St. Louis @ Colorado preview
Coors Field
Last Meeting ( Jul 6, 2010 ) St. Louis 9, Colorado 12
Colorado Rockies manager Jim Tracy called it the best comeback he’s ever seen. St. Louis manager Tony La Russa called it brutal.
In short, it was historic.
Colorado’s stunning 12-9 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday, when it scored nine runs in the ninth inning, was a crushing blow to a St. Louis team that has been dominated by the Rockies. Losses like this only compound matters.
The Rockies beat St. Louis for the ninth time in the last 10 meetings, although nothing was as dramatic as Tuesday’s comeback. It was the first time in the modern era, according to STATS, LLC that a team scored nine times in the bottom of the ninth to win a game.
The last time the Cardinals allowed nine runs in the ninth was Aug. 6, 1959, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, but the 10 runs they allowed to Pittsburgh that day simply capped an 18-2 thrashing.
Seth Smith’s three-run homer off Ryan Franklin with two outs Tuesday capped a dramatic ninth that also included a three-run homer from Chris Iannetta.
It won’t get any easier for the Cardinals on Wednesday against Aaron Cook, who is 4-0 with a 2.23 ERA in his last nine starts at Coors Field dating to last season. He’s 3-0 with a 2.64 ERA in seven starts at home this year.
Cook has reached the seventh inning in every home outing and has yet to allow more than three runs in any of them. Cook failed to win a game during June, but beat San Francisco on Thursday for his first victory since May 29.
The Cardinals will counter with rookie Jaime Garcia, who will face Colorado for the first time in his career. Garcia has been the victim of little run support and bad timing, but still carries a sparkling 2.10 ERA. He has allowed more than two runs in a start just twice this season.
Garcia produced one of the best outings of his brief career last week when he pitched seven shutout innings, including a career-high seven strikeouts, in a 5-0 win at home against Milwaukee.
The Cardinals also received bad news Tuesday even before their disastrous conclusion. Right-hander Brad Penny had to prematurely end his simulated game after experiencing discomfort around his injured right shoulder.
Penny strained a muscle in his back on May 21 and the soreness has lingered longer than the team had expected. The Cardinals were hopeful he could rejoin the rotation after the All-Star break next week, but that’s not likely to happen now. He is scheduled to return to St. Louis today for an MRI exam.