Arenado steady as ever even as Rockies waver

ST. LOUIS -- The third through fifth innings Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium brought reasons frustrated Rockies fans keep watching.

Third baseman Nolan Arenado robbed Dexter Fowler with a deft barehand pickup and throw, then backpedaled stylishly toward the dugout to accept third-inning high fives. Two innings later, he reached 100 RBIs for the fifth straight season by smacking a solo home run, his 33rd of the season. In between, the fourth ended with catcher Tony Wolters’ snap throw to third to beat Tommy Edman on the front end of a double steal.

But for most of the afternoon, Rockies players paced discontentedly as another starting pitching performance went awry. After retiring the Cardinals on 11 first-inning pitches, Antonio Senzatela could record only two outs with his 42 second-inning pitches -- while giving up six runs on five hits and two walks. The 11-4 loss completed a four-game sweep by St. Louis and a 1-6 road trip for the Rockies.

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Before the game, Arenado spoke with proper envy at watching a National League Central-leading Cardinals team that’s getting good pitching and defense, plus just enough hitting. It was like watching Rockies teams that went to the postseason in 2017 and ’18.

“I don’t know,” said Arenado, who hustled out a seventh-inning double . “I’m here to do the work, and that’s it. Not a whole lot to it. It’s losing and it sucks, but we’ve got jobs to do and we’ve got to go out and do them.

“I don’t know when we will get back to that. That should be the goal. The Cardinals have good bats; they can pitch. It looks like they’re a really good, solid team. They’re in first place for a reason.”

Until this 18-39 Purple Malaise abates -- and there’s no sign of it considering that the pitching is poor and the offense accomplishes little -- the measure of this team is whether it can prevent frustration from becoming resignation.

While the Rockies try to see what they have and do as much correction as possible at the end of the season, part of manager Bud Black’s duty is to make sure the maddening daily events don’t create either dissension or waning interest.

“We talk every day to everybody about our current state, and our guys with service time play a big part in the everyday vibe of the team,” Black said. “It’s hard, but our guys are doing a good job. You’re seeing the continued fight every night. The energy level throughout the day is consistent to where it’s been all year. Whether we’re winning eight to 10 in a row or going through the consistency of the player is important.

“Our veteran players do a good job of keeping that in order. We know what’s going on, because we watch them, we observe them. We work together.”

Black praised Arenado on that count.

“He’s one of the best players in the game -- a very impressive offensive player, and defensively he made a great play against Fowler,” Black said. “He’s doing it on both ends. He’s playing hard, like all the guys are.”

Games like Sunday, however, demonstrated the disconnect between playing hard and playing well.

The Rockies were up, 2-0, on Yonder Alonso’s first-inning RBI single and Garrett Hampson’s second-inning homer when Senzatela’s struggles kicked in.

Hampson is trying to pass his own test. With the season having slipped away, rookies like Hampson and Yonathan Daza -- who threw out a runner at the plate -- are receiving playing time. While the veterans are being called upon to play with intensity, others, like Hampson, are being called upon to play with quality.

“I’m trying to make sure I can contribute -- it hasn’t been the easiest of road for me,” said Hampson, who made the Opening Day roster but has bounced between the Majors and Triple-A Albuquerque and has a .212 batting average. “There are still a lot of games left, a lot of season left. We’re trying to win ballgames. I’m not really concerned about how I look out there.”

Senzatela (8-8), back up from Triple-A, where he was to correct delivery issues and work on offspeed pitches, faced eight batters before his first swing and miss.

“I need to throw something down for strikeouts,” said Senzatela, who had one of those. “That’s my next step.”

Black credited the Cards.

“They’ve shown this series they’re putting the bat to the ball -- they’re in a good spot offensively,” Black said. “That’s something that we’re working with ‘Senza’ with.

“They had some quality at-bats, especially with two strikes.”

Senzatela left a 6-2 disadvantage and 6 1/3 innings for a bullpen that includes some pitchers in their own periods of struggles. And Rockies hitters have their own problems. Cardinals starter Michael Wacha threw 113 pitches in just 4 2/3 innings but gave up only three runs because he struck out seven.