There was a time when the Rockies looked forward to a trip to San Francisco ballparks the way Al Capone looked forward to a trip to Alcatraz.
Little wonder, considering that the Rockies’ all-time record in the City by the Bay is 37-76, and considering they have never posted a winning record there in any season.
But tonight, as they open a crucial three-game series at AT&T Park, there is reason for hope. For one thing, the Rockies are 4-2 there this season, including a three-game sweep in late May – the Rockies’ first sweep in San Francisco.
Most of all, the Rockies remain a team fueled by playoff aspirations. A three-game, weekend sweep of the Washington Nationals at Coors Field, culminating with Sunday’s 10-5 win, kept the Rockies’ playoff pulse beating.
“From here on out, we have to keep winning,” said Matt Holliday, who went 3-for-4, extending his hitting streak to a personal-best 16 games. He drove in three runs and hit his 24th homer of the season. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, because the teams ahead of us are winning and making it tough on us.”
After dropping three of four at home to the last-place Pirates last week, the Rockies’ postseason hopes were fading to black. But sweeping the Nationals puts the Rockies back in the picture. Sunday’s victory, coupled with Atlanta’s 4-1 loss to St. Louis, enabled the Rockies to slip past Atlanta into a third-place tie with Los Angeles in the National League wild-card chase, 3 1/2 games behind San Diego. Philadelphia hammered San Diego 14-2 to move within three games of the Padres.
Behind six innings of three-hit pitching from fill-in starter Elmer Dessens, and powered by a 15-hit attack, the Rockies coasted Sunday. They say they are primed for a 32-game stretch run that includes 25 games against NL West opponents.
“We’re excited every day to come to the ballpark because we think we have a chance to win,” third baseman Garrett Atkins said.
On Sunday, Dessens came through with his longest outing since pitching six innings for the Dodgers against the White Sox on June 18, 2005. Dessens’ only big mistake was giving up a two-out solo homer to Ryan Zimmerman in the first.
“That was a blue-collar effort from Elmer,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “He repeated his delivery and kept the ball down. He changed speeds very effectively.”
Nationals rookie starter Joel Hanrahan, pitching at Coors for the first time, departed after 2 2/3 innings, looking stunned after giving up nine runs on eight hits. Colorado sent 11 batters to the plate in its six-run third inning. All 10 of Colorado’s runs scored with two out.
The Rockies will need timely hitting in San Francisco, where they are scheduled to face, in order, lefty Barry Zito, right-hander Matt Cain and left-hander Noah Lowry.
“We’ve actually played much better at AT&T the last couple of years,” Hurdle said. “We just have to go out and play the games. We did what we needed to do this weekend. Now we face a good rotation this week, and we know they are going to get after us. But it’s major-league baseball late in the month of August, and it’s fun.”
Staff writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
