ST. LOUIS -- Rockies rookie Jeff Baker entered Wednesday's start in left field against the Cardinals knowing that fans would see a .200 batting average on the scoreboard, but they don't see what he has seen.

"You look at the last start I had -- I hit two line drives off [the Giants] -- a line drive to first and a line drive to right," he said. "There's just one game I felt I had pretty poor at-bats the whole way through, but so far I've tried to maintain a good at-bat."

Wednesday was his eighth start. After a strong beginning in which he had a home run, a double and a single in three pinch-hit at-bats, he's gone 0-for-12 as a pinch-hitter and entered Wednesday on a 1-for-19 skid.

Part of it is Baker is a rookie trying to learn the game as a pinch-hitter, meaning his at-bats aren't regular.

To help, manager Clint Hurdle gave Matt Holliday his first off-day of the season on Wednesday, and is considering playing Baker at first base for Todd Helton in Thursday's opener of a four-game set with the Giants.

"We need to get Baker started," Hurdle said. "Obviously, he's gone through a tough period in his last 30 at-bats. Coming out of Spring Training, the volume of at-bats he did have, he was a little more in sync.

"He's maybe getting antsy, maybe wanting to do more. [Veteran left-handed pinch-hitter] John Mabry has already been through it, and he'll tell you. It's trying to do too much with at-bats once you get one."

Baker is part of a bench full of guys who have low averages. Steve Finley, who made his third straight start in center field Wednesday because of Willy Taveras' groin tightness, entered batting .164. Mabry was hitting .154, although Hurdle said his at-bats are improving.

An opportunity to regain sharpness will come either Thursday or Friday, whenever injured right-handers Rodrigo Lopez and LaTroy Hawkins (both out with forearm strains) face hitters in batting practice at Coors Field.

Hurdle is known for effectively using his bench, but he hasn't had a dependable option since Jorge Piedra had a strong finish to 2005. He believes this bench can produce.

"It's a long season," Hurdle said. "Flat-out opportunities to win a game for the bench, there haven't been that many yet for the hitters. But they're going to be there."

On the Rox: Primary right-handed setup man Manny Corpas has given up runs in three of his last four appearances. Hurdle said he is working on mechanics. "There's one little thing that sometimes flares up and he loses command a little bit, and we're working with him," Hurdle said. ... Hurdle said Taveras, who suffered the groin injury Sunday against the Reds, was available for use during Wednesday's game. ... Finley was 0-for-8 in the series with the Cards before knocking a single to open Wednesday's game. ... Former Rockies outfielder Darryl Hamilton, who works for Major League Baseball on-field operations and has handled Rockies complaints over two hits that cleared the fence but were not called home runs by umpires, was in St. Louis Wednesday. Hamilton was checking into complaints over the batter's eye in center field at Busch Stadium. Instead of a solid dark background, hitters are forced to look at dark blinds through which an advertisement can be seen.

Up next: The Rockies will begin a 10-game, 11-day homestand Thursday with the opener of four games with the Giants. Right-hander Aaron Cook (1-1, 4.37 ERA) will face Giants lefty Lowry (4-2, 3.29). First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. MT.