Houston – With their pitching staff on an unscheduled summer hiatus, the Rockies limped back to Denver on Sunday night, looking for a way to salvage their once-promising season.
“Hopefully we can put this trip behind us quickly and go home and win a couple of series and get back in this thing,” said Matt Holliday, named an all-star for the second time Sunday. “We need to win a couple of series and get a good feeling as we go into the all-star break and into the second half.”
But “this trip” won’t fade to black very quickly. The 1-9 record was one of the worst in franchise history. They lost more games only on a 2-12, four-city tour in 2002.
It came to an ugly end Sunday with a 12-0 loss to the Astros in which starter Rodrigo Lopez suffered through his second consecutive subpar performance. He got the hook after just four innings in which the Astros blasted him for eight hits and six runs.
“I didn’t have stuff early, and when the guys got on base, I didn’t feel comfortable from the stretch,” he said. “I just wasn’t getting the ball down.”
Aside from Jeff Francis, who tossed a seven-inning, three-hit gem Saturday for the lone victory, Colorado’s starting pitching was a wreck.
In the 10 games, the Rockies’ starters gave up five runs or more eight times. They went 1-5 with an 8.17 ERA. Compare that to their 12-7 record with a 3.93 ERA during a 20-7 run that immediately preceded the road trip. It is why Josh Fogg is white-knuckling his rotation spot and why Jason Hirsh’s starts are being closely monitored.
“It was a difficult road trip,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “The thing I hold onto is that we didn’t play poorly. We hit well, but we didn’t pitch well, and it’s a team thing. That affects the outcomes, obviously. We have to get our pitching back on track when we get back home.”
That could mean a number of things.
Hurdle might consider moving Taylor Buchholz from the bullpen into the rotation, perhaps after the all-star break. And, of course, closer Brian Fuentes needs to regain his mojo. He has temporarily been relieved of his closer duties until he figures out why he blew four saves on the road trip.
“I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but once I get it figured out, I’m sure I’ll be back as the closer,” Fuentes said.
But he hasn’t figured it out yet. He threw in the eighth inning Sunday and gave up two runs, two hits and two walks.
When the Rockies began their 10-game, 10-day excursion, they were four games above .500 and 31/2 games out of the National League West lead. Their going-away party was a three-game sweep of the Yankees that had their fans in a dither.
The Rockies return to face the tough New York Mets tonight four games under .500 (39-43) and eight games out in the NL West.
“We had some hard luck and some rough times, but we will have plenty of opportunity to do something about it in the second half,” Holliday said.
Staff writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
