KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sometimes, you just have to file things under “It’s baseball.”
How else to explain the Rockies’ 11-7 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday?
The Rockies had scored 11 runs in the first four games of their seven-game road trip. They hadn’t scored more than four runs in any of their previous eight games.
“We weren’t hitting the ball at all,” Jason Giambi said.
And then, with American League Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke on the mound, they snapped out of it. By the time Greinke was mercifully pulled after 3 1/3 innings, he had allowed nine hits and eight runs — seven earned — in his shortest outing since July 2008.
Giambi, who arrived in K.C. under the dreaded Mendoza Line, got things started with a two-out, three-run homer in the third inning. That may have been the least surprising thing to happen all day, what with Giambi’s history against Greinke.
Giambi’s two hits vs. Greinke left him 6-for-18 against the Royals star, including four home runs and 10 RBIs. So he owns him, right? Not exactly.
“He’s a different Zack Greinke today,” Giambi said. “You have to go up there and just try to battle. Fortunately for us, he just didn’t have it today. When this kid gets it going, he’s pretty electric.”
One inning after serving up a doomed changeup to Giambi, Greinke couldn’t get out of the fourth. By the time the Royals got back to the sanctuary of the dugout, the Rockies had batted around and taken an 8-0 lead.
Ian Stewart had a two-run double and Clint Barmes and Dexter Fowler had run-scoring singles. Nothing unusual there except that Barmes went into the game hitting .197 on the road and Fowler was riding a 0-for-23 streak when he sent Greinke to the showers.
The Rockies ended their seven-game road trip 3-4, evening their record at 22-22. Now for the fine print: They have played only 18 home games, tied with Milwaukee for the fewest in the major leagues.
“Once again, just like the West Coast swing we took, we’re not doing cartwheels over our road trip, but we’re certainly not disappointed in it,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. “It was really, really good to see us swing the bats in the manner in which we did.”
Now for the flip side: Rockies pitchers allowed a season-high 18 hits and turned a cushy 9-0 lead into a dicey proposition. Aaron Cook, handed his biggest lead of the season, couldn’t get out of the fifth inning to qualify for the win.
Cook (1-3, 5.40 ERA) opened the fifth with back-to-back walks, an all-too-familiar scene this season for one of baseball’s best control pitchers. Cook allowed 2.3 walks per nine innings from 2008-09, a number that has soared to 4.4 this season.
“I’m not making quality pitches all the time,” said Cook, who worked four scoreless innings before the fifth, thanks in part to two of the Rockies’ five double plays. “Guys are laying off when I’m down and making me get the ball up. I’ll try to make a positive out of this and focus on the first four innings and not the fifth.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
Upcoming pitching matchups
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Diamondbacks’ Ian Kennedy (3-2, 3.24 ERA) at Rockies’ Jhoulys Chacin (2-2, 3.12), 6;40 p.m., FSN
Wednesday: Diamondbacks’ Rodrigo Lopez (2-2, 4.42) at Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez (8-1, 0.99), 6:40 p.m., FSN
Thursday: Diamondbacks’ Dan Haren (5-3, 4.79) at Rockies’ Jason Hammel (1-3, 7.52), 1:10 p.m., FSN
Friday: Dodgers’ TBA at Rockies’ Jeff Francis (1-0, 0.68), 7:10 p.m., FSN
