DETROIT — Searching for a way to turn their season around — and provide a safety net for embattled manager Clint Hurdle — the last thing the Rockies needed was to encounter one of the hottest teams in baseball.
But the baseball gods showed no pity for the Rockies.
They lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to the Tigers and baby-faced right-hander Rick Porcello on Friday night at Comerica Park. The victory was the Tigers’ seventh straight.
It didn’t come easy.
In the ninth, Brad Hawpe milked a walk off of Detroit closer Joel Zumaya, setting up a two-run homer to right by designated hitter Seth Smith. Zumaya struck out Chris Iannetta for the second out, but then hit Garrett Atkins. With the tying run on first, Ian Stewart stepped up to face Zumaya and lined a 3-2 pitch to center, moving pinch-runner Omar Quintanilla to third.
Next up was rookie Dexter Fowler. But Fowler could only wave at Zumaya’s 100 mph fastball, striking out to end the game.
The Rockies, unable to build off of Aaron Cook’s brilliant shutout in Atlanta on Thursday, lost for the third time in four games. The Rockies haven’t put together back-to-back wins since May 12.
Porcello, a 20-year-old with a high-90s fastball, gave up one run on six hits in six innings. Cool, calm and economical, he needed just 86 pitches to coast through his start.
Porcello outpitched Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez. Jimenez was decent — seven innings, three runs allowed on six hits, seven strikeouts — but not good enough to beat the potent Tigers.
Two innings cost Jimenez. In the third, the Tigers converted three singles and a Jimenez wild pitch into two runs. Perhaps catcher Chris Iannetta should have handled Jimenez’s pitch in the dirt, but he didn’t, and Gerald Laird cruised in from third base. The big blow was a two-out RBI single by Placido Polanco.
Brandon Inge crushed Jimenez’s 0-1, 98 mph fastball to right center for a solo homer in the fourth, putting the Tigers in front 3-0. It was Inge’s 12th homer.
As has become the norm this season, the Rockies were simply out-executed.
Case in point: left fielder Josh Anderson’s perfect throw in the third inning that erased Fowler at the plate when he tried to score on a single by Troy Tulowitzki.
Second base in point: In the sixth, the Rockies’ potential big inning was snuffed out when Ryan Spilborghs grounded out to first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who then wheeled and threw out Todd Helton at home by 15 feet.
As the Rockies struggle, Hawpe continues to thrive. His sixth-inning single drove in Tulowitzki. It marked the seventh game in the last 10 that Hawpe drove in a run. Hawpe is hitting .486 (17-for-35) with runners in scoring position.
The Rockies, swept by the Tigers last season, have now lost four straight at Comerica Park. Colorado, 3-5 on the current 10-game road trip, tries again tonight with sinkerball specialist Jason Marquis on the mound.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
