dohmann is from Lafayette and Ardoin is from Ville Platte. Ardoin, who has been struggling at the plate, led off the third with a double and scored the Rockies’ first run.
Rockies recap
The Rockies’ struggles to drive in runners in scoring position continued Saturday night against the Astros in Houston. Although the two runs the Rockies scored in the third inning were enough to win the game, they could have had more when left fielder Matt Holliday grounded into a bases-loaded double play to end the inning.
In the eighth inning, with Garrett Atkins on second and Holliday on first, Brad Hawpe grounded into another inning-ending double play.
Friday night, the Rockies went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. After hitting .297 with men in scoring position in April, the Rockies are hitting just .182 in May.
GONZO STARTS: Luis Gonzalez started at second base Saturday in place of Jamey Carroll and came through with a run-scoring single in the third. He also provided one of the few highlights Friday night with a solo homer in the ninth.
“I’m feeling a lot more comfortable, absolutely,” said Gonzalez, now hitting .234.
BAD STRETCH: Rockies shortstop Clint Barmes continues to search for his lost swing. He was 0-for-4 on Saturday and is just 4-for-47 (.085) in his past 12 games. His batting average has dropped from .284 to .215.
