Let's just take a look at some of the numbers today: 7 for 9 with runners in scoring position. Eight extra base hits (including three doubles by lead-off hitter Dexter Fowler and home runs by Troy Tulowitzki and Clint Barmes) and fifteen hits overall, the Rockie just put an old fashioned Coors Field beat down on Pirates starter Paul Maholm, and lit up Matt Capps for good measure. Keep in mind that these are supposed to be the Pirates good pitchers.
Meanwhile, Rockies starter Jason Marquis wasn't always pretty, but thanks to some quality defensive work (particularly in left field by Carlos Gonzalez) he was effective and got through seven innings allowing just the one run to pick up his thirteenth win. The team improves to 64-51 overall, just five games behind the Dodgers for first place in the NL West. The Rockies have gained four games on Los Angeles in the last three weeks after being nine back on July 24th.
While they haven't been perfect while at Coors, make no mistake that the Rockies are getting on a serious roll. The Rockies went 5-2 over the seven game homestand, outscoring the Cubs and Pirates by a combined score of 54-26. A win is a win, but when teams that aren't really playing each other that often are nonetheless competing for the same playoff spots, blowout wins like today's for the Rockies help show that the team is more likely to continue winning in the future.
The team's 23-12 record in games decided by six runs or more is a big reason that Baseball Prospectus' playoff odds are generally a couple percentage points more favorable to the Rockies compared to other sites that just consider the win percentage and the remaining schedule. At the same time, it's why the Braves are considered such a dangerous threat coming up on our tail. The good news with that situation is that the Rockies are in a position since the Braves are playing the Phillies this weekend,
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