CLEVELAND — Third inning, runners on second and third, Jason Hammel set to deliver a pitch to Travis Hafner. Except it never got to the plate. Or out of Hammel’s hand, for that matter.
Said Hammel: “I picked up the runner at third and looked home and started my motion and . . .”
Nothing. Zero. Nada. Hammel stopped in midmotion for a balk that allowed Jack Hannahan to score a crucial run. How crucial? The Rockies wound up losing to the Indians 4-3 at Progressive Field.
So what in the name of Jim “Wrong Way” Marshall happened?
“I can honestly tell you I forgot what I was throwing,” Hammel said. “It was between a fastball and a slider and I just forgot. I’ve never had that happen before. Just a brain (slip), and it stinks that that’s the one that cost us.”
Considering his team had won nine out of 13 and was hoping to sweep the three-game set from the Indians, Rockies manager Jim Tracy was none too pleased by Hammel’s Roger Clemensesque misremembering act.
“I was told he forgot what pitch it was that he was going to throw,” Tracy said. “That’s the answer to your question. When you look at the final score, it’s certainly significant.”
Hammel said the gaffe had nothing to do with his unfamiliarity with catcher Matt Pagnozzi, who joined the team from Triple-A last week. There was no mix-up, no doubt about what pitch Hammel was expected to throw.
He just forgot.
“It’s a mental error,” Hammel said. “To forget what you’re throwing is pretty silly. You just got the sign two seconds before and then you forget two seconds later. It was just odd.”
In retrospect, Hammel (4-7, 4.13) wished he had delivered a pitch, any pitch, rather than stand by with virtual egg on his face watching Hannahan jog home from third.
“I guess,” he said. “Don’t stop in the middle of your windup. Throw it up the backstop, I don’t know. Just throw something toward the plate.”
Making things more frustrating was that Hammel, other than the balk and Hafner’s two-run homer in the sixth, pitched a very competitive game. Hammel struggled with command — 50 of his 108 pitches were balls — but the outing marked the 12th time in 15 starts he had allowed four runs or fewer.
The loss ruined a two-homer, three-RBI night for Ty Wigginton, who has his own frustration issues to contend with. To wit: The Rockies have lost the last six games in which he has gone deep.
“You’ve got to feel good to win a series,” Wigginton said. “We all feel like we’d have liked to come in here and get a W and a sweep, but it didn’t work out. So you sleep this one off, take an off day and get ready to play in the Big Apple.”
The Rockies will open a three-game series Friday night at Yankee Stadium. No, they’re not flying high, but they’re quietly confident after winning 12 out of 20 in June after an 8-21 May.
“We’re not going to feel bad about leaving town having won a series,” Tracy said. “You have to feel good about the recovery the club has made over the last 10 days or so. Because it’s made a significant recovery.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
Upcoming pitching matchups
Thursday: Off
Friday: Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez (2-7, 4.68 ERA) at Yankees’ A.J. Burnett (7-5, 4.05), 5:05 p.m., Root
Saturday: Rockies’ Aaron Cook (0-2, 4.67) at Yankees’ CC Sabathia (9-4, 3.39), 11:05 a.m., Root
Sunday: Rockies’ Juan Nicasio (2-1, 4.71) at Yankees’ Ivan Nova (7-4, 4.13), 12:20 p.m., Root
Monday: Rockies’ Jhoulys Chacin (8-4, 2.71) at Cubs’ Matt Garza (3-6, 4.11), 12:20 p.m., Root
