Aaron Cook and Matt Holliday did a fine job of representing the Rockies at the All-Star Game last night, although I wonder if we get any sympathy points from fans around the majors for Clint Hurdle's display of his passion for the bunt. That said, I do think most fans will be thankful that the pitcher he taxed the most in the long, long, affair was one of his own.

Holliday's blast, of course, underscores the sub-drama of a potential trade this summer, the bat showing that he's more than just a Coors Field phenom on a stage that amounts to an open house for potential bidders for his services. With Hideki Matsui going down with season ending surgery, the Yankees themselves would probably be wise to take note of what Holliday did last night at the house that Ruth built and Steinbrenner's taking down, albeit, the most loathed team in the majors may first be looking into the availability of the most loathed player.

Troy Tulowitzki is ready to start his rehab stint, and could be back with the Rockies by Monday.

Silverblood asked why Clint Barmes didn't start last night and here's the answer:

When asked why he didn't start the hot-hitting Clint Barmes at short, Hurdle praised Quintanilla's recent string of quality at-bats. Quintanilla promptly singled in the second inning.

Tampa Bay appears ready to make a serious run for Brian Fuentes' services. Mentioned in the article is that the Rockies have interest in two of the club's Double-A pitchers, Wade Davis and Jeremy Hellickson. Davis was rated the #4 prospect in the Rays' system back in January and Hellickson #8 by Baseball America. Davis has spent entire year with Double-A Montgomery in the Southern League. He's 8-6 in 18 starts with a 3.98 ERA and a 0.91 GO/AO. He has 75 K in 101 2/3 IP. Hellickson started the season with Vero Beach in the High-A Florida State League, going 7-1 in 14 games with a 2.00 ERA. He struck out 83 in 76 2/3 IP. He's 0-1 in two starts with Montgomery since his promotion. SaberScouting has a report on Hellickson.

Also of note in the article, Willy Taveras should return to the lineup on Monday.

Tulo should have his stitches out in 12 days.

Last night, the New York Post's website reported that Brandon Webb would be named the starter for the NL All-Star team and had the other starters. The story is no longer available. Find out today at 2 ET who makes the All-Star team when TBS makes the announcement.

See? Moving up. And with his return tonight, Tulo will look to get back on track just as the Rockies have done recently.

Apparently this is news: "Thanks to wins, Holliday not on trading block"

Jerry Manuel is a funny guy. After Jose Reyes had a tantrum in Tuesday''s game, Manuel eventually talked with Reyes:

"I told him next time he does that I'm going to get my blade out and cut him. I'm a gangster. You go gangster on me, I'm going to have to get you. You do that again, I'm going to cut you right on the field," quipped Manuel[.]

Everyone better stay on Manuel's good side.

The Mets make their second trip to Colorado this season. Aaron Cook opposes John Maine tonight. That feels a bit familiar.

The problem we have with looking so intensely at our own little part of the forest is that we sometimes don't understand that the trees we're looking at aren't that much different from trees other people are looking at. So I'm going to bring up Rany on the Royals as a cautionary tale to not get too enamored with a single team's interleague results as a measure of quality.

The Royals are now 33-27 (.550) against the NL over the last four years. In that same timeframe, they’re 182-314 (.367) against AL opponents. Sixty games is a pretty substantial sample size, and in those 60 games the Royals have outscored their opponents by 46 runs, so their record is representative of how well they’ve played. How much would the perception of this franchise be altered if they simply had the good fortune to play in the inferior league?

The Rockies over that same time span have a 31-23 (.574) record against the "superior" league while going 230-272 (.458) against the NL. The Rockies laugh at the Royals measly positive 46 interleague run differential with their +55. The rest of his overall point (that the NL hasn't closed the talent gap this season) might be true, but looking at an individual team's performance to support that claim just doesn't work that well. At any rate, when the Rockies go to KC next week, I hope the outcome is more like our 2005 sweep of the Royals rather than last season's series.

So why do the Rockies look so good against the AL while the rest of their NL mates look like AAA fodder? I mean if the NL looks as bad as it has, imagine how much worse it would look without the Rockies pulling the numbers up these last last few years. It's certainly a mystery to me. I can see how having more AB's for Ryan Spilborghs helps, but it's harder for me to explain how Jorge De La Rosa suddenly turns into the pitcher he was Saturday, or otherwise how the rest of our pitchers cut their runs allowed in half when facing AL opponents.

Aaron Cook is making a strong push to be the franchise's first 20 game winner. Unfortunately, there's just a huge "what might have been" to read into the gap between him and our second best starter, who at this point is probably Ubaldo Jimenez. At any rate, today's a good day to stay positive with the win yesterday, our fourth straight series victory, Troy Tulowitzki and Clint Barmes closing in on returns to the lineup, and a chance to make the league's worst road record even uglier tonight.

While we're waiting for Tulo and Barmes, does Joe Koshansky get called up in the meantime? That would leave Omar Quintanilla as our only legit middle infielder this week, which would be a scarier proposition if it weren't for the decent job Ian Stewart and Jeff Baker have been doing while holding down second. Still, something to think about.

