At the risk of overstating the obvious, the Rockies, given how they play on the road, can’t afford to lose at home.
As in, they can’t afford to lose one game, much less a series or homestand.
And even then, it may not matter come October, which, with about six weeks left in the season, seems more like a dream than a destination.
But give the Rockies this: For all their flailings and failings on the road, they’ve got some kind of karma going at Coors Field. This time, they trailed 3-1 in the sixth inning and 4-2 in the eighth, only to walk away with a 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night.
Troy Tulowitzki’s three-run homer off reliever Kameron Loe provided the difference. Tulowitzki’s dramatic blast, just over Ryan Braun’s outstretched glove in left field, came after Todd Helton walked to open the eighth and Carlos Gonzalez followed with the game’s 12th double down the left-field line.
“I thought it was either going to be a home run or caught,” Tulowitzki said. “I stayed on first for a while. I thought it was caught, especially the way my night was going. I hit some balls hard that were caught. I was starting to get a little frustrated and luckily one broke my way.”
The Rockies’ latest late-inning passion play made for another page in what’s becoming a tale of two teams: The one that can’t seem to lose at home, and the one that gags on pillow mints on the road.
Numbers? You want numbers? Try these on: The win improved the Rockies’ record to 7-11 at home when they’ve trailed after the sixth inning. On the road, they’re 2-31 in the same scenario.
“I can’t sit here and tell you I haven’t seen things like that happen in this ballpark since late last May,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. “That’s a great game to win, obviously, and it would have been a very disappointing one to lose.”
The Rockies have saved their disappointments for the road. How poorly have they played away from LoDo? They’re 37-19 in Denver, the third-best home record in the National League. Both teams ahead of them, the Braves and Cardinals, lead their divisions.
The Rockies? Their wild-card hopes are fading, no thanks to their ghastly 23-36 road record. Can they still make the playoffs? Yes. The Dodgers won the NL West in 2008 with a 36-45 road record. But is it likely? No.
To do it, they would need their pitchers to go on a serious hot streak. For a while Friday night, that’s what Jorge De La Rosa was experiencing.
De La Rosa sailed through the first five innings, allowing three hits, before allowing three doubles in a span of four hitters in the sixth, bringing Tracy with the hook.
The start was De La Rosa’s seventh since coming off the disabled list in July. In those seven starts, he’s 1-2 with four no-decisions and a 5.63 ERA.
Even giving him a couple of mulligans after a 10-week layoff, it isn’t what the Rockies were hoping for after De La Rosa’s 16-3 finish in 2009.
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
Looking ahead
TODAY: Brewers at Rockies, 6:10 p.m., FSN
Esmil Rogers (2-2, 4.79 ERA) has impressed the Rockies more than his pedestrian numbers would suggest. If he stays out of dangerous counts, he can mow down major-league hitters. To wit: He’s 0-0 at Coors Field but has a 2.25 ERA and has struck out 18 in 16 innings. Chris Narveson (9-7, 5.62) is an ex-Rockie . . . sort of. He was acquired from the Cardinals for Larry Walker but was shipped to the Red Sox before finally landing in Milwaukee. At 28, he’s showing signs of turning a corner in The Show. It will be all right-handers on deck, with right-handed hitters batting .315 with a .548 slugging percentage against him compared to .220-.285 for lefties. Jim Armstrong, The Denver Post
Upcoming pitching matchups
Sunday: Brewers’ Manny Parra (3-9, 5.46) at Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez (17-3, 2.55), 1:10 p.m., FSN
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Rockies’ Jeff Francis (4-4, 4.56) at Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw (10-7, 3.19), 8:10 p.m., FSN
Wednesday: Rockies’ Jason Hammel (8-7, 4.42) at Dodgers’ Hiroki Kuroda (8-10, 3.65), 8:10 p.m., FSN
