After Matt Holliday fouled out in the seventh inning of Sunday’s game, the muscular left fielder took a couple of swings at the dirt near home plate.
The gesture had nothing to do with Holliday coming up a triple short of hitting for the cycle. It was simply Holliday, the perfectionist, doing a little late-game venting.
“I wasn’t happy with my swings,” he said. “I don’t like my last swings of the day to be my worst.”
Holliday’s teammates will no doubt forgive their slugger.
All he did Sunday was go 3-for-4 with a single, a double and a two-run homer, drive in three runs and extend his hitting streak to a personal-best 16 games. He has reached base safely via hit, walk or hit-by-pitch in 32 consecutive games, three short of the club record shared by Todd Helton and Larry Walker.
Saturday night, Holliday made two beautiful, sliding catches in left field, plays he might not have completed last season. In other words, the uncommon is becoming commonplace for him.
Yet he remains his toughest critic.
“I don’t think I’m hitting that well right now. … I still have some timing issues,” said Holliday, who raised his average to .338 and leads the team with 24 homers. “I expect a lot out of myself, and I expect to do things to help the team win every day. When I don’t, I’m frustrated.”
Injury update
Two key players are getting closer to returning. Starting pitcher Aaron Cook (strained oblique) threw 35 pitches in a successful bullpen session Sunday and is scheduled to throw a simulated game Tuesday in San Francisco. Center fielder Willy Taveras (strained quadriceps) will join the Triple-A Sky Sox today for three rehab games in Sacramento. If all goes well, he could rejoin the Rockies in Arizona in time for Friday’s game.
“I felt it, but it didn’t hurt,” Cook said of the injury that has cost him three starts. “We’ll see how it feels tomorrow and go from there.”
Footnotes
Veteran right-hander Mark Redman pitched 6 2/3 innings for Colorado Springs on Saturday night, allowing two runs on 10 hits. He struck out three and walked one. Asked if the Rockies plan to move Redman up to help patch up their rotation, manager Clint Hurdle said, “As of right now, no.”… Helton is starting to heat up. He hit three singles Sunday, hiking his average to .303, the highest it has been since July 26.
