The Rockies crowned Aaron Cook king of their pitching staff during spring training, but it wasn’t until Wednesday afternoon that he looked comfortable sitting on the throne.
Throwing with historic economy, Cook needed a mere 74 pitches to polish off a complete-game, 10-2 victory over the San Diego Padres at sun-baked Coors Field. It was the fewest pitches thrown in any complete game in Rockies franchise history.
“That’s unheard of. I can’t imagine getting 27 outs on any fewer pitches than that,” said teammate Josh Fogg, who needed 91 pitches in his nine-inning, complete-game gem in Seattle on June 30, 2006.
If the Rockies are going to stay in the hunt in the National League West race, they will need more ace-like efforts from Cook. Pitching coach Bob Apodaca said Cook is up to the challenge.
“Definitely. Aaron is capable of being that kind of pitcher,” Apodaca said. “We’ve seen glimpses for two years of what he’s capable of doing. Maybe not to the extent throwing just 74 pitches in nine innings, but his ability to dominate the strike zone and control a game.”
Cook improved to 7-6 and lowered his ERA to 4.22, tied with Jeff Francis for the lowest among Rockies starters. In Cook’s past three starts, opponents are hitting .197 against him.
“I am feeling more confident,” Cook said. “And when you start to win games, that confidence grows.”
The key, Apodaca said, is that the big redhead has discovered his comfort zone.
“I think by being anointed the opening-day starter, and by taking that responsibility very, very seriously, I think Aaron just tried to be another rung on the ladder more than what he was capable of,” Apodaca said. “He just got outside of himself … he tried to overdo. Now he’s really fallen into a nice place. He looks so relaxed out there.”
It helped that the Rockies pounded out 14 hits Wednesday, including Matt Holliday’s 4-for-4 performance highlighted by a solo homer and an RBI double.
Give Cook credit for bouncing back from a rocky start. Brian Giles greeted him with a first-inning, leadoff single. Michael Barrett followed with a double and Adrian Gonzalez drove in Giles with a single to right. Barrett scored on Khalil Greene’s double-play grounder, giving the Padres a 2-0 lead. But, despite the 93-degree temperature, Cook never sweated it.
“I felt like they didn’t hit the ball hard on the three hits that they got, so there were no major adjustments,” Cook said.
Once he escaped the first inning, Cook slammed the door, allowing four hits and no runs over the next eight innings. Cook posted single-digit pitch counts in seven of his nine innings. For good measure, Cook went 3-for-4 at the plate, hiking his average to .263.
“He was filthy,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “His pitch efficiency is back, his confidence is high and he just looks really good out there.”
Cook improved to 5-0 with a 2.01 ERA in seven starts against the Padres at Coors Field. San Diego manager Bud Black attributed Wednesday’s performance to what he called Cook’s “power sinker.”
But Cook has always had that pitch. What has made him better this past month, and what bodes well for the future, is the development of other pitches – namely, his changeup and slider. Last season when he pitched well, Cook would throw his sinker 90-95 percent of the time. Wednesday, he said he used it only 70 percent of the time.
“I don’t think it’s that I’m a smarter pitcher now, it’s that I’m more confident in my other pitches,” he said. “I know there were other times when I could have thrown those pitches, but sometimes I wouldn’t trust them. I do now.”
Staff writer Patrick Saunderscan be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
