Floating hot dog wrappers and swirling September rain are baseball’s bookend to spring’s perfectly manicured grass and shimmering sun.
When 40,291 fans wandered into Coors Field on Saturday night, this wasn’t what they had in mind when they purchased tickets earlier this summer: mandated calisthenics with no hope for the playoffs.
The Rockies lost again, falling 5-1 to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the National League West’s new, annoying big brother.
What was supposed to be a late-season push for the Rockies has become a painful final lap of grimaces, gasps and groans. The weather turned sour as the Rockies dropped their seventh consecutive game and clinched a losing record. But it was the wind, not the rain, that doomed them.
With shaky starter Jorge De La Rosa needing an offensive boost, the Rockies fanned 13 times, providing little resistance against promising Dodgers rookie Clayton Kershaw.
Colorado ranks fifth in the NL in K’s, a gnawing statistic for a team that prided itself last season on the ability to move runners and extend rallies. Manager Clint Hurdle explained that re-establishing that identity will be a primary focus beginning in spring training.
“We have to find a way to put together better at-bats. Every night you can’t say the other guy pitched well,” Hurdle said. “You have to be able to dig a game out of the dirt on the offensive side of the ball, and we haven’t done that with the consistency needed to compete in our division.”
Colorado has scored just 21 runs during this skid. That used to be a good weekend at Coors Field pre-humidor.
“It seems like we go up first pitch thinking we are going to hit and we get out. You can’t keep doing that. Then we take a pitch and get behind,” first baseman Garrett Atkins said. “They are making good pitches and we aren’t making adjustments.”
Kershaw conjured up memories of Roy Oswalt’s dominance a week ago, a mauling that sent the Rockies spiraling. The 20-year-old left-hander, who was drooled over as the next Sandy Koufax in spring training, turned in one of his best outings.
He surprised the Rockies with the command of his big-bending curveball. That pitch only became more effective with a sneaky 97-mph fastball. Among left-handed starters in the big leagues, only Milwaukee’s CC Sabathia can match the kid’s velocity.
“This is a pretty aggressive fastball-hitting team, and that’s what got me in trouble last time (at Coors Field),” Kershaw said. “So tonight, I threw a steady of diet of curveballs and changeups.”
The Rockies’ lone run came on a Clint Barmes single. The Dodgers countered with several strong punches against De La Rosa. Former Royals teammate Angel Berroa doubled home a run; Casey Blake, whom manager Joe Torre calls the “glue,” homered; and pesky Juan Pierre, getting a rare start with Andre Ethier away for family reasons, lifted a sacrifice fly.
In what amounts to a role reversal from last September, the Dodgers have won 12 of their last 13 games, leaving the division race going through Los Angeles.
“We are in a position,” Torre said, “to put this away ourselves.”
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
TODAY: Dodgers at Rockies, 1 p.m., FSN
Aaron Cook (16-9, 4.16 ERA) is running out of time to make team history. He needs one more victory to tie Kevin Ritz, Pedro Astacio and Jeff Francis for the most wins in a season (17). At most, Cook has four starts remaining to stake his claim. More important to Cook, however, is finishing the season strong. The sinkerballer has struggled with pitch location for the last month and continues searching for a better feel on his sinker. The Dodgers’ Greg Maddux (7-12, 4.24) handled the Rockies the last time he faced them. Pitching for the Padres at the time, Maddux gave up two runs on six hits in six innings in an 8-3 San Diego victory.Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
Monday:
Padres’ Wade LeBlanc (0-1, 5.40) vs. Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez (10-12, 4.18), 6:35 p.m., FSN
Tuesday:
Padres’ Shawn Estes (2-2, 3.82) vs. Rockies’ Greg Reynolds (2-6, 6.60), 6:35 p.m., FSN
Wednesday:
Padres’ Josh Geer (2-0, 3.18) vs. Rockies’ Jeff Francis (4-10, 5.01), 1:05 p.m., FSN
Thursday:
Off day
