MINNEAPOLIS — The Rockies need Ubaldo Jimenez to pitch as well on Thursday afternoon as Scott Baker did on Wednesday night.
How well did Baker pitch against them? Let’s put it this way: The highlights of the night for the Rockies in their 2-1 loss to Minnesota were a throw by Carlos Gonzalez and a passed ball by Joe Mauer.
Baker had been altogether ordinary going into the game, witness his 5-5 record and 4.81 ERA. But he was nothing close to it against the Rockies, allowing two hits and striking out a career-high 12 in seven innings.
The Rockies struck out five times in a row at one point — the Nos. 2 through 6 hitters — and didn’t advance a runner to second base against Baker, who relied on a fastball that usually hit 90-92 mph on the radar gun.
Things might have gotten out of hand early for the Rockies if Gonzalez, as he has so many times this season, hadn’t come up big in the field. The Twins led 1-0 in the second against Jhoulys Chacin when Nick Punto lined a single to center with the bases loaded.
Jason Kubel scored the second run of the game and Delmon Young was about to score the third before Gonzalez scooped up the ball and threw it on the fly to Chris Iannetta, who applied the tag just before Young reached the plate.
The game remained 2-0 through seven innings, but got interesting when Twins manager Ron Gardenhire pulled Baker, who had piled up a season-high 108 pitches.
Matt Guerrier came on and immediately served up a double down the right-field line to Seth Smith. Moments later, he plunked Iannetta with a pitch, and both Iannetta and Smith advanced on Clint Barmes’ sacrifice bunt.
The Rockies scored their lone run on a passed ball charged to Mauer, who had a play at the plate if he hadn’t bobbled the ball.
Rockies manager Jim Tracy talked about a possible offensive breakout after several solid at-bats Tuesday night, but it never materialized. Instead, the Rockies tied their season low with three hits.
Jon Rauch, the 6-foot-10 tower of tattoos, came on in the ninth to notch his 17th save.
