San Francisco – What goes well with clobbered dreams? A nice chardonnay and raviolis, apparently. As the Rockies watched their once-upon-a-time season tiptoe toward an unhappy ending, 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 ½ games with 30 to play.
It’s the almost that hurts – for the season, and for this night in particular. The Rockies had opportunities. Todd Helton, who continues to maintain a high average but has struggled to drive in runs, flew 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.
Prior to 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 don’t look at the standings because everyone just kind of knows that we have to keep winning. We need to go on a streak,” third baseman Garrett Atkins said. “It’s tough in the wild-card because with six teams in it, you know that at least two or three are going to win every night.”
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
