One look at the lineup cards was all it took.
The first four hitters in Milwaukee manager Ken Macha’s card had combined for 51 home runs. The first four in Jim Tracy’s had nine, seven by Ryan Spilborghs.
The Rockies’ No. 1 run producer? That would be none other than No. 8 hitter Clint Barmes with 31 RBIs.
Given the boos that cascaded through Coors Field on Sunday as the Brewers erupted for five runs in the ninth inning, the crowd of 46,511 was appalled by the Rockies’ 6-1 loss. But surprised? Not at this point.
Not with the state of the Rockies’ offense. Not with Todd Helton’s ongoing struggles and Ian Stewart’s .135 June and on and on and on. And especially not with Troy Tulowitzi gone for six weeks and Carlos Gonzalez out of the lineup for the third straight day.
The Rockies matched their season low with three hits. Their only run came via a Brad Hawpe home run, his second since April 21. Given their offensive numbers, it’s as if they’re facing Ubaldo Jimenez every day.
Finger pointing? Not going to happen. Not necessary, either. To say that hitting has been the Rockies’ problem qualifies as stating the blatantly obvious.
“We go out there and play together — win together, lose together,” said Aaron Cook, whose one-run, seven-inning outing was wasted. “I’ve just got to go out there and do my job. I can’t put put any added pressure on myself to say, ‘Oh, I’ve got to throw a shutout today.’ “
It’s not a bad idea, though, given how the Rockies’ offense has flatlined.
“I don’t think there are too many games where you sit there and, over the course of nine innings, get a run and three hits and you’re thinking about beating a club,” said Tracy. “Unless you’re shutting a team out is about the only time that will occur.”
Tracy expressed satisfaction that the Rockies, sans Tulowitzki and Gonzalez, won two out of three in the series. But the fact is, they wasted another pitching performance that should have been good enough to win.
Cook has been a tale of two pitchers for most of the season. He’s been an accident waiting to happen on the road, where he’s 0-4 with an ugly 7.34 ERA. But he’s 2-0 at Coors Field, and Sunday’s outing dropped his home ERA to 2.18.
The game was tied 1-1 in the ninth before the Brewers used four doubles, three in succession, to put up five runs, all of which were charged to Manuel Corpas. Add Corey Hart’s three-run ninth-inning homer on Saturday to the equation and Corpas allowed eight earned runs in two-thirds of an inning in the two games, jumping his ERA from 2.37 to 4.19.
“We obviously didn’t have a good ninth inning, but it happens,” said Tracy.
What the Rockies didn’t see happening was the offensive malaise that has defined so much of their season. The Boston Red Sox will be at Coors Field for a three-game series starting Tuesday night, and the Rockies, these Rockies, are going to match them run for run?
“We just know we’ve got to get the job done,” said Chris Iannetta. “That’s what we have to do, get it done any way we can. We have to keep fighting and figure out ways to get it done.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
