Slowly, perhaps even menacingly, the Rockies’ big bats are coming out of winter hibernation.
While smacking 10 hits in a 4-3 victory over the Braves tonight didn’t exactly make Blake Street quake, the heart of the order came through when it counted.
Todd Helton hit a two-out double in the first and scored on Matt Holliday’s RBI single to left.
Helton led off the fourth with a single and scored when Garrett Atkins’ line drive dribbled under right fielder Jeff Francoeur’s glove. Atkins got credit for an RBI double. He came home on Brad Hawpe’s double to left-center.
Leadoff man Willy Taveras, who entered the game with a .143 average and a .167 on-base percentage, led off the fifth with a double down the left-field line. He scored on Holliday’s single to right.
The timely hitting was enough to give the Rockies a modest two-game winning streak and secure the first victory of the year for starter Ubaldo Jimenez.
While Jimenez’s effort was not without its warts — he walked Atlanta starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens twice — it was a step in the right direction. Jimenez allowed three runs on six hits in six innings.
In a rocky first inning, it was manager Clint Hurdle, instead of pitching coach Bob Apodaca, who visited Jimenez on the mound. Whatever Hurdle said must have gotten through, because Jimenez found a groove that carried him into the sixth inning.
That’s when Jimenez made his big mistake of the night, laying a fastball over the plate for Mark Kotsay who crunched a two-run homer, slicing Colorado’s lead to 4-3.
However, Rockies relievers Taylor Buchholz, Brian Fuentes and Manuel Corpas shut out the Braves in the seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively. Corpas struck out two in his perfect final inning to record his third save.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
