For most of the season, the NL West has been a three team race. With the Rockies going 13-5 in June, they’ve now made it a four team race as the Rockies sit just 3 1/2 games back of the first place Padres.
This week, they did a number on the Yankees. The Yankees were about as hot as the Rockies but they left Denver with their tail between their legs after losing all three games. In all, the pitchers gave up just five runs in the three game series and that’s what gave the Rockies their sweep.
Speaking of pitching, Jeff Francis was a top prospect at one point and after a couple of decent but not great years, he’s now coming into his own. He leads the team with seven wins and he also leads the team with a 3.44 ERA. No pitcher is going to do extremely well in Colorado but Francis is putting together an excellent season so far after having a rough April. He’s 6-2 in May and June with all of the nice numbers that go with it.
And then there’s Matt Holliday, who’s just a stud. He leads the team in about everything and if the Rockies do anything this year, Holliday should get some MVP consideration. And that .366 batting average sure looks nice when it comes up on the television screen. He’s also on pace for 50 doubles to go along with close to 30 homeruns.
The other guy who warrants mentioning is Todd Helton, who no longer looks like is on the trading block. He’s hitting .329 and an awesome .447 OBP with 54 walks and 30 strikeouts. Helton’s no longer the power threat he once was, but what a table setter this guy makes. Oddly, he’s only scored 32 runs so while he’s getting on base, the Rockies aren’t taking full advantage of it.
The Rockies have started a three game set against the Blue Jays as interleague play is winding down. The Rockies lead 6-3 but Taylor Buckholz has been brought in to try to put out a fire as the Jays loaded the bases on Jason Hirsch (two walks and a single, not pretty). Hopefully Taylor can get us out of the jam and push towards a fourth straight win.
