San Francisco – What goes well with clobbered dreams? A nice Chardonnay and ravioli, apparently. As the Rockies watched their once-upon- a-time season tiptoe toward an unhappy ending Tuesday night, two San Francisco Giants fans ordered fine cuisine and complained about Barry Bonds not hitting any home runs.
The Rockies’ problems went beyond the slugger and to their own lineup. With a full moon hanging over the right-field wall, Giants ace Matt Cain draped the Rockies in a lunar eclipse in a troubling 3-1 defeat at AT&T Park.
For nearly five months, the Rockies have pursued a goal that few outside their clubhouse thought they would reach. It is slipping out of their grasp. They wake up today facing sobering math. They trail the wild-card leading San Diego Padres by 5 1/2 games with 30 to play.
“You don’t have to be intelligent to know we are running out of time,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “But nobody is in there banging the drum. We are not going to put a sign outside and say this is a state of emergency. They are very smart without having to go there.”
It’s the almost that hurts – for the season, and this night in particular. The Rockies had opportunities. Todd Helton, who continues to maintain a high average but has struggled to drive in runs, flied out to left field with bases loaded in the sixth. Brad Hawpe made a nifty catch on a flyball in the fifth, but couldn’t get enough on a throw to erase a run. Rookie Franklin Morales survived without his best stuff – he didn’t strike anyone out in five innings – showed off solid fielding acumen and still lost. Afterwards, Morales was optioned out and the team recalled utilityman Clint Barmes. Morales, however, will still start for the Rockies next Tuesday with one extra day of rest.
Before the game, Rockies pitching coach Bob Apodaca explained the evolution necessary for this team to graduate from contender to playoff berth.
“We can’t be satisfied with just being competitive. That was four years ago,” Apodaca said. “We need to win these games. And we think we can.”
That, in fairness, was uttered before Cain threw a pitch. He has a way of making even the most vivid dreams become unrealistic. He surrendered just four hits in seven innings. The Rockies’ lone run came on catcher Yorvit Torrealba’s first triple of the season and a bloop double by Cory Sullivan.
In the defining moments, Cain, whose 7-13 record is a reflection of poor run support, clenched his fist. He induced a lazy flyball from Helton, who had 13 RBIs with bases loaded this season. And with Sullivan on second in the seventh, Cain punched out Ryan Spilborghs on a 96-mph fastball. Spilborghs protested and plate umpire Larry Vanover pointed and yelled at the Rockies’ dugout to cease their chatter.
The thing about road games is that they magnify every Rockies flaw, expose their fragility. For instance, they have lost 10 consecutive games in visiting parks decided by one run. Those kind of statistical blemishes don’t work for a playoff team, or in their case, one with postseason ambitions.
“We had a few opportunities and we couldn’t cash in. We left the bases loaded and again we couldn’t come up with the big hit,” shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said. “We have to get hot.”
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
