St. Louis – By nature, baseball is built around leisure. It’s sport in a double polyester. The nature of the schedule – 162 games in 182 days – prevents desperation, finger-on-panic buttons in cities other than New York and Boston.
But after the Rockies’ ugly 9-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, there was strong evidence Wednesday that a sense of urgency is beginning to grip the team entering tonight’s opener of a 10-game homestand.
The Rockies sit six games under .500, entrenched in last place in the National League West. It’s time, players concede, for Colorado to make a move, to feed off a road trip that ended in defeat but featured slight improvement.
“We better (play well),” first baseman Todd Helton said. “We don’t have a choice.”
History is not kind to teams that carry losing records deep into May. They rarely contend, let alone make the playoffs. The Rockies host the Giants, Diamondbacks and Royals, a stretch that requires a push for a club that is just 6-7 at Coors Field.
“It seems like we haven’t been at home much,” third baseman Garrett Atkins said. “We need to go 5-2 and 6-1 to start out, those kind of runs are nice any time. That would get some momentum going.”
For too long, talking about change has defined the Rockies. They entered the season with a minimum goal of .500, a perch they haven’t sat on since April 13. It’s not too early to say it not’s early anymore.
General manager Dan O’Dowd said this week that he would be willing to eat money on certain contracts in order to field the strongest club. Roster decisions are looming as several players get closer to returning from the disabled list.
“We will put the best team on the field,” O’Dowd said. Taylor Buchholz, who received a life preserver after Tuesday’s outing, and Josh Fogg are quietly on notice with Ubaldo Jimenez making progress at Triple-A Colorado Springs. The Rockies eye bigger contributions from their slumping bench players and the bullpen remains a fluid situation, with Ramon Ramirez and LaTroy Hawkins expected back in fewer than two weeks.
The relief corps melted Wednesday in the stifling humidity, grilled for six earned runs in five innings. Alberto Arias, Zach McClellan and Tom Martin absorbed the punishment.
They only extended a trend set by Jason Hirsh. In an outing he called “inexcusable,” Hirsh got sideways with the first batter, a prelude to a miserable afternoon. Unable to command his fastball and still working to rediscover his slider, Hirsh was left naked, only his changeup effective.
That led to a remarkable occurrence. He left in the fifth inning with just two runs across. The problem? It took 106 pitches to record 12 outs.
“It seemed like a doubleheader after five innings,” manager Clint Hurdle said.
The Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright wasn’t much more economical, but avoided the big hit. Aaron Miles called the St. Louis victory “an old-time Cardinals game. We finally broke out with the bats.”
Colorado’s offense amounted to RBI doubles from Helton and Brad Hawpe. It was hardly enough, a blatant reminder for a need that needs to do more.
“We have to start playing better,” Helton said.
Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
