MIAMI — The pressure was palpable. The bases were loaded, and Jorge Cantu sauntered to the plate. He is responsible for three of the Florida Marlins’ nine walk-off wins. All signs pointed toward trouble for Rockies closer Brian Fuentes until he heard the voice of catcher Yorvit Torrealba.
“He was trying to make pitches up for me, and all we had was that one card to play, the heater,” Fuentes said. “He stuck with me and helped me get out of it.”
Cantu was tempted by a high fastball, popping up. Josh Willingham followed with a flyball to left. Game over.
Now the hard part: Make the 6-4 road trip matter. The Rockies begin a 10-game homestand tonight with ace Aaron Cook going against Washington’s Tim Redding.
“The pitching has turned around, and the hitters are crushing the ball,” Cook said. “And we have some of that Coors Field magic back.”
The Rockies have won 11 of their past 14 home games. It goes without saying that they can’t step on a banana peel against Washington and San Diego, the National League’s two worst teams.
“We can’t afford many more losses, period,” shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said.
That holds particularly true with division-leading Arizona coming to town next week to complete the homestand.
Roster shuffle.
Valerio De Los Santos will be ousted today, likely designated for assignment to clear space for a reliever. Steven Register is a candidate, given his strong Triple-A performance. Ryan Speier would be the obvious choice, but he hasn’t spent the minimum 10 days in the minor leagues since his last demotion.
The extra reliever could be a temporary fix as Jeff Francis rejoins the rotation Wednesday.
“Getting Jeff back will be huge. He’s shown he can be an ace,” Torrealba said.
Footnotes.
Matt Holliday, who went 7-for-15 in the series, is hitting .347, leaving him in contention for a second straight batting title. He trails the injured Chipper Jones (.369). Larry Walker is the only Rockie to win back-to-back crowns, accomplishing the feat in 1998 and 1999. . . . Scott Podsednik (broken left pinky finger) ran and played catch Saturday. He’s roughly two weeks away from returning. . . . Todd Helton, who suffered a setback with his back injury, and Ryan Spilborghs, out with a strained left oblique, will be re-evaluated today.
Troy E. Renck, The Denver Post
