MILWAUKEE — First, the pleasantries.
Rockies’ slugger Matt Holliday will start Tuesday’s All-Star game, manning right field at Yankee Stadium. An Oklahoma kid, he can be a modern Mickey Mantle for a day, standing where the Babe once played in a stadium the Bambino built.
Only one other teammate, Aaron Cook, will join him, a reflection of the Rockies’ unmet expectations. With an opportunity to secure the best road series of the season, the Rockies were pounded by the Brewers 11-1 before a throaty sellout crowd at Miller Park.
That left the Rockies with a tolerable split with a critical three-game series looming against the Mets to end the season’s first half.
For all intents and purposes, this game ended when Brewers manager Ned Yost filled out his lineup card. Dave Bush was on it. He’s nobody’s idea of Ben Sheets or CC Sabathia. But on this day he was better than the twin aces the Rockies faced in the previous nights.
He struck out a career-high 13 batters, including Willy Taveras and Brad Hawpe six times.
Taveras’ eighth-inning at-bat was symbolic of Bush’s mastery. He couldn’t hold back on a check swing, fooled by a nifty curveball. It was Bush’s 121st pitch, his 84th strike. He rushed off the mound pumping his fist to a standing ovation.
Jorge De La Rosa’s exit was more ugly than memorable. Following his career pattern as a great tease, he answered a strong outing with a clunker. It might have been his final start, given that Kip Wells will rejoin the rotation in the second half for either De La Rosa, Mark Redman or Glendon Rusch.
De La Rosa lasted just 11 outs, mercifully pulled during a six-run fourth inning that saw the Brewers playing ping-pong around the park. Ryan Braun had a two-RBI single, Rickie Weeks delivered an RBI double and Prince Fielder, who’s approaching 300 pounds, legged out a triple scoring two runs.
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
