Here’s how to perform the Blake Street Shuffle: Take one step forward and two steps back.
The Rockies perfected those moves Sunday afternoon in a crushing 10-5, 12-inning loss to the Kansas Royals at Coors Field. The 4-hour, 34-minute defeat wiped out any pleasant memories from the Rockies’ 6-4 win Saturday night.
The Royals finally put the game away when Rockies reliever Ramon Ramirez hit Alex Gordon to open the 12th. Gordon stole second, then scored on Ryan Shealy’s bloop single to shallow right field. Shealy, the former Rockie, went 3-for-5 and drove in two runs.
The Royals added four insurance runs on a sacrifice bunt by Angel Berroa that scored Shealy from third, a two-run double by relief pitcher Joel Peralta and a run-scoring single by Mark Teahen.
The Royals won the interleague series 2-1, while the Rockies finished their disappointing 10-game home stand with a 4-6 record. Worse, the loss dropped the Rockies to 1-7 in series rubber games this season. They still haven’t won a home series since taking two out of three games from Arizona in opening series of the season.
Sunday’s game was a seesaw affair. The Royals took a 5-4 lead in the top of the 11th when Teahan drove in David DeJesus with a two-out triple to center field off of Rockies closer Brian Fuentes. DeJesus reached first base by drawing a walk from Fuentes.
The Rockies rallied in the bottom of the 11th, tying the game 5-5 when Matt Holliday singled and Troy Tulowitzki scored from second when Emil Brown misplayed Holliday’s hit in left field.
Holliday also played hero in the ninth, drilling a two-out single up the middle in the ninth, scoring Steve Finley to tie the game 4-4. But with the bases loaded, Joakim Soria struck out Garrett Atkins, sending the game into extra innings.
In the eighth, trailing 4-3 with no outs and Troy Tulowitzki on first, Holliday appeared to have won the game for the Rockies. The scene was straight out of “The Natural.” With lighting flashing and thunder crashing, Holliday crushed a 3-2 fastball to dead center field. But Coors Field isn’t Hollywood, and instead of game-winning homer sailing beyond the fence, DeJesus made a running catch on the warning track in center field.
Rockies starter Jason Hirsh struggled through his five innings, surrendering four runs on six hits. Once again, he lacked command of his fastball, causing him to consistently fell behind in the count. It took Hirsh 23 pitches to get out of the first inning, and he threw 61 pitches in the first three innings.
The Royals banged out five hits to take a 4-0 lead in the third, but they were blanked for the next seven inning. K.C.’s big hits were a two-run single by Brown and a run-scoring double by Ryan Shealy.
Rockies right fielder Brad Hawpe’s error sparked the onslaught. He allowed Teahan’s single to roll under his glove, allowing Teahan to advance to second and score on Brown’s base hit.
Colorado closed the gap to 4-3 in the fifth. Hawpe led off with a double, scoring on an RBI-double down the right-field line by Omar Quintanilla. Tulowitzki’s two-run double to right-center cut Kansas City’s lead to a single run.
Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
