BOSTON (AP) -They could not get out of town fast enough.
The scene in a dispirited Rockies clubhouse after they dropped their second straight to the Red Sox looked like a commercial for a packing service. Either that, or an ad for wheeled luggage. If the airlines ever learn to handle bags as fast as Colorado’s players did in the wee hours Friday morning, summer travel wouldn’t have become the nightmare it turned out to.
Yet before manager Clint Hurdle could climb on the bus, he had to face the same question asked a half-dozen different ways – whether going back to Coors Field will change the dynamic of a World Series that has the Rockies teetering on the edge of a cliff. When it came up one final time, “Do you think you’ll go back to the home whites on Saturday and what do you think you will do to change this up?” he nearly lost it.
“I didn’t major in fashion design,” Hurdle replied tersely. “I usually stay out of that. I don’t make any uniform selections.”
Yet after two games, it’s fair to wonder whether there’s anything anybody on the Rockies side can change to slow the rampaging Red Sox down.
“We only score two runs in this ballpark, so I’m not telling you much when I tell you their pitching is on a roll. They put it where they want to, when they want to,” Colorado batting coach Alan Cockrell said.
“I think the layoff had an effect on our guys’ timing and rhythm at the plate. We had a knack for getting the big hit all through the postseason, but we sure didn’t have it here. Maybe,” Cockrell added, “we’ll rediscover it at home.”
Then again, maybe not.
It’s a little premature to call this one over, but not too early to wonder whether the 21-of-22 magic carpet-ride of a winning streak that swept Colorado into the postseason and past Philadelphia and Arizona was really as magical as it seemed.
When they’re rolling, the Red Sox they can make any team look bad. “They’re about as professional as you can get,” Rockies reliever Matt Herges said. But Boston had to win three straight to shake Cleveland in the American League championship series and at least three of their AL brethren – the Indians, Yankees and Angels – and perhaps even a fourth – the Tigers – might have wrestled Colorado in the same difficult headlock.
Rockies coach and franchise icon Vinny Castilla mulled over that very possibility, conceding that only the Braves and Mets in Colorado’s half of the league might be as loaded offensively as the top AL teams. And either way, he understands the Red Sox lineup is probably in a league all by itself.
“We’re very young and very talented, and we think we can play with anybody. But we’ve learned to respect them,” he paused, casting a glance in the direction of the Boston clubhouse, “a lot.”
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