THE "IDIOTS" REVERSE THE CURSE
The Rockies take the air out of the Sox

June 15, 2004 ...  The home team ended up scoring a few more runs as the Rockies rolled to a 6-3 victory over the Sox last night before 40,489, the largest crowd at Coors since Opening Day. The loss dropped the Sox a season-high 4 1/2 games behind the Yankees, who dumped the Diamondbacks, 4-2, in Arizona.

With the Sox playing for the first time in the regular season in Colorado's thin air, the game turned amid a 3-3 deadlock in the third inning when right fielder Gabe Kapler's throwing error to second base on Jeromy Burnitz's single allowed Vinny Castilla to score the decisive run. Then the game got away from the Sox in the eighth when Todd Helton, who is batting .429 in June, whipsawed a 93- mile-per-hour 3-and-2 pitch from Alan Embree for a two-run homer.

The Rockies, who have lost 20 of their last 25, snapped an eight game losing streak as they played without two of their top offensive threats, Larry Walker and Preston Wilson, who are on the disabled list. The Rockies prevailed largely because the Sox stranded 12 runners, including leaving the bases loaded in the fifth inning as Nomar Garciaparra lined out, Jason Varitek bounced into a fielder's choice, and Kevin Youkilis grounded out.

The Sox opened their first swing of the season through National League venues, with stops in Colorado and San Francisco. Boston's fifth starter entered the game winless in his previous four outings with a 7.65 ERA. But Coors is the only place in baseball where a 7.65 ERA is pretty average (the Rockies had logged a 7.42 ERA there entering last night). And Bronson Arroyo was better than average. Much better, considering the venue. He struggled only in the third inning when he surrendered three hits and a walk to account for two Colorado runs before Kapler's miscue allowed another.

In all, Arroyo surrendered four runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk over six innings. His only major problem was Castilla, who entered the game hitting .152 in June but feasted on Arroyo, as he has done in the past. Castilla launched a solo homer and singled home a run as he improved to .500 (4 for 8) against Arroyo with three homers and six RBIs.

It hardly helped that the Sox struggled against Colorado starter Joe Kennedy and his relief corps. Wasting too many chances against Kennedy, who allowed 12 base runners in five innings, the Sox scored only on Mark Bellhorn's two-run double and Garciaparra's sacrifice fly in third inning. With Kennedy gone after the fifth, the Sox mustered only two hits over the last four innings against a Rockies bullpen that ranks among the most giving in the game (Colorado relievers entered the game with a 5.65 ERA, compared with Boston's 3.19).  Bellhorn, who extended his hitting streak to 13 games, reached base four times as he doubled twice, walked and got hit by a pitch. Ramirez reached four times, doubling and drawing three walks. Damon and Kapler each contributed two singles. But the Sox otherwise generated little momentum.

Still, they had a chance to catch the Rockies in the ninth when Shawn Chacon loaded the bases by plunking Bellhorn, walking Ramirez with two outs, and surrendering an infield single to Garciaparra before he muffled Boston's last gasp by fanning Varitek on a 94- mile-per-hour fastball.