Atlanta – The Rockies’ benefit to being bad: playing kids to see what they’ve got.
The Atlanta Braves’ benefit to being good: playing kids and seeing who awaits in the playoffs.
It was difficult Monday, however, to ascertain which team was trying to avoid the worst record in franchise history and which was on the verge of clinching its 14th consecutive division title.
The Rockies have never won 14 straight games, let alone a single National League West crown. Yet they continue to play as if their finish matters, even if they are unlikely to avoid the stigma of last place.
“Not reaching 95 losses is something we have talked about,” shortstop Clint Barmes said. “We don’t want to reach it,” he said of the abyss established by the 1993 Rockies.
The march toward indignity was interrupted when catcher Todd Greene’s 406-foot seat- seeking missile cleared the fence in the eighth inning, the difference in a 6-5 victory before a rowdy, if oddly sparse crowd of 23,788 at Turner Field.
The Rockies need to go 3-3 over their final six games to finish with a better record than the 1993 outfit. What made this comeback different was the age of the stars. Greene is 34. Todd Helton – he of Todd and the Toddlers fame – is 32.
Helton, flirting in the margins for a batting title with a .323 average, has hit safely in 13 consecutive games. He roped an RBI double in the fifth and is hitting .522 (24-for-46) during his streak.
“We have played better of late,” Helton said. “I am encouraged because we are bringing a lot of these guys back. It’s important that we keep key guys around and build up the bullpen.”
