Rockies slammed 13-0 by Cardinals, lose Antonio Senzatela and Charlie Blackmon to injuries

The Rockies added misery to injury during an awful Thursday afternoon at Busch Stadium.

In a humbling 13-0 defeat to the Cardinals, the Rockies lost both right-handed starter Antonio Senzatela and right-fielder Charlie Blackmon to injuries early in the game. The defeat was Colorado’s fifth straight overall and 12th consecutive loss at St. Louis.

Senzatela’s injury appeared to be serious. As he tried to cover first base on Brendan Donovan’s infield single in the second inning, Senzatela pulled up lame and fell to the ground in pain. He clutched his left knee, but it was difficult to tell if he injured his knee or his hamstring. Senzatela was helped off the field and immediately taken to the clubhouse.

Blackmon beat out an infield hit in the first inning but ran gingerly as he approached the first-base bag. He stayed in the game through the Rockies’ at-bat but was removed from the game prior to the bottom of the second inning.

Left-hander Austin Gomber took over for Senzatela with the Cardinals leading 5-0 at the time. But Gomber, who lost his starting job earlier this season, got blasted by a legend. Gomber walked three batters and gave up a pinch-hit, grand slam home run to Albert Pujols.

For Pujols, the future Hall of Famer, it was the 16th grand slam of his career, his first as a pinch-hitter. Pujols, who’s hit 11 homers this season, is now tied with Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Dave Kingman for 10th all-time in grand slams.

Pujol’s homer was the 690th of his career and he now stands just six home runs behind Alex Rodriguez and is only 10 shy of 700. Barry Bonds (762), Aaron (755) and Ruth (714) are the only players with at least 700 home runs.