At this point, three losses in three games later, Eric Byrnes and his Arizona Diamondback teammates have to be wondering if their next victory over the Rockies will come in spring training.
Byrnes said Saturday, despite the Rockies victories in Games 1 and 2 of the National League Championship Series, “We haven’t been outplayed. If anything, it’s the other way around. … We’re not really fazed by what’s going on right now.”
Let the record show the Diamondbacks are fazed now. Stuff happens when you’re one game from elimination from the playoffs.
No one in the Diamondbacks clubhouse was more frustrated than Byrnes after Sunday night’s 4-1 loss in Game 3. No, not because of his previous comments. Because of a towering drive he hit to left field that missed being a home run by a few feet. And because of the rocket he hit up the middle in his first at-bat, only to have Josh Fogg snatch the ball out of the air and turn a double play.
Another hard-hit ball by an opponent, another double play turned by Colorado. Welcome to the Rockies’ Refuse to Lose Tour 2007.
“It’s frustrating,” Byrnes said. “It seems like it’s been happening the whole series. But the Rockies played well tonight. They got the big hits when they needed them. … Our offense just isn’t doing anything. We’re not going to win games if we don’t get big hits in those situations.”
About those comments that created a buzz within the media, if not the Rockies’ clubhouse …
“Look, I wasn’t speaking negatively about the Rockies,” said Byrnes, who spent 15 games in a Colorado uniform in 2005. “The Rockies are obviously on one of the best runs in major-league history. I was speaking on behalf of our team and our belief in ourselves. We had played two games against them at that point, and we felt like either one could have gone our way.”
The story line remains the same. Only the number of games has changed. Now the Diamondbacks are within one loss of tee times they don’t want to make.
Their batting average is .117 (2-for-17) with runners in scoring position. They’ve scored four runs in the three games. Home runs? They hit six in three games against the Cubs, but have one against the Rockies.
They hit into three double plays in the first three innings Sunday night. And the Rockies scored all four of their runs with two outs.
“That’s how it’s been going,” D-backs center fielder Chris Young said. “Burnsy smokes the ball, which is all you can do. Tony (Clark) hit the ball hard tonight. … A lot of guys hit the ball hard tonight but we couldn’t find any holes. You can’t really control that. If they don’t fall, they don’t fall.”
What now?
“You try to keep pushing,” Young said. “It’s not a secret that we’re in a bad position. Everybody knows that and we know that as well. We’ve got to go out there and try to find a way. That’s all you can do. The goal right now is to find a way to get back home.”
With the series still alive, that is. For that to happen, the Diamondbacks have to start solving the Rockies’ pitching, which has been the best of any team in the postseason.
“If Burnsy’s ball gets up the middle and one run scores and we’re on first and third, yeah, maybe that changes things,” Clark said. “But at this point, we haven’t gotten the hit at the right time or had the ball fall in when we’ve needed it. The pitching has done exactly what we had hoped they would do, especially against the offense as vaunted as they have. But to score one run, two runs and one run is going to put us in a difficult position in trying to win games.”
