Rays’ Pete Fairbanks blames humidor at Coors Field for his late-game meltdown

The Rockies are aware that Rays closer Pete Fairbanks called the balls stored in the humidor at Coors Field “horrible.”

One Rockies pitcher, who asked not to be named, said, “It’s his first game here at Coors. Maybe it got in his head a little bit. That’s fine with us. We just go out and pitch and do our job. I’m not sure it does much good to go public like that.”

Fairbanks was explaining why he suffered a ninth-inning meltdown, walking three straight batters, in a 10-7 loss to the Rockies Friday afternoon. He blamed the humidor. Specifically, he blamed the baseballs coming out of the humidor, saying, “They were not uniform from ball to ball.”

“They were horrible,” Fairbanks said. “You can mark that down in all caps for me — horrible. No excuses, though. I didn’t throw strikes, and that’s what happens when you don’t throw strikes. You get punished for it.”

Before Saturday’s game, Rockies manager Bud Black responded to Fairbank’s comments.

“I did read his quotes,” Black said. “I don’t know Pete Fairbanks, but I know that the process our guys go through to get the balls ready for a major league game is very professional. It’s really one of the first times I’ve heard that. I don’t know this fella, but it was a little surprising.”

Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt’s response was short and to the point.

“We are not in charge of the baseballs. That is overseen by Major League Baseball,” Schmidt said. “Plus, there are humidors in every major league park now.”

Black said he expects Rockies pitchers to endure the rigors of pitching at altitude at Coors.

“We have talked about … the mental toughness that it takes to pitch here, for a lot of different reasons,” Black said. “Statistically, being unselfish, because the numbers are going to be different here. That’s just the way it is.

“It’s tough to pitch here. We need guys who don’t worry about the wind, about the cold, about the altitude. We have to develop very tough-minded pitchers to pitch in this organization.”

The Rockies installed a humidor room at Coors in 2002 to prevent the baseballs from drying out in Denver’s arid, mile-high environment. The Rockies were the first team to store baseballs in a humidor.

Fairbanks’ three walks set up Ryan McMahon’s walk-off grand slam off Jason Adam, who replaced Fairbanks. It was an especially ugly outing for Fairbanks, who walked Jake Cave, Brendan Rodgers and Nolan Jones in succession. The right-hander threw 17 pitches, just five for strikes, without getting an out. Adam struck out Kris Bryant before giving up the grand slam to McMahon.

When asked if the baseballs were too wet or dry, Fairbanks said, “They were just overall bad. I’m not going to elaborate further than that. They were not uniform from ball to ball. Just dry, smooth, whatever you want to say.”

Fairbanks said he hoped for different results — and different baseballs — the next time he pitches at Coors.

“I’d love to see those (baseballs) come out of the humidor tomorrow in a little better shape before they get rubbed up,” he said. “But there’s nobody to blame but myself for not being able to adjust to some of the quality issues.”

Friday was not the first time a pitcher complained about the baseballs at Coors Field.

In 2010, Giants Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum essentially accused the Rockies of cheating, hinting that they used non-humidor baseballs when they came to the plate.

“(Expletive) juiced ball. This is (expletive),” Lincecum was caught on camera saying.