ATLANTA — General manager Dan O’Dowd’s brutal honesty about his team last week appeared equal parts assessment and message. Going forward, he wants a better offensive approach, more quality strikes and sounder fundamentals.
The players were disappointed by O’Dowd’s comments, viewing it as a concession speech at a time when they were still contenders.
Now, there’s no debate.
The Rockies are done, and not just because rookie Dexter Fowler started Wednesday night. His inclusion in the lineup was not a white flag, manager Clint Hurdle insisted. Reliever Luis Vizcaino’s appearance morphed into as much with three forgettable seventh-inning pitches in a 9-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves, their fourth in five games.
Vizcaino is symbolic of the Rockies’ season: high expectations, poor results. Two minutes after Colorado tied the score at 4, the highest-paid, free-agent reliever in Rockies history dissolved before their eyes again.
A solid stretch in early August seemed like years ago as Vizcaino allowed back-to-back home runs to Kelly Johnson and Chipper Jones and a double to Brian McCann. It left an ugly statistical blemish.
Left-handers are hitting .385 against the veteran, going 30-for-78 with eight home runs. After Johnson’s towering home run to right field – his second of the evening – the Coca-Cola bottle in the upper deck spit out fireworks. Plate umpire Paul Schrieber tossed a new baseball to Vizcaino, who swatted it away in disgust.
The frustration was both visible and understandable. Forget the National League West race, the Rockies have to go 15-1 just to post a winning record.
That’s difficult to digest for a team that left spring training eyeing a first-ever division title.
Vizcaino’s presence appeared to be due in part to the mental break given Taylor Buchholz and Livan Hernandez’s abbreviated outing. Buchholz suffered back-to-back losses, including the perplexing balk-off Tuesday. Hernandez lasted just 13 outs, the third time in six starts with the Rockies he’s failed to go five innings.
Vizcaino could not get the ball down with any movement on any pitch. Johnson swatted a hanging slider and Jones, bucking for his first-ever National League batting title, belted a fastball at his knees.
In a half-empty stadium, you could practically see the Rockies deflating, another spirited offensive rally – an Ian Stewart home run and a two-run single by Jeff Baker – rendered meaningless.
The night will ultimately be remembered because of Fowler. He made his first start with dramatic highs and lows. He struck out twice, but threw out pitcher James Parr at third base on a deep flyball and recorded his first hit on an infield chopper.
Fowler is part of a future that now has intersected with the present.
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
