DENVER _ Not even the ballpark known throughout baseball for its ability to heal the sickest lineup could comfort the Cardinals and their ongoing search for runs.
Not with the kind of club that calls Coors Field home.
Against a Colorado team clicking in every way they wish they could, the Cardinals fell, 10-0, on Friday night. Following rookie starter Antonio Senzatela and his eight shutout innings, the Rockies got four hits and three RBIs from leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon and three RBIs and a homer from former Cardinals slugger Mark Reynolds. A spin cycle of tremendous defense stymied a Cardinals club that hasn't been able to score consistently and is wasting some of the best pitching it has seen in more than a year.
For the fifth time in six games, the Cardinals' starting pitcher was barely bruised, and yet the Cardinals have lost all but two of those games.
The Cardinals have scored only 19 runs in their past seven losses.
Carlos Martinez (3-4) was sharper than the scoreboard implied through the first seven innings as he struck out nine and kept the Rockies from causing more ruckus. It took two extra-base hits for the Rockies to take a 2-0 lead against Martinez through four innings, and otherwise the Cardinals' right-hander had pivotal moments of overpowering. In the fifth inning, with two runners on, Martinez fed D.J. LeMahieu a series of fastballs that ranged in movement and speed, from 97 mph to 100 mph. He got LeMahieu fishing after a 90-mph slider.
At any point in Martinez's first seven innings, the Cardinals were a swing away from cutting Colorado's lead in half and a bloop and a blast away from tying the game. Such things are usually common at Coors.
"We've seen some crazy games there," manager Mike Matheny said on the eve of his team's first and only regular-season visit to Coors.
They eventually did again, but for Colorado.
Blackmon's solo home run with one out in the eighth inning chased Martinez from the game, and the Cardinals' bullpen vaporized. Nolan Arenado followed with an RBI double of Matt Bowman, Reynolds hit a two-run homer off Bowman to score Arenado, and then Trevor Story drilled a pitch from Miguel Socolovich for an RBI double. By the time the inning was over, pinch-hitter Gerardo Parra had two plate appearances and was given a chance to rectify his leadoff strikeout with a two-out, two-run double. In the eighth inning, Blackmon doubled his hit total for the game and the Rockies finished with eight runs. Classic Coors. For the residents.
The blend behind the Rockies' first-place start to the season has been one oft-discussed around Coors Field as how to tame baseball a mile higher than sea level. The Colorado pitching staff had until the past few days led the majors with their era on the road, and at 3.26 entering play Friday they ranked second behind rival Arizona. The Rockies have paired that with an offense that had scored the second-most runs in baseball at home, with 124. Pitch well on the road. Rake at home.
That's a key to Coors.
Add in a game-shortening bullpen, and the Rockies have one of the more complete teams in the National League so far this season. They have a few ways to get a lead, a number of starters who can hold a lead, and a bullpen capable of cementing it.
"I think it's a legitimate team," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Friday before the series opened. "They have good starting pitching and a bullpen with some really good arms. They have some guys who have figured out how to be successful, not just here. We've always known about this offense. They have speed and power and the athleticism that we're seeing more and more of in the league. Just very well-rounded. This team has been playing well defensively. What more can you ask for?"
The Cardinals got an eyeful out of those facets on Friday.
In the eighth, Arenado snagged a hot grounder from Yadier Molina as if he was a matador spiraling away from a bull. He had plenty of time to toss over for the out.
In the seventh inning, Ian Desmond, the free agent Colorado ostensibly signed to be their starting first baseman, robbed Greg Garcia of a sure single with a diving catch in left field. The inning ended on a double play pivoted by second baseman D.J. LeMahieu, one of two the Gold Glove made happen with arm strength. Blackmon, the most productive leadoff hitter in the league, flashed the athleticism that Matheny mentioned _ and the Cardinals have coveted _ in the third inning as he produced the Rockies' first run. Blackmon drove a ball to the deepest wall of Coors Field and raced for third while catcher Tony Wolters stayed ahead of him and scored.
Martinez was able to strike out LeMahieu to keep Blackmon from also scoring. The Rockies' second run came an inning later when Arenado stung a double down the right-field line. He took third on a groundout and then trotted home on former Cardinals' slugger Mark Reynolds RBI single to right field.
What made all that work was Senzatela.
The Venezuelan rookie has been one of the league leaders in wins this season by being a similar starter for the Rockies both home and away. The team overall had a 5.13 ERA at Coors _ the 29th highest home ERA in baseball, for obvious reasons. Senzatela brought a 3.77 ERA at home and expertly lowered that by bulldozing through the Cardinals. He got four double plays through the first eight innings help, and he kept the Cardinals from having a runner in scoring position until the sixth inning.
Randal Grichuk opened that inning with a double. He took third on a fly out and that put him 90 feet away with Martinez at the plate.
The pitcher couldn't provide.
And struggling leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler followed with another of Senzatela's 15 outs created by a groundball through the first eight innings. The chance to cut the Rockies' lead in half at a ballpark known for its combustible moments vanished as quickly as it arrived.
