Casey Stengel, who managed the 1962 Mets during their infamous 40-120 inaugural season in 1962, famously said: “They have shown me ways to lose I never knew existed.”
After Monday’s fiasco at Coors Field — a 16-6 loss to the Dodgers — Rockies manager Clint Hurdle might be thinking the same thing.
The good feelings stemming from their series win over the weekend in Detroit was washed away by a sea of boos and 19 Dodgers hits.
The Rockies fell behind the Dodgers 7-0 when starter Jorge De La Rosa melted down — again. They rallied to cut the lead to 7-6 by jumping all over Dodgers starter Eric Stults. They gave it all back when relievers Jason Grilli and Alan Embree imploded.
The Rockies fell to 1-6 against the Dodgers this season and 12 games out of first in the National League West.
To make matters worse, Todd Helton, one of the bright lights of the Rockies’ season, left the game after the fourth inning after suffering what the club called “migraine symptoms.”
De La Rosa’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde pitching persona was never more fully on display. He was nearly untouchable for three innings, allowing one hit and striking out six with his biting slider. But his dark side emerged in the fourth when the Dodgers scored seven runs.
The Dodgers hit five singles off him and he came unglued. His most egregious mistake was walking opposing pitcher Eric Stults, who was attempting to sacrifice bunt, on four straight pitches. That loaded the bases for former Rockie Juan Pierre, who smacked a three-run triple to the gap in left-center. That was it for De La Rosa, who remained winless as his ERA ballooned to 5.26.
The Rockies scored once in the fourth on a Clint Barmes double, then combined three walks, a two-run double by Brad Hawpe and a run-scoring single by Garrett Atkins to score four in the sixth. In the sixth, Matt Murton doubled and scored on Troy Tulowitzki’s sacrifice fly, slicing the Dodgers’ lead to a single run.
But the Dodgers’ seventh inning evoked another Stengelism: “Can’t anybody here play this game.”
Los Angeles scored a season-best eight runs in the inning, getting to Grilli for four runs on two hits and Embree for four runs on five hits. It didn’t help that Hawpe misplayed a sinking line drive into a double in right field, that Barmes booted a ball at second or that third baseman Ian Stewart jumped in front of a grounder-turned-base-hit that Tulowitzki could have handled.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
