Riding a wild late-season wave for all it’s worth, the Rockies swamped the Dodgers 9-4 this afternoon at Coors Field to complete a four-game sweep.
The Rockies, refusing to relinquish their playoff hopes, got another homer from Matt Holliday en route to their fifth consecutive victory.
The trouble for the Rockies is that the Padres keep winning, too. They beat the Pirates 6-3 this afternoon for their seventh consecutive victory. The Padres moved within a half-game of Arizona in the National League West and remained 4½ games ahead of Colorado in the wild-card standings. The Rockies, who have just nine games left, begin a critical three-game series against the Padres Friday night in San Diego.
On successive nights, the Rockies had to conjure up late-night LoDo magic to beat the Dodgers. Tuesday night, Todd Helton’s two-out, two-run walk-off homer beat Los Angeles 9-8. Wednesday night, Brad Hawpe’s two-run homer in the eighth rallied the Rockies to a 6-5 win.
There was no need for late-game heroics today, not with rookie starter Ubaldo Jimenez baffling the Dodgers for 6 1/3 innings and Holliday hitting his 11th homer in his last 12 games, giving voters yet another reason to cast their MVP ballot his way.
And don’t forget shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. The National League rookie-of-the-year candidate hit his 22nd homer and drove in three runs with his 2-for-4 performance. The only shortstop to ever hit more homers in his rookie season was the Dodgers’ Nomar Garciaparra, who hit 30 for the Red Sox in 1997.
Jimenez improved to 4-4, cruising along until the seventh inning, when he gave up three runs, including a two-run homer to Andre Ethier. Reliver Matt Herges served up a solo homer on his first pitch to Andy LaRoche before snuffing out the Los Angeles rally.
Holliday, on a hot streak that would humble even the Blake Street Bombers, banged out his 36th homer in Colorado’s six-run second inning. Fans at Coors immediately took up the chant “MVP! MVP!” The 438-foot shot to left-center was Holliday’s 11th homer in his last 40 at-bats.
The Dodgers, who arrived in Colorado in third place in the wild-card race, just three games out, lost their fifth straight game. They are now 6½ games out.
Staff Writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
