Philadelphia – At just past 4 p.m., drizzle splashing the tarp at Citizen’s Bank Ballpark, the Rockies stepped out of the clubhouse for the first day of the rest of their lives. Or at least their 2007 season.
Lose Tuesday and they wear sports worst label: spoilers. Never mind their road issues or common sense that suggests, because of pitching injuries, they should need a telescope to see the division leaders.
After a bitter defeat in the series opener, the Rockies forced the Phillies to chug sour milk, flexing their muscle in an 8-2 victory made more interesting by two ejections and an excitable bullpen.
It kept the Rockies three games back in the wild-card standings, pending the San Diego Padres’ late outcome. Colorado’s hitters welcomed this trip, all but circling it in red ink. If you haven’t noticed, Citizen’s Bank Ballpark is what Coors Field used to be.
A runner is in scoring position when he steps into the batter’s box, proven by blasts from Matt Holliday, Troy Tulowitzki and Todd Helton. Holliday hit a pair of home runs, the eighth time he’s accomplished the feat. He wakes up with a career-high 116 RBIs. Tulowitzki extended his NL-rookie record for shortstops with his 21st home run, before exiting before the seventh inning.
Helton’s 13th home run was his first in 68 at-bats dating to Aug. 19 at Los Angeles. But it was ninth-inning strikeout that ignited pyrotechnics. Plate umpire Mike DiMuro rung him up on what Helton believed was a questionable pitch. This is the same DiMuro that ruled against the Rockies on Monday, turning Yorvit Torrealba’s potential grand slam into a ground-rule double on fan interference.
Bench coach Jamie Quirk screamed at DiMuro, who quickly tossed him. That led to an animated argument, involving Hurdle, Quirk and DiMuro. Crew chief John Hirschbeck intervened and eventually ejected Hurdle.
The theatrics overshadowed a strong performance from rookie Franklin Morales. Keeping with this trend of alternating good with bad, Morales threw five scoreless innings in posting his first big league victory. Jeremy Affeldt struggled, but LaTroy Hawkins extracted the Rockies from a eighth-inning jam when Todd Helton made a diving stop on Greg Dobbs’ groundball.
Staff Writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
