The post-Tulo part of the Rockies 2014 season started Thursday at Coors Field with a welcoming barrage of bat shards and a bombed home run.
Charlie Culberson, Colorado’s backup everything utilityman, entered the Rockies lineup playing shortstop in place of Josh Rutledge. That sentence alone should be alarming.
Rutledge, who sat against the Reds in the midst of a dry spell, earned an unspoken promotion Wednesday, when all-star Troy Tulowitzki learned he’d miss the final six weeks of the season to undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip.
So Culberson was the next-next man up for the Rockies against the Reds. And he filled in nicely.
Culberson’s first-pitch, three-run home run in the fifth inning boosted the Rockies to a 7-3 victory over Cincinnati. And his back-handed stop of Skip Schumaker’s grounder in the ninth helped produce a 6-4-3 double play that capped the victory.
Colorado (47-74) earned just its fourth victory in 18 games. Cincinnati fell to 60-61.
With injuries wrecking the Rockies this season, the 25-year-old Culberson, now in his third major-league season, had his playing time spike. And he’s played just about everywhere, including all infield spots, in the outfield and as a pinch-hitter.
“Charlie’s been grinding all year,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “That’s a tough role to be in — you play every once in a while, you play multiple positions. But that was a big home run from him tonight.”
In the sixth, Reds first baseman Todd Frazier racked an inside fastball from Jorge De La Rosa that broke his bat. The top half skidded by Culberson at shortstop before the ball got to his glove. Dodging the wood, he whipped the ball to first to put out Frazier.
Culberson’s .189 batting average, three home runs and 18 RBIs won’t cause any confusion with Tulowitzki. But on defense, Culberson had his hand in seven Reds outs.
“Tulo’s our guy,” Culberson said. “And shortstop is a big spot to fill. But I feel good out there. And Rutledge does a really good job.
“I feel like both of us can go out there and fill in. We’re not Tulowitzki, but if they put us in the lineup, I’ll be ready to play anywhere.”
On offense, Culberson also singled and scored in the fourth.
It helped the Rockies too that De La Rosa gave them some length from the mound. Colorado’s ace pitched seven solid innings, giving up three runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked just one.
And De La Rosa stretched into 104 pitches — including two strikeouts in the seventh and four over his final three innings.
De La Rosa, following his scouting report, improved as he pitched. The Reds tagged him for two runs in the second on Ryan Ludwick’s RBI double and Zack Cozart’s RBI single. But other than Ludwick’s solo homer in the sixth, De La Rosa wasn’t threatened the rest of the way.
Boone Logan, Adam Ottavino and LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect final nine outs from the bullpen.
Cuddyer returning soon. Michael Cuddyer, the defending National League batting champ, will likely return to the Rockies lineup Saturday, Weiss said. Cuddyer, out since June 5 with a broken shoulder, went 0-for-4 Thursday at Double-A Tulsa in his final rehab game. He went 2-for-11 in three games for the Drillers.
New retired numbers. The Rockies moved their retired numbers (currently Jackie Robinson’s No. 42 and a “KSM” in honor of former club president Keli McGregor) to center field, below the second deck and above the visiting bullpen. The numbers were decals on the outfield wall.
Now, with Todd Helton’s No. 17 retiring Sunday, the Rockies placed them as more prominent plaques.
“It’ll be a feel-good moment,” Weiss said of Helton’s number-raising, “at a time when we can use it.”
Nick Groke: twitter.com/nickgroke or ngroke@denverpost.com
Reds’ Johnny Cueto (14-6, 2.05 ERA) at Rockies’ Franklin Morales (5-6, 4.97), 6:40 p.m. Friday, ROOT; 850 AM
Cueto is the second National League Cy Young Award candidate the Rockies will face for the second time this season. Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw shut down the Rockies twice in June, giving up three hits and one run combined. And Cueto in May allowed two runs on five hits over eight innings in a Reds’ victory. Cueto ranks right behind Kershaw atop the NL pitching leaderboards in ERA, WHIP (0.907), complete games (four) and WAR (5.2).
Saturday: Reds’ TBA at Rockies’ Jordan Lyles (6-1, 3.70 ERA), 6:10 p.m., ROOT
Sunday: Reds’ Matt Latos (4-3, 2.95) at Rockies’ Yohan Flande (0-5, 5.36), 2:10 p.m., ROOT
Monday: Off.
