Tuesday figured to be another long day in a season growing short. No Rockies team ever generated the hype associated with this club. This was going to be the year Colorado won its first division title. Instead, they Rockies are left to hold off San Francisco for third place.
Looking for hits, if not a jolt, the Rockies changed their soundtrack. And their lineup. Matt Holliday got a rest, Troy Tulowitzki a promotion and Jeff Baker a reprieve from witness relocation.
If many envisioned another glazed-eyes performance, that scenario quickly changed with two monstrous home runs in the Rockies’ 10-3 splat of the San Diego Padres at Coors Field.
In support of dominant starter Ubaldo Jimenez, Baker hit a three-run shot, and catcher Chris Iannetta crushed a knuckleball — a rare interloper in Denver over the years — for his first career grand slam.
Both had rhythmic sounds off the bat, fitting on a night when the sound of music helped drown out the annoying clanging of a team that had lost eight of its last nine previous games.
Every hitter in the Rockies’ starting lineup walked to the plate to a new batter’s clip. Some were funny, like “Handlebars” by Denver’s own Flobots, greeting Baker. Some were clever, namely the Pussycat Dolls’ “When I Grow Up” working through the stadium as rookie Dexter Fowler dug in his cleats. And some were just spot on, as was the case with Linkin Park’s “Bleed it Out” for Iannetta.
His swing, more than any other’s, helped soothe linger wounds. It was both welcome and fascinating. For years, teams have been reluctant to use knuckleball pitchers at high altitude because their specialty pitch becomes batting practice. Charlie Haeger’s knuckleball appeared more knuckle curve, a death knell.
It ultimately floated like a butterfly more than 400 feet away into the left-field seats when struck by Iannetta, leaving Haeger with the ugly line: four runs, one hit.
Baker provided Jimenez room to exhale in the fifth with his 10th home run. It was just his first since July 27 a streak spanning 77 at-bats. Baker was getting regular playing time, but after a 1-for-13 series at Pittsburgh in late July, he has had 15 games where he didn’t play at all, let alone start.
He was given a look at second base, and started for the only fifth time at third Tuesday. Manager Clint Hurdle shook up the order — Tulowitzki moved to the second spot — after watching his team average just 3.3 runs this month.
“We haven’t been anywhere where we need to be offensively,” Hurdle said. “Maybe this will provide a spark.”
The 14 hits were more than enough for Jimenez. Armed with both a big curveball and hard slider, Jimenez (11-12) worked seven innings, surrendering just three hits and two runs.
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
