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Cabrera leads Marlins to rout of Rockies

Sep 16, 2007 - 6:12 AM By Brady Delander PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DENVER (Ticker) - The Colorado Rockies can take comfort in the math, but the cold reality of the situation is painfully familiar.

The Florida Marlins steamrolled the Rockies, 10-2, Saturday night at Coors Field and in the process dealt another blow to Colorado's dwindling hopes of reaching the postseason for the first time since 1995.

"We just haven't played well enough to win the last two nights," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "Obviously, it's tough."

The Marlins didn't mind playing the spoiler role.

"It's nice to play guys that are in the hunt and be competitive. You never take a win like this for granted," Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

Miguel Cabrera went 3-for-5 with a grand slam and five RBI for Florida (65-83), and Hanley Ramirez finished the night 2-for-4 with three of the Marlins' five stolen bases.

The Rockies (76-72) were largely toothless on offense. Yorvit Torrealba was one of the few bright spots for Colorado with a pair of hits, including a double and an RBI.

Though not mathematically eliminated from the postseason, Colorado, with 14 games remaining and trailing three teams for the National League wild-card berth, picked the worst time to go on its first three-game losing streak since the All-Star break.

All three of the three teams ahead of Colorado - San Diego, Philadelphia and Los Angeles - won Saturday. San Diego (80-67) leads the race by 1 1/2 games over the Phillies and Dodgers with the Rockies 4 1/2 back.

The game started badly for the Rockies and got worse.

Righthander Ubaldo Jimenez walked the first batter he faced on four pitches. Soon after, Jeremy Hermida ripped a triple beyond the reach of diving center fielder Cory Sullivan to score Ramirez, and the Rockies trailed 2-0 after the first inning.

Down 5-0, Jimenez was chased after just three innings and an unproductive 69 pitches.

"I couldn't find the strike zone with my fastball or any of my breaking pitches," Jimenez said.

In the third inning, Hermida reached base on an error by Jimenez. Hermida and Josh Willingham were eventually brought home after Miguel Olivo lifted a double to center.

Any momentum Colorado may have gained was squashed in the sixth, when Cabrera blasted his first career grand slam on a two-out, 2-1 pitch from Juan Morillo.

"Well, special. He's a special guy," Gonzalez said of Cabrera. "It's hard to believe that was the first grand slam that he's ever hit with the type of talent that he is."

Logan Kensing (1-0) picked up his second career win by tossing two innings of relief.

Jimenez (3-4) took the loss, allowing five runs and five hits in three innings. He issued four walks and struck out five.