The Rockies added misery to injury during an awful Thursday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
In a humbling 13-0 defeat to the Cardinals, the Rockies lost right-handed starter Antonio Senzatela early in the game with what could be a serious knee injury. Right fielder Charlie Blackmon also departed the game with a tight right hamstring but he should be fine in a couple of days, according to manager Bud Black.
The defeat was Colorado’s fifth straight overall and 12th consecutive loss at St. Louis. The 13-0 win was the Cardinals’ largest margin of victory in a shutout at Busch Stadium.
But another road loss in what’s turning out to be a disastrous season was not the No. 1 thing on Black’s mind. Rather, Senzatela’s condition was the manager’s chief concern.
Black told reporters in St. Louis after the game that he had “nothing concrete” to report but did say that Senzatela will undergo an MRI on his left knee on Friday.
“He definitely has a knee sprain, to a certain extent,” Black told AT&T SportsNet. “How significant we won’t know until we get the (MRI) tomorrow. Devastating, right? As of now, we are crossing our fingers, for sure.”
Senzatela, 27, is in the first season of a five-year, $50.5 million contract. He’s had an up-down season but entered Thursday’s game on a nice roll, having pitched four quality starts and reducing his ERA from 4.98 to 4.67.
Senzatela was injured in the second inning when he tried to cover first base on Brendan Donovan’s infield single to Elehuris Montero. Senzatela pulled up lame and fell to the ground in obvious pain, clutching his left knee.
Senzatela, who was charged with five runs on six hits in 1 1/3 innings, was helped off the field and immediately taken to the clubhouse.
Left-hander Austin Gomber took over for Senzatela in a game the Cardinals were already beginning to put in the win column. The Cardinals ambushed Gomber, pounding him for five runs on three hits in 2 1/3 innings. The hammer blow was a pinch-hit grand slam by Albert Pujols in the third.
Blackmon’s injury occurred in the first inning. He legged out an infield hit but ran gingerly as he approached the first-base bag. He stayed in the game through the Rockies’ at-bat but was removed from the game in the second inning.
“I think Charlie is going to be fine,” Black said of the 36-year-old outfielder. “He’s been hit in the hamstring a couple of times with pitches. It tightened up three or four days ago when he was running.
“But I just spoke to Charlie and Charlie thinks he’s going to be fine. He probably won’t start (Friday) night and we’ll give him another day or two to see where he is. But this is not an injury-list situation at all for Chuck.”
Gomber, who lost his starting job earlier this season, walked three batters in the third inning before getting blasted by the 42-year-old Pujols. Thursday marked Pujol’s his 16th career grand slam, but his first as a pinch hitter.
Pujols, who’s hit 11 homers this season, is now tied with Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Dave Kingman for 10th all-time in grand slams.
And in what he’s announced will be the final season of his career, Pujol’s homer was his 690th and he now stands just six home runs behind Alex Rodriguez and is only 10 shy of 700. Barry Bonds (762), Aaron (755) and Ruth (714) are the only players with at least 700 home runs.
The Rockies’ moribund road offense was simply no match for 40-year-old right-hander Adam Wainwright, who pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up just three singles, striking out seven, and walking none.
Wainwright’s mastery of the Rockies throughout his career has been nothing short of spectacular. In 18 games (14 starts) against them, he’s 12-1 with a 1.38 ERA.
The Cardinals pounded out 15 hits and kept piling misery upon Colorado pitchers. Lars Nootbaar smacked a two-run homer off Jake Bird in the fifth and Pujols capped off his 2-for-3, five-RBI day with a run-scoring single in the seventh off Bird.
The Rockies, 18-39 on the road and on pace to finish the season with a 69-93 record, return home Friday to open a three-game series against San Francisco.
On Deck
Giants LHP Alex Wood (8-9, 4.18 ERA) at Rockies RHP Jose Urena (1-4, 4.80)
6:40 p.m. Friday, Coors Field
TV: ATTRM
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Urena, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, is essentially auditioning for the Rockies, as well as other teams, during the last seven weeks of the season. He started off pitching very well, going 1-1 with a 1.45 ERA in three starts after the Rockies signed him off waivers and then called him up from Triple-A. But Urena has since struggled with his command and is 0-3 with a 7.77 ERA with 13 walks and 15 strikeouts across his last five starts. The right-hander has pitched five times (three starts) against the Giants, going 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA. He has not faced San Francisco since Sept. 14, 2019, when he pitched for Miami. He got the save by pitching a scoreless ninth inning at Oracle Park. His last start against the Giants came in 2018 and he took the loss, giving up five runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings.
Wood is coming off two strong starts. On Aug. 8, he took a no-hitter into the seventh at San Diego and pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings in the Giants’ 1-0 victory. Last Sunday against the Pirates, he gave up three runs on five hits over six innings, striking out nine and walking one. He didn’t get a decision in the Giants’ 8-7 win. In 22 games (19 starts) against Colorado, Wood is 7-3 with a 5.07 ERA.
Trending: While many of his teammates have struggled to hit with runners in scoring position, Charlie Blackmon’s .337 average in the clutch ranks sixth in the National League. Blackmon is hitting .436 (17-for-39) with runners in scoring position since July 1.
At issue: Connor Joe continues to struggle. He went 0-for-2 in Colorado’s 13-0 loss at St. Louis Thursday and in his 14 games since the All-Star break he’s hit 4-for-47 (.085).
Pitching probables
Saturday: Giants RHP Alex Cobb (4-6, 3.99) at Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (2-4, 6.39), 6:10 p.m., ATTRM
Sunday: Giants RHP Jacob Junis (4-3, 3.53) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (7-8, 4.82), 1:10 p.m., ATTRM
Monday: Off day