Colorado Springs, W 11-9 - Seth Smith went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Two of the RBI came on two sac flies. Cory Sullivan collected four hits in six at-bats, scored three times, and had two doubles. Kenny Perez hit a two-run triple, and Sean Barker drove in two.

Things went mostly well for Glendon Rusch through the end of the fourth. He allowed a run and some hits, but it was the fifth that hurt him. He allowed two singles to start the inning and then saw both men score on a double. After putting another runner on base, Rusch allowed a two-out three-run home run. He would pitch another 1 2/3 innings, leaving after 6 2/3 IP. Matt Daley finished the seventh before giving way to Micah Bowie in the eighth. He struck out one and allowed one hit. Josh Newman allowed back-to-back doubles in the ninth and then saw a pop up to short turn into a two-run single. Another double scored the third run of the inning. Steven Register recorded the final out for his ninth save.

Tulsa, L 5-9 - Brandon Hynick allowed eight runs on 12 hits in seven innings. Three of those 12 hits went for home runs. Dexter Fowler had a big night, going 4-for-5 with two doubles (18), but drove in no runs. Tony Blanco hit his 10th homer, a solo shot in the eighth.

Last week the Tulsa World's Barry Lewis sat down with Rockies assistant general manager Bill Geivett for a Q&A.

Modesto, L 4-6 - Aaron Cook won this game. No, not our Aaron Cook. The Angels have an Aaron Cook, a reliever. Anyway, Simon Ferrer had another solid start, allowing three runs over six innings on five hits and two walks. Andy Graham came in for the seventh and blew the lead by allowing an RBI single and a two-run double. He also pitched the eighth and saw a double play end the inning.

Travis Becktel and Anthony Jackson had RBI singles in the fifth to put the Nuts within one of Rancho Cucamonga. In the seventh, Mike Paulk's double scored Troy Tulowitzki, and Aaron Cook hit Mike McKenry with the bases loaded, putting the Nuts ahead 4-3. Tulo had three hits, two were doubles.

Brian VanderBeek interviewed Andrew Johnston this week.

Asheville, L 3-5 -  Kevin Clark went 3-for-5 with his seventh homer and two RBI. Darin Holcomb drove in the other run. Mike Mitchell had three hits. Connor Graham allowed three runs over five innings, walked four, and struck out five. Craig Baker allowed two runs while pitching the final two innings of the game, leading to the loss.

The Tourists will at least tie for the first-half division championship if they lose today and Charleston wins, but if the Tourists win today that would be better. As Darin Holbcomb said, “Our mindset (Sunday)? We come out and we kill these guys[.]”

Colorado Springs, W 4-2 - Seth Smith's two-run home run (7) in the first and Joe Koshansky's two-run home run (15) in the third were all the runs the Sky Sox needed last night  for the victory. Cory Sullivan was in the lineup, in case anyone missed malakian's mention of it in yesterday's Pebble Report.

Franklin Morales went seven innings and allowed both runs on a first-inning homer. He walked three and struck out three.

Tulsa, L 3-4 in 10 innings  - Chaz Roe threw eight strong innings last night. He allowed three runs on eight hits and two walks, and struck out five. Two of the runs came in the first inning, with the final run scored in the sixth.

Dexter Fowler, Jeff Kindel, and Daniel Carte each had three hits last night, but it was Kindel's single in the third that scored two of Tulsa's runs. Eric Young Jr. stole his 15th base.

Modesto, L 1-8 - Troy Tulowitzki committed two fielding errors and did not have a hit in three at-bats. The Nuts had only four hits.

Chris Malone went three innings and allowed five runs on eight hits. He struck out five. Tommy Baumgardner pitched three scoreless innings before Bandon Durden came in to pitch the eighth and allowed three runs.

Asheville, L 3-4 - Jhoulys Chacin went 6 2/3 innings, allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks, and struck out four. Craig Rodriguez went the next 1 1/3 innings, but gave up the winning run in the eighth by walking two and allowing a single. Edgmer Escalona struck out two in the ninth.

Everth Cabrera and Brian Lapin were the only two starters to not record a hit last night, but no starter had more than one hit. Kevin Clark made the most of his with his sixth homer, a two-run shot in the second inning. Darin Holcomb drove in his 51st RBI.

Colorado Springs. L 2-3 - Jayson Nix had his eighth homer and Dustan Mohr hit an RBI double to score the runs.

Glendon Rusch made the start for the Sky Sox and picked up the loss. He allowed three runs over seven innings. Micah Bowie pitched the other inning and allowed two hits.

Tulsa, W 12-3 - In the bottom of the first, the Drillers countered NW Arkansas' sac fly with five runs. Matt Miller and Jeff Kindel had RBI singles before Daniel Carte hot a three-run homer (7). In the bottom of the fourth Miller had another RBI, and Kindel had a sac fly. No, Daniel Carte did not have another home run. Jeff Dragicevich hit a grand slam (9) instead. Kindel (4) homered in the sixth to score the twelfth run. Dexter Fowler had three hits, Eric Young Jr. stole his 14th base, and Corey Wimberly swiped his 28th base.

