Garrett Atkins’ diet did not include the number of home runs he wanted. So he did something about it.
“I’ve been using my legs more,” the Rockies’ third baseman said. “A lot of balls kind of died on the warning track. And I was a little bit frustrated after the all-star break, so I’ve just been trying to drive balls more.”
Which explains how Atkins drove a Carlos Marmol fastball 433 feet into the left-center field stands in the third inning Sunday for a grand slam.
It was the third slam of Atkins’ career,the others coming last season, June 28 vs. Houston and Sept. 14 at Los Angeles. Atkins, who already has hit a career-high 19 home runs this season, has turned into a power broker of late. He has hit homers in five of his past 12 games and driven in seven runs his past three games.
Sunday’s slam was set up perfectly. Marmol, who walked eight batters in five innings, had just walked Todd Helton to load the bases. Marmol threw three pitches out of the zone before Atkins took a called strike and waited for his chance.
“It was a 3-1 pitch and I was looking for a fastball, a pitch down the middle that I could drive,” Atkins said. “That’s what he did and I didn’t miss.”
Tough outing
Rookie reliever Manuel Corpas suffered his first big-league defeat and first blown save when he gave up a three-run double in the eighth inning. But he didn’t back down from his chance to pitch in the clutch.
“I want to be in there in that situation,” he said.
Since allowing a solo homer to Craig Wilson in his major-league debut on July 18 at Pittsburgh, Corpas had pitched 9 2/3 scoreless innings over his past nine outings. Sunday, he faced four batters, didn’t get anyone out and gave up two earned runs on two hits.
“You’re dealing with a guy that’s young,” left fielder Matt Holliday said. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.
“I mean, five weeks ago he’s pitching in Double-A, but look at the job’s he done. This just shows that he’s human.”
Footnotes
Catcher Yorvit Torrealba was back in the starting lineup Sunday, even though he caught Saturday night’s game. His clutch hitting is the reason. Of Torrealba’s 36 RBIs this season, 19 have come with two out. He is batting .421 (8-for-19) with three homers and 17 RBIs with runners in scoring position and two outs…. The appearance of lefty reliever Tom Martin in front of lefty Ray King on Sunday was the latest indication that Martin has supplanted King as the club’s No. 1 left-handed setup man.
ROCKIES RECAP
Home not that sweet for Kim’s latest outing
Manager Clint Hurdle described starter Byung-Hyun
Kim’s Sunday outing as “grinding.” Indeed it was. Kim,
who has been nearly untouchable at Coors Field of late,
was gone after six innings, having allowed four runs on
seven hits. It was the first time Kim did not factor in a decision
at Coors Field since his May 5 start against Houston.
Kim entered the game with a 1.08 ERA over his past five
starts at Coors. Despite his rough Sunday, he still has a 1.83
ERA over his past six games here.
WALK ON THE WILD SIDE: How wild was Chicago starter
Carlos Marmol? He walked eight in five innings, and 54 of
his 106 pitches were balls. The eight walks were the most
allowed by a Cubs pitcher since Kerry Wood issued eight
against the Cardinals on Sept. 22, 2000. All told, the Rockies
drew 10 walks, their most in a game since Sept. 6 at San
Diego.
