Giants Deal Rockies a Blow

The Colorado Rockies returned to the friendly atmosphere of Coors Field on Thursday night, breathed deeply the invigorating mountain air and . . . suddenly looked like a team in need of inhalation therapy.

The Rockies coughed up a 12-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants, who were operating without the injured Deion Sanders, Robby Thompson, Royce Clayton and Glenallen Hill.

The Giants, however, still had Barry Bonds and Matt Williams, and each hit a three-run homer to highlight an 18-hit assault that produced a 9-0 lead before the Rockies batted in the fifth inning. That prompted Colorado Manager Don Baylor to use the cream of his bullpen and a total of six pitchers in a futile effort to keep it close and helped rookie Jamie Brewington beat the Rockies for the second time in five days.

The 23-year-old right-hander, 6-4 in 13 starts, went six innings of a 2-0 victory in San Francisco on Saturday and survived nine hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings of this one.

The Dodgers may want to vote him a share if they win the National League West title, and that possibility brightened considerably Thursday, to the booing chagrin of 48,023 paid partisans at Coors. The Rockies’ third loss in four games left them a game behind the idle Dodgers with three to play. A victory would have produced a first-place tie and virtually eliminated the Houston Astros from wild-card consideration.

However, the Rockies remained only a game ahead of the Astros, who had lost a day game to the Chicago Cubs. The wild card represents a safety net to the Rockies, but Dante Bichette said:

“I’d be disappointed if we didn’t win the division. It’s important to us. That’s where our sights are, but the Dodgers control it now.

“We can’t afford another loss. We have to sweep. It’s still tough to think the Dodgers will lose two of three to San Diego.”

The breakdown in the opener of a four-game series with the Giants involved the familiar problem of starting pitching. This was the 11th time that the team with a league-high earned-run average of 4.88 has yielded 17 or more hits in a game.

The Giants tied a season high for hits and ultimately scored in double figures for the first time since Aug. 4 despite a patchwork lineup that included three minor leaguers called up earlier this month. One, shortstop Rich Aurilia, had two singles, a double and his first home run in his first major league start. “I’ve never had a game like this at any level,” Aurilia said. Another, center fielder Marvin Benard, had a double and two singles.

“I warned people about what kids called up in September can do,” Baylor said. “I’m not surprised by that. I’m surprised we didn’t pitch better.

“Any time you’ve still got Bonds and Williams in the middle of the lineup you can’t keep putting guys on base. They made us pay for it. We just couldn’t contain them.”

Rookie Bryan Rekar (4-6), who arrived in mid-July and helped hold the Colorado rotation together during injuries and inconsistency, lost his fourth consecutive decision, giving up nine hits and seven runs in four-plus innings. Rekar yielded singles to the first two San Francisco batters before Bonds lifted a high fly to left that cleared the 390-foot mark for his 33rd homer and fifth season of 100 or more runs batted in (he has 102).

Rekar was chased during a five-run fifth in which Williams greeted Roger Bailey with his 22nd homer, a 392-foot drive to right center.

“We need a real good pitching performance,” said Baylor, whose hope tonight is that Armando Reynoso can duplicate his eight-inning stint of Sunday against the Giants.

Added Baylor: “Our hitters can’t always be put in the position where they’re expected to score eight or nine runs just because it’s Coors Field.”

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National League Playoff Race

The standings and remaining schedule for the National League West:

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W L Pct. GB Dodgers 76 65 .539 -- Colorado 75 66 .532 1 San Diego 69 72 .489 7 San Francisco 66 75 .468 10

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Today through Sunday

Dodgers at San Diego; San Francisco at Colorado