St. Louis – Jason Hirsh looked like a man who fought demons and lost.
For two painful hours, he labored through his worst start as a Rockie. He needed 106 pitches to get the first 12 outs, a grind that prompted his early exit. The bullpen wasn’t any better, torched in the Rockies’ 9-2 loss at Busch Stadium today.
Hirsh couldn’t finish off batters, finding himself repeatedly in deep counts. A 10-pitch at-bat to Albert Pujols illustrated his difficulties, with Pujols ultimately pushing home a run.
After Hirsh allowed three runs in four innings, the relievers were asked to keep the game close. Instead it unraveled on them. Alberto Arias, Zach McClellan and Tom Martin all gave up runs.
Todd Helton had an RBI double as did Brad Hawpe. Colorado finished the road trip with a 4-5 record.
