BOSTON (AP) -Will anyone remember that the Colorado Rockies got here by winning 21 of 22?
That fabulous streak skidded to a halt Wednesday night in Colorado’s 13-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox, who piled on more runs than any team in a World Series opener.
The eight-day layoff the Rockies earned by sweeping the Diamondbacks in the NL championship series proved costly at Fenway Park. They looked ragged not rested.
They went from wild-card wannabes to formidable NL champions, losing just once in 38 days before running into Boston’s buzz saw.
“We were a little rusty, I think,” first baseman Todd Helton said. “We didn’t play that well. But they played really good. You’ve got to tip the cap. They put a good old-fashioned beating on us tonight.”
So, now what?
“We just go out and regroup tomorrow,” Helton said. “It’s what we’ve done all year.”
Jeff Francis watched his second pitch sail over the Green Monster. While Francis was getting shelled, the Rockies’ lineup looked hopeless against Josh Beckett.
“You can ask me all series long about the eight-day layoff and I’m not going to be able to give you an answer on that,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “We’re a no-excuse ball club, always have been and we’re going to be. We got outplayed tonight.”
The last time Francis and his teammates had been beaten was Sept. 28, a span of 26 days. They looked like they hadn’t played in that long.
“You can come up with any number of reasons why that happened. But we’re not here to make excuses. The bottom line is we just didn’t get it done,” Francis said. “I felt good, I felt smooth, I felt strong. Just leaving balls up. That’s not a lineup that you want to make a lot of mistakes to.”
Francis was even rustier than the Rockies’ rickety lineup, allowing 10 hits, the most he’s yielded since July 23 against San Diego.
The first batter he faced, Dustin Pedroia, sent the lefty’s second pitch over the wall in left and the rout was on.
By the time the first inning ended Francis had surrendered three runs and five hits, three of which went for extra bases. He gave up another run in the second and two more in the fourth.
In four painful innings, Francis allowed six earned runs in his worst start in 2 1/2 months.
The team that couldn’t lose suddenly couldn’t do anything right.
Rookie Franklin Morales, a lefty who was relegated to the bullpen when the Rockies decided to activate Aaron Cook for a Game 4 start this weekend, gave up seven runs and six hits in two-thirds of an inning. He also committed the first balk in a World Series game in 11 years.
Ryan Speier relieved Morales with the bases loaded and two outs and proceeded to walk in all three runners to make it 13-1 before Matt Herges came in and rescued the humiliated Rockies by inducing Kevin Youkilis to fly out to right field.
“It kind of felt like it was a spring training game there at the end after they started pulling people,” Helton said.
In their 7-0 sweep through Philadelphia and Arizona in the playoffs, the Rockies’ starting pitchers posted a 2.31 ERA and their bullpen a 1.38 ERA.
It’s apparent the Rockies were too good for their own good.
After taking four straight from Arizona, they had to wait around eight days before facing the Red Sox, who needed seven games to eliminate Cleveland in the ALCS and got just two days off.
“I’m pretty confident that we will see what we’re made of tomorrow,” Herges said. “We were facing Beckett and we scored one run. We can do what we did this year – come right back. You’ll see tomorrow. I’m pretty confident we’ll be back and you’ll see the team that won 21 of 22 games.”
Francis said he wasn’t concerned this was the beginning of the end for Colorado’s incredible run.
“I’m not worried about any imprint,” he said. “I know this loss isn’t going to bother us as much as a lot of people think it will.”
The last time the Rockies lost they reeled off 10 straight wins.
“So, there you go,” Francis said.
Add A Comment