San Francisco – With their hopes of a first San Francisco sweep on the line Sunday afternoon, the Rockies went down swinging.
They whiffed 13 times in their 6-2 loss to the Giants at AT&T Park. Twelve of those strikeouts came on a diet of 94 mph fastballs and sharp sliders from Giants rookie right-hander Matt Cain.
The eternal optimist will look at the weekend and say that despite Sunday’s defeat, the Rockies took two of three games from the Giants at a ballpark that traditionally has been unkind to them.
The pessimist will say that the Rockies not only lost ground in the National League West, but their offense remains dysfunctional as they begin a crucial four-game series tonight at Los Angeles against the Dodgers.
The Rockies face a sizzling Dodgers team that beat Florida 7-3 on Sunday for its ninth straight victory. The Rockies, having scored nine runs total in the three-game series with San Francisco, confront a formidable L.A. starting trio of Brad Penny, Greg Maddux and Derek Lowe.
“We’ve seen all of those guys, so we know what they can do,” Rockies cleanup hitter Matt Holliday said. “They have been pitching really well, so it’s going to be hard to score runs. But if they make mistakes, we will have to take advantage. And if they’re on, hopefully our pitchers are on, too, and then we’ll just go and battle it out.”
The Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks are tied for second in the NL West, two games behind the San Diego Padres, who beat Washington 3-2 in 10 innings Sunday. The Rockies dropped 3 1/2 games behind the Padres.
The Giants entered Sunday’s game having lost 11 of their past 12, but Cain raised them up. He struck out Holliday three times, and he looked unhittable when he struck out the side in the seventh before departing. In those seven innings, Cain allowed two runs on six hits. His 12 strikeouts were a personal best.
“He had better command than we’ve faced him in the past,” Holliday said. “He got his fastball down, but threw it up when he wanted it up. And he had good breaking stuff today. And when he’s ahead in the count, that makes him tough.”
Added San Francisco manager Felipe Alou: “He’s a very steady guy now. He’s not getting that charged up to start games anymore. He used to have a lot of throws in the first couple of innings, but I don’t see that happening anymore.”
The Rockies’ offense was limited to a run in the second when Todd Helton led off with a double and scored on Yorvit Torrealba’s single, and another on Garrett Atkins’ homer (his 16th of the season) off Cain to open the fourth.
Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said he’s eager for the challenge Dodger Stadium presents, even though the Rockies were swept in a three-game series there in May, getting outscored 21-3. And even though the Dodgers are 7-2 against his club this season.
“We came in here and won a series,” Hurdle said. “Now we go into L.A. against a very hot ballclub. We’ll see how that plays out. But we’re making progress.”
Staff writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-820-5459 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
