The Rockies took the elevator, instead of the stairway, back into the division race.
Seven consecutive wins in eight days changed the perception of a manager, of a season, of an entire team. The streak made the Rockies relevant again.
However, on a chilly Wednesday night, the dream sequence ended not with a pinch, but a punch, back-to-back St. Louis home runs sending Colorado to an 8-4 defeat at Coors Field.
A remorseless, if not frustrated, Cardinals offense floored Rockies starter Jason Hirsh, ending the Rockies’ best stretch since 1998.
“I am disgusted with myself right now,” Hirsh said after his worst outing as a Rockie, an ugly, eight-run, 4 2/3-inning mess. “In a way, I feel like I let the team down. This is a game I will flush down the toilet and forget.”
At Hirsh’s expense, the meat of the Cardinals’ order brought back memories of greatness past. In a piano bar near Busch Stadium, they change the lyrics of Don McLean’s “American Pie” from “the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost” to Edmonds, Rolen and Albert Pujols. That crew provided a less-than-subtle reminder why, going a combined 7-for-14 with two home runs and six RBIs.
Pujols and Jim Edmonds deflated the Rockies in the fifth, creating souvenirs on consecutive pitches. It marked the first time this season the Cardinals have posted back-to-back home runs, which helps explain their seven-game road losing skid before Wednesday.
“We know the three, four, five and six guys in this lineup have to produce for us to win. That’s what it’s going to take,” Edmonds said. “But I am not surprised (about the back-to- back stat). We only have about 16 home runs between about 10 of us.”
The Cardinals’ lack of power suggested they would be vulnerable to Hirsh’s terrific changeup. But that pitch was muted by what manager Clint Hurdle called “lacking fastball command.”
Even before Pujols stepped into the batter’s box in the fifth, it had not been an enjoyable night for Hirsh. He labored through four innings reminiscent of a teenager grinding gears on his first stick shift.
On Hirsh’s 89th pitch, Pujols drove an 89 mph fastball into the center-field seats for his ninth home run. Edmonds greeted Hirsh’s next pitch with anger, rocketing the 81 mph changeup into bleachers. The loss shoved the Rockies back into the National League West basement, 6 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Finding positives required digging beyond the final score. Reliever Manny Corpas returned from Panama after his uncle’s funeral and pitched a scoreless ninth.
“It was difficult, but this is my job,” Corpas said.
Center fielder Willy Taveras will attempt to throw and hit today, but is not expected back in the lineup until Friday because of an injured finger.
Without Taveras at the top of the order, Brad Hawpe, who homered in the second off first-time starter Todd Welle- meyer, provided the drama. Hawpe’s eighth-inning moonball fell a foot short of a three-run homer.
Now comes the hard part – The first day after the streak.
“You can’t think about .500, about what other teams are doing,” outfielder Matt Holliday said. “All we can control is how well we play.”
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
