Phoenix – Their grip slipped. Two hours of work spoiled by shaky hands and sweaty palms in the eighth inning.
Within five outs of winning their first road series, within minutes of nudging back over .500, the Rockies melted in the desert, falling 5-4 to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.
The loss secured a losing trip and fanned concerns about setup man LaTroy Hawkins, the team’s most expensive free-agent addition. For the second time this season, Hawkins was yanked in the eighth, Miguel Montero’s first home run and an ugly walk behind his exit.
“It was a terrible changeup, just a bad pitch,” Hawkins said.
Left-hander Jeremy Affeldt and Ramon Ramirez couldn’t clean up his mess, though Ramirez had little chance, entering with the bases loaded and one out.
Orlando Hudson lifted a 93-mph fastball to center field, narrowly scoring Scott Hairston. All the topsy-turvy ending did was leave the Rockies nauseous. They could easily be in first place. Instead they are floating near the bottom because of their 2-5 record in games decided by two runs or fewer.
Hawkins isn’t about to panic, but there’s no ignoring his rough start. He has allowed runs in three of his seven appearances and his ERA bloated to 10.13 after Saturday’s failure.
“We are going to keep giving him opportunities, that’s what we got him for,” manager Clint Hurdle said of Hawkins. “We have seen him good as well.”
Jose Valverde survived two ninth-inning baserunners, recording his fifth save. The leaky bullpen muted Garrett Atkins’ seventh-inning home run and a sleeves-rolled-up performance by Aaron Cook.
Cook has gone nearly seven months without a victory since he toppled the Padres on Aug. 27 of last season. He benefited from big pitches and well-placed fielders. The Diamondbacks repeatedly lined out in all directions. Cook saved face by saving his face in the fifth, stabbing Hudson’s bullet before it struck him in the head. Cook yielded to Manny Corpas in the seventh, after allowing three runs and eight hits in six innings.
His exit was strategic. Left-handers have hit Cook hard this season and accounted for all of the runs off him Saturday. Corpas hadn’t allowed a hit to a left-hander – 0-for-9 – until Hudson’s one-out single in the seventh. He retired left-handers Chad Tracy and Tony Clark, the bullpen’s only memorable moment.
The Rockies, as is their wont on this trip, squandered a ripe opportunity to rip the game open by the seams in the sixth. Livan Hernandez induced a two-out groundball to second base from former teammate Jamey Carroll with the bases loaded. The Rockies left eight runners on through six innings.
Carroll had replaced Kaz Matsui, who left with back spasms. Matsui, still in pain afterward, said he is unsure when he will be available to play again or if this injury is related to last season’s back problem.
Leave it to Todd Helton, who recorded his 1,000th RBI on Friday, to keep the Diamondbacks from slithering away. He drove in two runs off Hernandez, whom he’s 28-for-58 against lifetime with 16 RBIs.
Even Helton’s hit couldn’t soothe the wobble late.
Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
