If the Rockies were an electronic gadget instead of a baseball team, their label would read something like this: “Some assembly required, AAA batteries included.”
Going with the kids in September is one thing. Doing it while trying to ride out injuries to Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez has taken things to the extreme at Coors Field.
“Lineup-wise, we’re somewhat patched up,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said before the game. “We’re more than somewhat. We’re patched up today, there’s no doubt about it.”
The Rockies’ Friday night lineup included seven players who spent all or part of 2011 in the minor leagues. Mark Ellis and Kevin Kouzmanoff, each of whom opened the season with Oakland, were in the Nos. 3 and 4 holes.
Given the presence of red-hot left-hander Madison Bumgarner on the mound, the results were predictable enough: a 9-1 loss to the Giants. On a more positive note, no further injuries were reported, and the crowd of 47,302 got to stick around for postgame fireworks.
But back to the reality of the Rockies’ lost season.
At this point, they have to hope rookie right-hander Alex White’s struggles are more a byproduct of flawed mechanics and lengthy inactivity than an inability to handle the altitude. At any rate, his struggles in Denver have been alarming, witness his altitude-sick 9.72 ERA in three starts, during which he has served up nine home runs in 16 2/3 innings.
“It has nothing to do with any of the injuries,” said White, who was disabled for more than two months with a torn flexor tendon before being acquired in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade. “To be honest with you, it’s the fifth or sixth time we’ve had this conversation, and I’m so sick of it and frustrated with it. It’s time for this not to happen.”
Said Tracy, when asked if he felt part of White’s struggles were attributable to his injury-marred season: “I’m sure it is. As we move forward, I think we’ll see him getting to the point where he’s comfortable with the ebb and flow of the season and the regularity of his work is there.”
As ugly as the final score was, White had his moments. He induced a double-play ball from Carlos Beltran and struck out Pablo Sandoval. But a two-run homer by Brandon Belt on a hanging splitter and a solo shot by Cody Ross put him in a 3-1 hole entering the sixth.
That’s when “it unraveled very quickly,” Tracy said. “That’s how quickly at this level the game can get away. The learning part is to recognize that, at this level, you can’t afford to misfire. When there are hitters at the plate to get to and put innings down, you’ve got to do so.”
White wouldn’t get out of the inning, allowing a two-out walk, a hit batter and three straight hits, including a double by Bumgarner, before Tracy came with the hook. The bottom line on White’s night: 5 2/3 innings, six earned runs.
“We’re pretty much out of it as a team,” White said. “If we weren’t, I wouldn’t be pitching. I’m just getting the innings, getting the work in, trying to get this stuff out of the way before next year, I hope.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
Looking ahead
TODAY: Giants at Rockies, 6:10 p.m., Root
A preview of things to come in the National League West: kid lefties Drew Pomeranz and Eric Surkamp squaring off. Pomeranz (1-0, 0.00 ERA) was brilliant in his major- league debut vs. Cincinnati on Sunday, pitching five shutout inningsand with an arm that isn’t at full strength and after working 10 innings in a span of six weeks. Surkamp made the jump from Double-A, where he was 10-4, 2.02 in 23 starts. He’ll be making his fourth start in the majors. Jim Armstrong, The Denver Post
Upcoming pitching matchups
Sunday: Giants’ Matt Cain (11-10, 2.79 ERA) at Rockies’ Esmil Rogers (6-5, 5.88), 1:10 p.m., Root
Monday: Padres’ Cory Luebke (5-9, 3.27) at Rockies’ Kevin Millwood (4-2, 3.68), 6:40 p.m., Root
Tuesday: Padres’ Mat Latos (7-14, 3.73) at Rockies’ Jhoulys Chacin (11-12, 3.73), 6:40 p.m., Root
Wednesday: Padres’ Tim Stauffer (9-12, 3.73) at Rockies’ Aaron Cook (3-9, 5.97), 1:10 p.m., Root
