CHICAGO — To find the Rockies, go to disappointment, make a left at ridiculous and stop at the intersection of forgettable and hopeless.
The worst road trip in franchise history continued today before the largest crowd this season at Wrigley Field. The Rockies lost 5-3 to the simmering Chicago Cubs, continuing a string of ineptitude that demands historical research after every final out.
For those counting at home, the Rockies have lost a club record 12th straight road game and 18 of their last 20 in visiting parks. It was their seventh straight defeat overall, marking the longest skid of the season.
The Rockies sit at 20-37. They haven’t been this far under .500 since the final day of the 2005 season, which was the completion of the first year of a full-blown youth movement.
It figures Colorado lost with the pitcher starting who never wins. It’s not entirely Ubaldo Jimenez’s fault. His run support ranked sixth lowest in the NL entering the series finale. But he hasn’t exactly demonstrated brilliance either. He worked five innings, allowing four runs, three earned. He walked in a run with bases loaded, thought it’s unclear how much a second-inning line drive off his left knee affected his performance.
A 4-3 game became a 5-3 lead for the Cubs when Alfonso Soriano homered off Manuel Corpas. The Cubs are 26-8 at home. The last Cubs team to start that way was in 1918. Seth Smith and Ian Stewart produced RBI hits for the Rockies.
The Rockies begin a three-game series tomorrow at Los Angeles.
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
