PHOENIX -- Something had to give. Josh Fogg had retired the first 13 A's he faced on Sunday, taking a perfect game into the fifth inning.

Frank Thomas was making his 2006 Cactus League debut, hitless in one second-inning at-bat, a strikeout when Fogg fooled him badly.

The second time around, Thomas turned the tables, busting Fogg's perfect bid with a ball crushed into the sandy hills beyond the left-field fence at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

But even with a Rockies loss and a second homer surrendered to Nick Swisher in the sixth, it's hard not to think Fogg came out the winner on Sunday. The pair of solo homers were the only hits Fogg allowed in six innings, and he made a strong case to establish himself as the man to beat in the Rockies fifth-starter sweepstakes.

Having lost nearly three weeks of Cactus League competition to a groin strain, Fogg has emerged as the stalwart the Rockies were looking for as their fifth man, the kind of guy they hoped they were getting when they signed him just days before opening spring camp.

"We've seen this guy before in a Pirate uniform," manager Clint Hurdle said of Fogg's standup performance. "He's no nonsense. He comes after people. He's not afraid of contact."

The outing on its own may not be enough to bump Fogg into the rotation -- he's got one more start, and Zach Day and Sun-Woo Kim will each make at least one additional appearance -- but the game should be archived as a blueprint for no-nonsense efficiency. Fogg threw just 62 pitches in his six innings, pounding the strike zone and consistently inducing the ball into play.

"I want them to hit it in the first three pitches," Fogg said of his everyday approach on the mound. "[If I get] deep counts, they're going to see all my pitches, and they're going to be able to get a better read on me. But if I can get them out on one of the first three pitches, I have a lot better chance at getting guys swinging at my pitch instead of swinging at their pitch."

The A's threw a lineup stocked top to bottom with of regulars at Fogg, and after four consecutive 1-2-3 innings, Fogg couldn't escape noticing the succession of clean, neat innings lining up on the scorecard.

"I hadn't pitched out of the stretch yet," Fogg said, noting the detail that tipped him off to the 4 1/3 perfect innings. He never did work out of the stretch, since the only two base runners he allowed went all the way home with one swing. "I'd rather have those two balls be singles and pitch out of the stretch the rest of that inning, but you can't take those back. Pounding the strike zone is what I needed to do, and I was able to do that today."

His efficiency and precision not only kept Fogg in the game, but he kept the bases clear, keeping the home runs in the minimalist category, rather than the two- and three-run variety that spell doom at Coors Field.

"That's what we've been hoping to see," Hurdle said of the stepped-up intensity among his fifth-starter candidates. "Day pitched better his last outing. Fogg threw very well today. We'll look to see what Sunny's able to bring his fist time out. We'll just continue to let this thing play itself out."

Don't try this at home: Matt Holliday was in a 6-for-28 funk after his first two at-bats on Sunday, striking out twice against Dan Haren. But the 6 didn't concern him as much as the 28. With his time away at the World Baseball Classic, Holliday fell behind his teammates by about 20 at-bats, slowing the process of getting his swing game-ready.

"I've been working on timing and getting my hands in the right position, just trying to get that feel back," Holliday said. "It's hard to explain. You can do it in batting practice and you can do it in the cage, but to get in the game and to be able to settle your nerves a little bit and get in that mode when you can still get your swing off when the velocity picks up and you start facing off-speed pitches. I'm trying to find that rhythm, that timing."

By his last two at-bats, he'd raised his average 53 points, knocking a double to deep center in the seventh and breaking a string of goose eggs with a solo shot in the ninth inning, the Rockies lone run on the day.

Hurdle emphasized that Holliday's eye will be fine as he accumulates at-bats over his final five games, but he voiced an additional theory, noting that the two hits came hard on the heels of an outfield collision between Holliday and Choo Freeman in the bottom of the sixth.

"Maybe that little collision in the outfield shook up his hitting goggles," Hurdle mused. "Got his hitting goggles locked in."

No one was hurt in the collision, and Freeman collected his only hit of the day afterward.

"I don't think any time you run into your teammate it can be too positive," Holliday said. "But maybe it did jostle something loose."

Let's play two: With the pitching field still crowded due to the three-way tug for the fifth-starters spot, No. 2 man Aaron Cook stayed in Tucson, Ariz., to pitch in a Minor League game on Sunday. Cook pitched seven innings in the game, giving up four runs, all earned, on seven hits and two walks. He struck out four, while extending his pitch count to 95.

Brian Fuentes also pitched in the Triple-A game, throwing 26 pitches while facing five batters and striking out four.

On deck: The Rockies return to Phoenix on Monday for a 6:05 p.m. MT game against the Brewers. Jeff Francis gets the start, and Mike DeJean, Ray King, Scott Dohmann and David Cortes are all scheduled to throw.