The frustration was unmistakable. The tossed bat. The slammed helmet. The thrown batting gloves.
With a single eighth-inning outburst, slugger Troy Glaus capsulized the weekend and provided an explanation of why the first-place Rockies boarded their charter Sunday with brimming confidence.
Colorado suffocated Toronto, completing a three-game brooming with a 5-3 victory at sun-drenched Coors Field.
Until this season, the Rockies were the only team in baseball that could sweep a home series and arrive on the road with exactly no momentum. But that was a different time, when they were still trying to be two different teams. They have flipped the script, winning not by scoring more at home, but by having their opponents score less.
The Rockies have a 4.05 ERA, the lowest ever at this point of the season.
“Whatever works, right?” said third baseman Garrett Atkins, who provided the lone and only necessary timely hit with a second-inning, bases-clearing double. “Good defense and good pitching play well wherever you go.”
It applies to Dodger Stadium, where the Rockies begin a three-game series tonight.
Other than rumors, nothing travels well in L.A., certainly not automobiles or flyballs. San Francisco and San Diego, their final two stops on the roadie, were built with oceans and offensive droughts in mind.
The Rockies, who sit a half-game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks, won a series in each of the three cities last summer, effectively removing the traditional pall that hung over West Coast trips.
“It’s a totally different feeling,” said Jason Jennings, who starts on Tuesday. “We aren’t looking to survive, we are looking to win.”
After what they did to the Jays, can you blame them? Toronto sauntered into town with an offense that figured to go over as well in Denver as Rachael Ray showing up at a potluck dinner. The Jays led the American League in average and runs.
“I don’t think I have ever looked up at a scoreboard and seen so many guys hitting .350,” said Rockies starter Josh Fogg, cementing his rotation spot with 52/3 blue-collar innings. “They had guys coming off the bench hitting .340.”
And yet the Blue Jays nosedived, becoming one of the first powerful lineups ever to leave Coors Field in a slump. They batted .263 (26-for-99) with one home run. Vernon Wells and Glaus produced just three hits and two RBIs. They were outscored 18-7.
“We just got outplayed,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “And their pitching and fielding had a lot to do with that.”
So much so that the Rockies now have a surplus of starters. They must make a decision on Sun-Woo Kim this week, but Fogg has done nothing to be evacuated. Kim also could join the bullpen, where there are relievers with minor-league options.
Consider it part of the Rockies’ evolution. When in first place, even their problems are pleasant.
“I am getting people out every fifth day, but if that’s not good enough, that’s their decision,” Fogg said. “The way this team is playing, you’d hate to see anything change.”
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-820-5447 or trenck@denverpost.com.
