Los Angeles – If the Rockies were lucky, the faithful back home in Colorado were tuned into “American Idol” on Tuesday night, not the club’s lackluster 8-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
An 11-pitch walk by Todd Helton in the third inning ranked as the Rockies’ highlight of the evening, if only because it helped expedite the departure of stingy Dodgers starter Brad Penny after just five innings.
By then, Penny, plagued by a sore back, had thrown 104 pitches. But that was more than enough time for him to dominate the Rockies for the second time in a week.
“He goes after people,” Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said of Penny. “He throws on that good, downhill plane and he’s been exceptionally tough on our guys.”
Last Wednesday, Penny pitched six innings, yielding one run and striking out seven in the Dodgers’ 3-2 victory at Coors Field. He allowed no runs on four hits and struck out five Tuesday.
It wasn’t until after Penny left that the Rockies finally scored. Facing reliever Tim Hamulack in the sixth, Garrett Atkins lined a homer to left, cutting the Dodgers’ lead to 4-1.
Even “Idol” worshiper Paula Abdul would have had trouble saying something nice about the Rockies’ performance in this series. In two games they have scored two runs and banged out 15 mostly harmless hits. They have struck out 14 times, including 10 times Tuesday.
With seven games to go on an important nine-game National League West road trip, the Rockies’ demons are starting to rear their ugly heads. The Rockies were 10-3 away from home in April but are 2-8 in road games in May.
Hard-luck Rockies starter Jason Jennings – who has pitched so well of late but has little to show for it – did not perform well Tuesday. In six-plus innings, he surrendered five earned runs on 11 hits. He is 1-5 over his last six starts, with the club averaging just 2 1/2 runs per game during that span.
“I feel like I can reel off three or four wins in a row,” Jennings said. “But it’s just not happening right now. I’m 2-5 and I don’t want to have just two wins in the middle of May. But I feel I’m pitching better than 2-5.”
Even right fielder Brad Hawpe, who has gotten rave reviews for his glove work this spring, had a bad moment. In the seventh, he dropped Kenny Lofton’s long flyball to the wall, allowing Lofton a free pass to second. Nomar Garciaparra immediately took advantage of the error, rapping a double to right-center to score Lofton and increase the Dodgers’ lead to 5-1.
Sun-Woo Kim, activated from Triple-A Colorado Springs on Tuesday and making his first appearance since April 14, endured a rocky return. He came on in relief in the eighth and plunked Andre Ethier with his first pitch. Then Russell Martin drove in Ethier with a double. By the time Kim left the mound, the Dodgers had put two runs on the board.
The Rockies got off to a wobbly start. Atkins and Helton singled in the first, only to be stranded. When the Dodgers came to the plate, they treated Jennings like a batting-practice pitcher. A sharp single by Lofton, a triple to right by J.D. Drew and a double to right by Willy Ay- bar gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
The Dodgers increased their lead to 4-0 in the second inning when Lofton hit a two-run triple off Jennings.
Staff writer Patrick Saunderscan be reached at 303-820-5459 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
