New York – It’s easy sometimes to forget the Rockies’ real problem.
Lost in the bullpen turnstile, the crippling injuries and the alarming lack of power, the essence of why the Rockies haven’t played a meaningful game in a decade gets obscured. They aren’t competitive on the road.
Colorado leaves Coors Field and becomes Clark Griswold in “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” its trips memorable for mishaps and maladies. No host has been more unkind in recent years than the New York Mets.
With a lineup littered with seven current and former all-stars, the Mets squashed the Rockies 6-1 on Monday night, pinning Colorado with its 14th loss in its past 15 games at Shea Stadium.
“We don’t have a lot of parks where we have had success, so we can’t dwell on what’s happened here,” third baseman Garrett Atkins said. “But I didn’t realize it was that bad.”
The script was straight “Scooby-Doo”: familiar and predictable. The Rockies’ offense teetered and teased before shrinking in the spotlight. Colorado has scored two or fewer runs in eight of its 20 games. It has happened five times in visiting parks, where the Rockies own an unsightly 3-7 record, a troubling mark even in April for a club bent on contending this season.
“You look at any team that gets into the playoffs and they win on the road,” second baseman Jamey Carroll said. “Everyone usually plays well at home. The road is where you make up ground.”
Instead, the Rockies are digging a hole. They are hitting .220 on the road and averaging 3.2 runs. The lacking thunder only complicates the equation. Colorado hasn’t hit a home run in its past six games overall, a streak spanning 199 at-bats. That lack of thunder makes it imperative the Rockies string together hits.
Therein lies the rub. The Rockies have shown they can get on, just not home. They are hitting .251 with runners in scoring position, letting pitchers regularly escape. On this summery night before the Mets’ smallest crowd of the season, John Maine left virtually unscathed.
He struck out five and permitted just one run in 7 2/3 innings for his third victory.
“He had a good changeup,” said Rockies first baseman Todd Helton, he and the .400- hitting Matt Holliday the lineup’s notable bright spots. “We need to get some big hits. We have seen it happen before. You get a big hit and it loosens everything up.”
If there was any doubt, the Mets provided evidence. With two aboard in the second, No. 8 hitter Jose Valentin – the Mets’ only starter who hasn’t been an all-star – crushed an 84 mph Taylor Buchholz changeup over the right-field fence. It spoiled Buchholz’s outing. He remains in the rotation, though the Rockies will decide today whether to skip his next turn, Thursday’s off day, allowing the team to bring back Aaron Cook on Sunday on normal rest.
“I made a mistake and they made me pay for it,” Buchholz said. “You can’t let up against a lineup like that.”
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