Brandon Hynick allowed all three runs (two earned) in seven innings. The last two came in his final inning. He walked two and struck out three.

Modesto. L 3-4 in 11 innings - In regulation innings, this game was tied at one. Travis Becktel had an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. In the bottom of the 10th, Nick Haley's RBI single put the game into another inning of baseball, but Stockton scored two in the top half of the inning. With two outs, Anthony Jackson scored in the bottom of the 11th on a fielding error by the center fielder, followed by a Victor Ferrante strikeout to end the game.

Simon Ferrer made the start and did well. In five innings, he held the Ports to only a run on five hits and a walk. Chris Malone and Will Harris each had two innings of no-run ball before giving way to other pitchers in extra innings. Andrew Johnston allowed one run on three hits in the 10th, and Andy Graham allowed two runs in the 11th on a three hits (the runs scoring on a double and a single).

News and notes from Brian VanderBeek's latest blog entry: Aneury Rodriguez received a five-game suspension, and the others three games; Troy Tulowitzki is rehabbing with the Nuts; Geoff Strickland was released; Todd Ritchie starts for the Nuts tonight.

Asheville - No game scheduled. The Tourists can clinch a spot in the playoffs this week.

So besides the loss last night that led to my little rant this morning, the major news for the Rockies yesterday was Troy Tulowitzki taking batting practice for the first time since he went on the DL. So far, no hiccups in Tulo's recovery, which is good to hear. We'll still get healthy in the pitching staff first, with Kip Wells, Jason Hirsh and Luis Vizcaino all making progress toward their returns. At that point, I suppose many here will be relieved to note that we can demote Alberto Arias, who gave up two runs last night and earned much scorn, for the Viz. That should put us over the top.

Okay, sorry for my sarcasm. I swear I'll drop it now. Anyway, the Rockies can salvage their second straight series victory with a win today by giving Ubaldo Jimenez the kind of backing pitchers willing to throw at Coors Field deserve. I'm talking about eight or nine runs, not the five or less we've been churning out since the season began.

Apparently, someone threw a no-hitter last night. Eh . . . the Rockies won their third game in a row! The Rocky Mountain News has a good picture of Q starting the double play right before he fell hard to the ground. But Q's a gamer, as we mentioned last night, and stayed in the game. As Q said after the game:

"I could see him coming out of the corner of my eye, so I knew I was going to wear it," Quintanilla said. "I am a tough player. It whiplashed me, pinched my neck and back a little bit, and now my foot hurts. But we needed the out there."

And what a big out it was. Jeff Baker, who Q came in for later in the game, also deserves some praise for his defense last night when he made the throw to home to get Aaron Rowand out just after Jose Castillo struck out swinging.

It's been three in a row for the Rockies, so why not put Aaron Cook back on the winning track when they go for four straight tonight? After a less than desirable performance against the D'Backs on May 15, Aaron Cook will face Tim Lincecum tonight. Cook last faced the Giants on April 29. Lincecum's only loss this season so far came in that contest. That was the game we saw Chris Iannetta play third and Garrett Atkins second. Guess that won't happen this time--no Tulo to get injured this time.

Speaking of him, Tulo has begun taking part in light workouts, but still has a long way to go on the road to recovery. So, while out guy starts his way back to the game action, the Padres' Jake Peavy is about to go on the DL today for a troublesome elbow and may be out for six weeks.

Those maple bats are dangerous.

While I'm always happy with outcomes like yesterday, having one starter who can't lose and four who can't win doesn't help us in the long run. Trade for another? Maybe, but the quality and service time of the starter the Rockies would need certainly limits our available options on the trade front to just about zero. I think we've got to wait a little to make sure that we're really in a position to contend this season in the first place and also to see if other teams open up the availability of their young and talented pitchers. I certainly don't think it's in the club's best interest to trade for a pending free agent or give up prospects if we're still ten games back at the All-Star break.

Clint Barmes didn't start yesterday, but his productive bat has been a definite positive for the Rockies in the wake of Tulo's injury. Jack Etkin writes about what he's been doing to elevate his hitting skills .

Woody Paige learned a valuable lesson about baseball from the Rockies last season; that early May is not the time to panic. Still, the issues facing the Rox right now are a bit more complicated than they were at any point in 2007, and the start of the D-backs more daunting.

I speculated in the game thread that Chris Iannetta's opposite field sac fly with the bases loaded yesterday might have been more impressive
to Clint Hurdle than a walk in regards to his playing time , even though the latter saves the out and leaves the team in a better position to score more. I may have been right:

We are knocking on that door," Hurdle said. "Iannetta has done a good job with the at-bats he's had. He's been very productive."

Meanwhile, Taylor Buchholz figures to see more late inning work given his strong performance in 2008 to date.