When the Padres landed Sunday night in Denver, closer Heath Bell made a Twitter prediction: “We are going to kick some (butt) here.”
It was bold, given that the division-leading Padres have spent the last two weeks playing the role of the Titanic to the Rockies’ iceberg.
Fittingly, Monday night’s conclusion pitted Bell against Carlos Gonzalez, the hottest player on the planet. Gonzalez couldn’t put Bell’s foot in his mouth or a baseball in the seats, proving that even pixie dust has an expiration date. The Rockies fell 6-4 at Coors Field, their 10-game winning streak snapped as they dropped 2 1/2 games behind San Diego.
“I wasn’t thinking home run, just a hit to bring Tulo up,” said Gonzalez of his game-ending groundout. “You aren’t going to win every game even though it looked like we would. Now, we have to really focus on winning the series.”
This felt more like a game in October, where big plays and slight mistakes were heavily rewarded and punished. With the starters a wash — neither Jeff Francis nor Corey Luebke escaped unscathed — the Padres’ bullpen and defense were the difference.
Miguel Tejada, who finished with four RBIs, made a diving catch against Dexter Fowler to save a run, and Adrian Gonzalez speared a potential run-scoring Jason Giambi line drive that “he could not have hit any harder,” manager Jim Tracy said.
And the Padres’ relievers worked 4 1/3 scoreless innings, showing why they have baseball’s lowest ERA.
“We were out there, and we just said: ‘We will take over. Time to get nasty. It’s our turn,’ ” Bell said.
San Diego rediscovered its offense, scoring more than five runs for the first time in nearly a month.
Even during this impressive streak, the Rockies were living dangerously. They trailed six times in the 10 games. As they did against the Reds last week, they fell behind 5-0 to the Padres.
Francis wasn’t awful. He just walked into a difficult situation that demanded near-perfection. His lone mistake in the first inning was punished, and costly.
Tejada was fooled on two changeups, way out in front with foul-ball swings. Francis attempted to sneak a fastball by the slugger. When the ball finally landed, NASA was required to measure the distance.
“I made a bad pitch and he hit it around 500 feet,” Francis said.
As a concession to his recent injury, Francis was gone after 62 pitches. Esmil Rogers piggybacked, and his stuff looked sharper than Sunday, according to Tracy. But he committed a throwing error on an unnecessary pick play to second and grooved a fastball to Tejada for a two-run single when a slider seemed more suitable.
“I am mad at myself,” Rogers said.
The Rockies roared back in the fifth inning off Luebke. Typically with rookie pitchers, teams make an adjustment the third time through the lineup. Like clockwork, the Rockies dialed in against the left-hander.
Chris Nelson and Dexter Fowler started the rally with singles. From that point for Luebke, it was CarGo, Tulo and Oh No. Gonzalez pulled an outside fastball into right field, scoring a run. Then Tulowitzki launched a three-run home run to center field, his 11th in nine games.
But after that, the Padres’ penitentiary, as they are called, locked the doors.
“We haven’t lost any momentum. We just won 10 straight,” Tulowitzki said. Then, responding directly to Bell’s comments about the series, he added, “We expect that from him.”
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
Looking ahead
TODAY: Padres at Rockies, 6:40 p.m., FSN
Jason Hammel (10-7, 4.34 ERA) is sneaky good. While he gets overshadowed by Ubaldo Jimenez and Jorge De La Rosa, Hammel makes a habit of winning. The Rockies are 16-10 in his starts, trailing only Jimenez’s 21 team wins. Hammel has struggled with Padres catcher Nick Hundley (6-for-12 with three doubles). Jon Garland (13-11, 3.52) has watched his sinker betray him. Unable to command the pitch early, hitters have crushed his get-me-over curveball. Garland keeps the ball in the park, having allowed just two home runs to the Rockies in 106 plate appearances. Troy E. Renck, The Denver Post
Upcoming pitching matchups
Wednesday: Padres’ Clayton Richard (12-7, 3.36 ERA) at Rockies’ Jorge De La Rosa (7-4, 4.10), 1:10 p.m., FSN
Thursday: Off
Friday: Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez (18-6, 2.75) at Dodgers’ Hiroki Kuroda (10-12, 3.32), 8:10 p.m., FSN
Saturday: Rockies’ Jhoulys Chacin (8-9, 3.53) at Dodgers’ Carlos Monasterios (3-5, 4.29), 2:10 p.m.
