It began in one throat. A loud scratchy scream shouting his name. It grew in volume as Dante Bichette walked toward the mound for a ceremonial first pitch. Then the late-arriving crowd went nuts for the man wearing the catcher’s mitt.
Bichette and Larry Walker were back together again. Bichette, with his shaved head, could have passed as Lex Luthor. And Walker certainly passed as Superman for long stretches of his career. Bichette one-hopped the fastball. Walker made a perfect scoop.
They smiled, high-fived players, and, well, that was it, save for a ninth-inning tease that ended with a Jason Giambi strikeout.
Bichette’s 70-second sequence passed as the highlight as Arizona’s Dan Haren and multiple injuries turned the game into a buzz kill in a Rockies’ 5-3 loss Monday night at Coors Field.
The Rockies’ rotation has suddenly become vulnerable, with the possibility of changes on the way. Just a few hours after Jorge De La Rosa underwent an MRI on his bruised left middle finger that showed a torn flexor tendon band, Jason Hammel strained his right groin in a challenging three-inning performance.
It’s possible one or both pitchers could land on the disabled list with Esmil Rogers and Jhoulys Chacin the top replacement candidates in Triple-A Colorado Springs.
A decision with De La Rosa, who will not need surgery, is expected today or Wednesday. He is 19-4 over his last 26 starts since June 3, the best in the major leagues. He and Ubaldo Jimenez have combined for seven of the Rockies’ 10 wins.
Hammel hasn’t contributed much, a surprise given his strong spring. He has alternated strong starts — two seven-inning performances — with forgettable outings. He lasted just five outs against the Braves and was gone after three innings Monday. While the Atlanta meltdown was traced to a mechanical flaw, he encountered physical issues against the Diamondbacks.
The first sign that something was wrong came in the first inning. On his 13th pitch, Hammel’s arm was dropping — usually something that happens much later in the game when fatigue sets in. It was unclear whether his leg was already hurt, but there was no denying that his command was off when slugger Adam LaRoche stepped into the box with two outs.
LaRoche crushed a flat, belt-high 92-mph fastball into the Rockies’ bullpen, giving the Diamondbacks a 3-0 cushion. For the third time his career — all against Arizona — Carlos Gonzalez hit a leadoff home run.
Longman Manuel Corpas kept the Diamondbacks within arms reach with three scoreless innings. But the Rockies had no answer for Haren, who stayed out of hitter’s counts and used a slider to set up his split-fingered changeup. Haren surrendered just two runs on seven hits.
The Rockies made noise in the ninth, following an RBI single by Ian Stewart. That brought Giambi to the plate as the winning run against closer Chad Qualls. He fell behind 1-2 before fanning on a 91-mph slider in the dirt.
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
