It was a simple swing by a large man that affected an entire team and the announced 26,079 in attendance at Coors Field.
Miguel Cabrera’s sixth-inning grand slam provided an instant that the Rockies will remember for five months, until they report to Tucson to spring training.
The Rockies were throttled 10-2 on Saturday night by the Florida Marlins, a loss that for all intents and purposes squashed their playoff dreams.
The Rockies can explain this morning how they are still alive, clinging to fibers on the rope. But September baseball is ordinarily about walking it, not talking it.
And the simple truth is that only those wearing purple-tinted sunglasses can make sense of this math: The Rockies sit four games back in fourth place in the wild-card standings, desperately trailing the San Diego Padres with just 14 games remaining.
When Cabrera stepped into the batter’s box and took a rip, it vanquished hope. The Rockies were behind 5-1, an irritating deficit, but one that felt erasable even after Todd Helton grounded out with bases loaded moments before. Then Cabrera crushed a 97-mph fastball from reliever Juan Morillo, vacuuming the life out of the ballpark.
The Rockies, on a terrific ride since late May, suddenly have become Lloyd Bridges in “Airplane.” They picked a bad week to stop playing well. They have dropped three consecutive games for the first time since their eight-game slide in late June through Toronto, Houston and Chicago. That road trip left the Rockies living on a dangerous margin.
Perhaps this was inevitable given the rash of pitching injuries and the shelving of Kazuo Matsui and Willy Taveras with leg problems. But it didn’t figure to happen this way, with their three most dependable starters going up in flames. On Saturday, rookie Ubaldo Jimenez suffered his worst outing, tagged for five runs in a career-low three innings. It followed disappointing performances by Jeff Francis and Josh Fogg.
What Jimenez possessed in velocity – he reached 100 mph again on his fastball – he lacked in command and creativity. He didn’t have the usual bite on his slider and curveball, leaving him more predictable. While hit hard, Jimenez missed an opportunity to extract himself from damage by failing to handle second baseman Omar Quintanilla’s throw as he covered first base. That led to three unearned runs in the third inning.
The Rockies threatened, if only briefly, in the fifth inning. Consecutive singles by Clint Barmes and Cory Sullivan and a walk to Troy Tulowitzki loaded the bases against Sergio Mitre. Barmes scored on a wild pitch. Following a walk to Matt Holliday, Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez yanked Mitre in favor of left-hander Renyel Pinto. After falling behind 2-0, Pinto jammed Helton with an 85-mph fastball.
Staff Writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
