ATLANTA — The mystery of the long reliever is solved: It’s Manuel Corpas.
He established single-game career highs in innings and pitches. That eloquently explains the disaster that was Friday night at Turner Field for the Rockies. They came here looking to make amends, and instead starter Jason Hammel made history.
He posted arguably the worst start of his career in the 9-5 bludgeoning by the Braves.
“It’s embarrassing,” Hammel said. “You want to say that cliche that you will forget about it and move on, but this one is going to leave a bad taste in my mouth.”
Seven runs came in an achingly long second inning. Manager Jim Tracy tried to nurse the right-hander through, but couldn’t ignore the alarming symptoms. Hammel couldn’t command his secondary pitches, and his fastball was so erratic that, on a Jason Heyward single, Hammel missed location by a couple of feet.
“He was just very ineffective,” Tracy said.
The second straight loss continued to set parameters on the season. When Ubaldo Jimenez pitches, as he will today, the team looks capable of holding an October Blake Street parade. When anyone else throws, they seem vulnerable, a club that could just as likely be left pressing its nose against the playoff window pane.
That the Rockies were drummed — or Tomahawk chopped — is of small concern at this point in the season.
The larger question is, when are the Rockies going to start playing well or consistently? Their pitching and defense, the club’s defining characteristics, have been lacking. Friday, the Rockies finally caught the ball better.
Hammel threw 44 pitches in the second inning, retiring only two hitters. Heyward produced two hits. Melky Cabrera and David Ross, the latter spelling all-star Brian McCann because of the Braves’ morning arrival from San Diego, combined to drive in three runs. Every Braves position player had recorded a hit by the third inning.
“It was a lot of fun in that (second) inning,” Cabrera said.
Upon returning to the dugout, Hammel stared blankly into the dark sky. The sudden blistering left him seething — and Corpas pitching. With Esmil Rogers in Triple-A Colorado Springs resuming his career as a starter, Corpas was left to clean up the mess in aisle two.
He worked 2 1/3 innings, allowing just one run on 50 pitches. For a brief moment, he gave the Rockies a puncher’s chance at a comeback.
“I was very encouraged by what I saw,” Tracy said.
They moved to within 8-4 on Seth Smith’s fourth career pinch-hit homer. But a golf shot blast from Chipper Jones off Joe Bei-mel effectively undermined any mounting leverage.
“If I pitch there, I should be fine. He stepped in the bucket and hit it,” Beimel said.
So this game became defined by Hammel’s disappointment and some improving health (outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is expected to start today).
“We will have the ‘Chief’ on the mound, and hopefully give him some help,” Tracy said of Jimenez.
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
Seconds, anyone?
The Rockies lost their second straight game because of a forgettable second inning. National baseball writer Troy E. Renck compares the work of the starters — the Rockies’ Jason Hammel and the Braves’ Derek Lowe — in the inning:
Pitches Outs Runs
Jason Hammel 44 2 7
Derek Lowe 9 3 0
Ubaldo Jimenez (2-0, 2.25 ERA) grew up watching the Braves. He wears the old-school stirrups because of Chipper Jones, but sentiment only goes so far. Look for him to use a 97-mph sinking fastball to reverse his fortunes against Atlanta. He’s never pitched well at Turner Field (7.45 ERA) or against the Braves (one win in five games). Kenshin Kawakami (0-1, 3.00) has reinvented himself, scrapping a cut-fastball for a sinker. He tamed the Giants for six innings last week but took the loss, as Atlanta was overmatched by Tim Lincecum.
