Rockies-Pirates box score

The Coors Field scoreboard told a long, bizarre and, for the Rockies, stunningly disappointing tale Wednesday.

Scoring in each of the first six innings, the Pittsburgh Pirates piled up 11 runs in that span as they strafed Josh Fogg, roughed up Ramon Ortiz and pummeled the Rockies 11-2.

The Pirates hit a season-high six home runs, four off Fogg in a span of 12 batters, and two off Ortiz. The six home runs were the most allowed by the Rockies since Oct. 2, 2004, when they also yielded six at Houston.

Fogg, aided by two double plays, retired only seven of the 19 batters he faced and left in the fourth after leadoff batter Nate McLouth hit his second home run of the game, his third in two games at Coors Field and his fifth in nine games overall.

"I threw the ball down the middle way too much," said Fogg, who allowed 11 hits and eight runs, the latter figure tying his season high. "The ball comes out of your hand and ends up in the middle of the plate, 75 percent of the time, it's going to be a bad night.

"I couldn't find command of the fastball and I couldn't get to off- speed pitches. The ones I did throw weren't quality. Just a poor pitching performance all around."

The Rockies must win today to split a four-game series with the Pirates, whose 54-71 record is the worst in the National League.

With designs on reaching the postseason, breaking even with a laggard, albeit one with nine wins in its past 14 games, was not what the Rockies wanted when they began a seven- game homestand that concludes this weekend against Washington.

Fogg matched his shortest outing as a starter this season — he went three innings April 20 against San Diego — one game after Elmer Dessens pitched 4 2/3 innings. So once again the Rockies were into their eight- man bullpen early, and the relievers were forced to pitch at least four innings for the third straight game and fourth time in the past five games.

"Those are the hard decisions you have to make in a game like this, to try to get some value out of the guy that's starting as far as keeping your bullpen in place for games that are in front of you," said manager Clint Hurdle, who lifted Fogg after 54 pitches.

"We would like to have gone more with (Fogg), but this was a night when it just wasn't working. And Ortiz gave us what he could give us. He was able to provide at least some relief to the bullpen."

Ortiz worked three innings and threw 49 pitches in his third appearance in four days and fourth in six days. He allowed a solo homer to Jason Bay in the fifth and Freddy Sanchez's two-run shot in the sixth.

The Elias Sports Bureau confirmed this is the first time going back to 1900 the Pirates, whose franchise dates to 1887, have hit homers in five straight innings. The Pirates lead the majors this month in runs (146) and home runs (35).

The loss dropped the Rockies into fourth place in the National League West, seven games behind Arizona, which beat Milwaukee. The Rockies are 3 1/2 games behind in the wild-card race but are sixth in that scramble.

Before the game, Hurdle said at this stage of the season, every loss stings equally, a point he reiterated after his team's most lopsided defeat since a 12-0 loss July 1 at Houston.

"This is something we talked about for a lot of years, getting to this position," Hurdle said. "And the thing I talk to guys about individually is to embrace it. We plan on being here for years to come, so embrace it. It's always going to sting. We can't look behind. This game's over. This isn't the way we wanted this game to play out."

The four homers Fogg surrendered matched the number he allowed in 24 2/3 innings during his previous four starts. He gave up five runs in the second Friday in Los Angeles but regrouped and yielded one more run in an outing that lasted 6 2/3 innings.

There was no such comeback against the Pirates as Fogg lost his second straight start, something he last did during a four-start losing streak April 30 to May 17.

Asked whether he had any checkpoints to possibly turn to in a start such as this, Fogg said, "If I had them, I'd have done it. Obviously, I'd have tried. Whatever I was doing wasn't working. So if you got any answers, I'll be glad to be accepting them right now. It didn't work when I was out there."

etkinj@RockyMountainNews.com