After today's 5-1 opening loss to the Phillies in the National League division series, the Colorado Rockies were making no excuses. The players weren't blaming the 24-m.p.h. wind, or the shadows created by the afternoon start.
Actually, they were blaming one person for the loss - Phillies lefthander Cliff Lee, who pitched a complete-game six-hitter.
"I don't see any team today with what Cliff Lee had, coming out of here with a win today," said Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who went 2 for 4 with an RBI double in the ninth inning. "He was tough, so there is no reason for us to get down, and we have to respond and try to win tomorrow."
The Rockies admitted that they played into Lee's hands by not exuding more patience at the plate.
"He pounded the strike zone, had good stuff and definitely threw us off our game plan," said first baseman Todd Helton, who 0 for 4. "We wanted to try to make him work more and we didn't do that."
Tough call
One call that appeared to go against the Rockies ended the top of the second inning when catcher
Yorvit Torrealba was thrown out at third base on a two-hopper by
Jayson Werth while tagging up on
Clint Barmes' fly-out to right field.
"We watched the replay and it showed I was safe," Torrealba said. "It was a bad play by myself because we had to lead off [pitcher] Ubaldo [Jimenez] the next inning."
Almost a catch
Rockies leftfielder
Carlos Gonzalez thought he would catch what eventually became an RBI double by
Ryan Howard in the sixth inning, extending the Phillies' lead to 3-0. Gonzalez tracked down the ball, got his glove on it, then crashed into the wall.
As with many balls hit to the outfield, the wind was a factor.
"I thought it was way farther, and I looked at the wall and the ball was coming down, doing crazy things," Gonzalez said. "I tried my best to get the ball, and it hit my glove, and right after that it hit the wall."
Gonzalez said he thought that without the wind, Howard would have had a home run.
Almost a catch II
Following Howard in the sixth inning, Werth hit a ball that centerfielder
Dexter Fowler believed he would catch. Instead, he barely missed it, and Werth had an RBI triple.
"Everybody, including myself, thought it was gone," Fowler said. "I got to the wall, saw it going back, and then tried to get to it. I thought I had it."
Contact staff writer Marc Narducci at 856-779-3225 or mnarducci@phillynews.com.
