They’ve been on the brink, in a jam and at a crossroad for much of the season. And Sunday, with the all-star break looming, the Rockies found themselves at yet another stop on the road: on the verge of first place.
It didn’t figure, didn’t translate and, given all the obstacles they’ve encountered, didn’t seem possible, but it was true. All the Rockies had to do was beat the San Diego Padres to move into a tie with the Padres for first place in the National League West.
Long story short, it didn’t happen. The Padres trailed 6-3 in the seventh inning and 6-5 in the eighth, but a key throwing error by Matt Belisle gave them the lead en route to a 9-7 win in front of 40,460 fans at Coors Field.
The Rockies thus go into the break at 49-39, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for second place in the division and first place in the wild-card race. Only once — the strike-shortened 1995 season, when they were 39-30 — have the Rockies had a better record at the break.
“It’s one heck of a homestand,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. “We’re certainly not going to lament over this one for too long. We’re going into the break feeling really good about what we’ve accomplished.
“We’re in just a marvelous position, one that many people felt, with all the different circumstances we’ve dealt with up to this point, we couldn’t be in.”
The Rockies trailed 3-0 in the fourth inning Sunday, in part because of Jeff Francis’ third consecutive shaky outing — he threw 96 pitches and allowed 12 baserunners in five innings. But they rallied to put themselves in position for their seventh straight win. Instead, they lost for the third time in 27 home games when leading after seven. And the culprit was none other than Belisle, whose exploits have been a huge factor in the Rockies’ success.
With the Rockies leading 6-5 in the eighth, Tracy ordered Adrian Gonzalez intentionally walked to load the bases for Nick Hundley. The Padres catcher did precisely what the Rockies wanted, hitting a one-hop smash to Belisle for what should have been an easy home-to-first double play.
Belisle had won the Rockies’ “ragball” tournament at spring training, an ongoing drill in which coaches hit one-hoppers to the mound with a soft-core ball. Afterward, Belisle proclaimed that he was heading for Disney World.
He had no such luck this time, pivoting awkwardly after grabbing the ball and throwing wildly to catcher Miguel Olivo, allowing the tying and go-ahead runs to score.
“I knew I was going to throw to home the whole time, but the way I spun around, Olivo was a blur and I just rushed it,” Belisle said. “I take full responsibility for this loss.
“You can assume how tough it is,” said Belisle, when asked how difficult it would be to put it behind him. “I’m fighting a pretty big headache right now. You have to pride yourself as a ballplayer, with 162 games, to know how to turn the page. This one obviously is going to last a little while.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
Upcoming pitching matchups
Today through Wednesday: All-star break
Thursday: Off
Friday: Rockies’ Jason Hammel (7-3, 4.08 ERA) at Reds’ TBA, 5:10 p.m., FSN
Saturday: Rockies’ Jorge De La Rosa (3-1, 4.94) at Reds’ TBA, 5:10 p.m., FSN
Rockies gaining ground
A look at the NL West contenders after games June 30, compared with today:
| Through June 30 |
Through Sunday |
||||
| Team | Rec. | GB | July 1-11 | Rec. | GB |
| San Diego | 46-32 | – | 5-5 | 51-37 | – |
| Los Angeles | 43-35 | 3 | 6-4 | 49-39 | 2 |
| Colorado | 41-37 | 5 | 8-2 | 49-39 | 2 |
| San Fran. | 40-37 | 5.5 | 7-4 | 47-41 | 4 |
Home sweet homestand
The Rockies, despite losing to the Padres on Sunday, completed an 8-2 homestand that left them two games out of first place in the NL West. A look back the 10 games:
145-119: Combined record of three teams faced
126: Total hits by the Rockies, led by Carlos Gonzalez with 18 and Jonathan Herrera (16)
Nine: Games with double-digit hits
Four: Comeback wins
Six runs: Largest comeback deficit
Six games: Winning streak
Jim Armstrong, The Denver Post
