Los Angeles – It never ends well when a team turns critical at-bats into displays of philanthropy. But it rarely ends worse than this.
The Rockies, numb from offensive shortcomings, watched in shock Thursday night as Kenny Lofton drilled a ninth-inning RBI single, propelling the Dodgers to a dramatic 4-3 victory.
“Anytime you don’t cash in, you’re asking for trouble,” Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. “Everything is magnified when you don’t get it done offensively.”
It’s easy to blame reliever Jose Mesa for the defeat, one of the most painful of the season, given the time and place. He delivered the fastball that Lofton punched to left, scoring Julio Lugo as Matt Holliday’s throw pulled Yorvit Torrealba too far off the plate.
Making Mesa the target for angst, however, is misguided. The Rockies are a team in limbo, just good enough to hang around and not good enough to make a run because of their diminished offense. That the club couldn’t squeeze out this victory made the point beyond ambivalence.
They sit 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Dodgers, who have won 12 of their past 13. More revealing, the Rockies sit four games under .500, a larger fact given how the calendar is starting to work against them. Los Angeles is on pace to claim the division with 83 wins.
For the Rockies, who begin a sevengame homestand tonight against the Cubs, to reach that mark they must go 28-20 over their final 48, a daunting challenge for a club that hasn’t been seven games over .500 since May.
This loss served as a hornet sting. The Rockies received a terrific starting pitching performance from Jason Jennings. He surrendered two scratch runs, and his ERA is an NL-best 2.05 since June 15. But the Rockies’ lineup couldn’t capitalize, finishing 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
“We’re still hanging around, but we’ve got to get it going soon,” Jennings said. “We have to start winning these types of games.”
Rare is the occasion that an offense fails repeatedly without consequence. Particularly from walks. They are baseball’s gifts – baseball’s equivalent of no line at the checkout stand or green lights on the way to work.
Yet Chad Billingsley – a rookie, for heaven’s sake – sneaked out of Dodger Stadium unscathed. He walked six batters through five innings – and not one of them scored.
If only briefly, the Rockies earned redemption, only to see it slip their grasp. In that sense, the final innings were a microcosm of the season.
With Colorado trailing 3-2, Todd Helton, who was 5-for-24 on the road trip, smoked a triple over right fielder Jason Repko’s head. Repko scrambled after the ball awkwardly as it rolled toward the corner.
Jeff Kent fielded the relay throw and fired to third base in attempt to cut down Helton. The throw bounced into the dugout, scoring Helton.
Helton pumped his fist in the air as he trotted to the plate. Though it lacked elegance, it was a sufficient response to what had transpired moments before. The game tied, Andre Ethier, who is staging one heck of a finishing kick to win the National League rookie of the year award, stepped in against left-hander Ray King. Ethier launched his 11th homer over the center-field fence.
Andre the Giant flashed on the JumboTron as strobe lights flashed and the 48,699 fans went wild. King was ejected as he walked off the field.
“I didn’t say a word. All I did was look at him,” King said. “I’m gonna be on the phone (today) to make sure the league gets a tape of this.”
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-820-5457 or trenck@denverpost.com.
