The question was about shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. The answer was raw insight into the Rockies’ underwhelming start.
“We have a group of grinders. We’ve seen this happen before. It’s not just Tulo. More is less. Less is more,” general manager Dan O’Dowd said Tuesday. “Their (personality) makes them better when they get it going, but it also makes their tailspins last a little longer.”
The Rockies remain in a funk, performing the equivalent of the Tour de France on a stationary bike. They are pedaling hard, but going nowhere fast.
Their 8-6 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night counts only once in the standings. But the degree of pain was measurably higher as the bullpen blew its third save in three days.
“We are trying to make it hard on ourselves again,” said outfielder Matt Holliday, fully aware that the Rockies went 10-16 in the first month of last season. “It’s nobody’s fault. We all have to play better.”
The lack of execution has been alarming at times for a team that forged its National League championship last year on crisp defense and cold-hearted performances in the clutch. The Rockies’ two best young players — Tulowitzki and closer Manuel Corpas — are stuck in ruts. And ace Jeff Francis remains winless.
The Rockies were within two outs of victory Tuesday when they put the outcome in Corpas’ normally reliable right hand. He blew his third save of the season, remarkable considering that he coughed up just two all last year after taking over as the closer in July.
“He left here feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders,” reliever Matt Herges said. “But I am not worried about him.”
Corpas’ unraveling started innocently enough, with So Taguchi singling to right field just beyond Todd Helton’s reach. It was a ball Helton would say later that he should have caught. Chase Utley’s line drive to center field set in a motion a troubling sequence. Willy Taveras tried to erase Taguchi at third, his unnecessary aggressiveness allowing Utley to take an extra base.
Hand forced, manager Clint Hurdle intentionally walked the slumping Ryan Howard, loading the bases for Pat Burrell. It was an all-in bet — a double play or a double Maalox moment. Burrell, who leads the NL in RBIs, smoked a double to center field, clearing the bases.
“We are getting in our way, way too often,” Hurdle said. “We are all aware of that. We are not playing the kind of baseball we need to play. It’s not clean enough.”
A PG-13 episode in the seventh inning appeared the perfect antidote for a club playing with a clenched fist. A female fan ran onto the field and went Brandi Chastain, waving her blue shirt over her head before security led her off. The interloping star in the Girl Gone Wild video provided levity.
“Of course you have to chuckle. It’s not something you see every day,” Holliday said.
Then Garrett Atkins returned sanity with a two-run homer that shoved Colorado ahead 6-4. It was his fourth home run in the past five games. Last September that statistic would have been so much pixie dust in a magical finish. On Tuesday, it was rendered irrelevant.
“It’s definitely a tough loss,” Helton said. “We have to play better and start doing the little things.”
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
TODAY: Cubs at Rockies, 6:35 p.m., FSN
Everything is still new to the Rockies’ Franklin Morales (1-1, 6.60 ERA), so he has a tendency to try to be something he’s not. When he becomes worried about mechanics and economizing his pitch counts, Morales loses his bite. When the Cubs inquired about trading for outfielder Ryan Spilborghs last winter, the Rockies asked for lefty Rich Hill (1-0, 3.86). Troy E. Renck, The Denver Post
Thursday:
Cubs’ Jason Marquis (1-0, 3.86) vs. Rockies’ Aaron Cook (2-1, 3.12), 1:05 p.m., FSN
Friday:
Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez (1-2, 4.64) vs. Dodgers’ Hiroki Kuroda (1-2, 2.92), 8:40 p.m., FSN
Saturday:
Rockies’ Mark Redman (2-1, 5.23) vs. Dodgers’ Brad Penny (3-2, 2.67), 8:10 p.m., FSN
Sunday:
Rockies’ Jeff Francis (0-2, 5.68) vs. Dodgers’ Hong- Chih Kuo (0-1, 3.60), 2:10 p.m., KTVD-20
