San Diego – There is elasticity in urgency. When the Rockies flew to San Diego on Thursday, the rookies wore diapers on the charter and were given stuffed animals to babysit this week.
They came in pink, yellow and tan, colors that matched perfectly with the purple mustache the Rockies painted on the San Diego Padres’ Mona Lisa. After the Padres’ pitchers were battered in Sunday’s 7-3 victory, the Rockies completed their leap from nowhere into history.
They have won more games (84) than any other Rockies team. And their eighth straight victory is one shy of the 1997 club record. On Shirts Off Their Back Day at Petco Park, the Rockies took everything but the Padres’ dignity, pulling to within 1 1/2 games of San Diego and a game behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the wild-card race with six games remaining.
“Uh-oh, uh-oh,” reliever Jorge Julio said. “Here we come.”
The race is on, with the Rockies beginning a three-game series at Los Angeles on Tuesday, followed by a weekend wrapup at Coors Field against Arizona.
In eight days, the Rockies have demonstrated emphatically that there’s no predictable limit to what can be accomplished if a team dreams on the same wavelength. History is such that more weight is always afforded the present. But as this run sticks in the memory, it’s better than imagined.
It’s not that the Rockies swept the Padres, it’s how and who that made it so startling. They outscored San Diego 15-6, they outhit them .260 average (32-for-123) to .159 (17-of-107), they bloodied Jake Peavy and Greg Maddux, and they left San Diego to boil over in frustration (see Bradley, Milton).
In Sunday’s finale, Jeff Francis tied the club’s single-season record with his 17th victory. He worked eight innings, allowing two runs in a park where he suffered his worst outing just five weeks earlier. The simple truth: Give Francis a lead and it couldn’t be safer in the Brink’s vault.
“He’s so smart out there, it amazes me,” catcher Yorvit Torrealba said.
In the finale, Colorado mocked convention, punishing arguably the generation’s greatest pitcher, Maddux, for five runs in 3 2/3 innings. The damage came with slugger Matt Holliday on the bench because of a left oblique injury.
“That’s this team. The possible MVP of the league is out, and (Brad) Hawpe decides to throw out 10 hits,” pitcher Josh Fogg said.
It was actually eight in 13 at-bats, but these days with the Rockies it’s always safer to round up. They barreled Maddux for four runs in the fourth inning, Todd Helton providing a vintage at-bat with a Tony Gwynn-style fillet to left field.
The Rockies’ dominance demoralized the Dodgers last week, turning them into a dysfunctional mess of old players sniping at kids. The Padres were left empty and angry. Bradley went nuts in the eighth, ejected after arguing with first base umpire Mike Winters.
Bradley added injury to what he alleged was an insult from Winters that triggered the drama, leaving with a sore right knee after manager Bud Black tackled him to prevent an ugly confrontation.
Afterward, manager Clint Hurdle was asked if he had ever seen something so strange before. “It seems like you have asked that a lot this year,” he said.
The question is waiting for next Sunday, when the improbability could become reality.
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
BASEBALL SCORECARD | Seven days to go
AMERICAN LEAGUE
The Indians became the second team to clinch a playoff berth, and were followed by the Angels. Also, the Yankees cut the Red Sox’s lead to 1 1/2 games in the East.
Indians 6, Athletics 2: Jake Westbrook struck out a career-high nine batters and Grady Sizemore had four hits for Cleveland.
Angels 7, Mariners 4: Casey Kotchman and Macier Izturis homered in the second inning, and ace John Lackey (18-9) pitched seven strong innings for Los Angeles.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
The NL wild-card race has settled into a three-team sprint to the finish:
Rockies 7, Padres 3: 17-game winner Jeff Francis outdueled Greg Maddux to pull Colorado within 1 1/2 games of the wild-card leading Padres.
Nationals 5, Phillies 3: Philadelphia entered having won nine of its previous 10 games, but a bullpen blowup kept the Phillies from making up ground. They are half a game behind the Padres.
Wild to the wire
One week remains in the regular season, and the NL wild-card race is too close to call. The Rockies are just 1 1/2 games behind San Diego and a game behind Philadelphia. The remaining series for the three teams:
ROCKIES | Six games left
Tuesday-Thursday
At Los Angeles (80-76)
Friday-Sunday
Arizona (88-68)
PADRES | Seven games left
Today-Wednesday
At San Francisco (69-87)
Thursday-Sunday
At Milwaukee (79-76)
PHILLIES | Six games left
Tuesday-Thursday
Atlanta (82-74)
Friday-Sunday
Washington (69-87)
