All you need to know about Matt Holliday is that he has a nickname.
His greatness, which should be further stamped today when he is named to his third consecutive National League all-star team, demands a moniker.
To teammates, Holliday is simply “Big Daddy.”
It’s not tattoo material, but it adequately explains his importance. He is known for changing a game with one swing. For the past two nights, he has been the father of home runs, his three-run blast Saturday muscling the Rockies to a 12-6 victory over the Florida Marlins.
“When he’s in a groove like this, he doesn’t miss anything,” third baseman Garrett Atkins said. “He’s hot like he was at the end of last year.”
The Rockies won their season-best fifth-straight, leaving their eyeballs peeking out of the hole they spent last week residing in. They sit just six games behind the division-leading Diamondbacks. By comparison, they were 5 1/2 games back at the all-star break a year ago.
“We aren’t going to quit,” said Holliday, who has driven in nine runs the past two days. “We have enough to survive.”
That’s important, since the last four wins have come after losing ace Jeff Francis, first baseman Todd Helton and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to the disabled list.
“What it says is that we have a lot of good players,” catcher Chris Iannetta said.
At this point, everything seems possible with the Rockies — trades, contention, a waiting list in the trainer’s room. On the same day that Tulowitzki was shelved with a lacerated right hand from a tempestuous moment — “I slammed a bat to the ground (Friday) and it cut me. It was stupid,” he said — the Rockies’ offense kept punching Marlins’ pitchers in the face.
Colorado has scored 30 runs on 31 hits over the past two nights. On their recent winless six-game road trip, they totaled 19 runs.
Holy humidor, what in the heck is going on here? Is some rogue employee using the chamber to store beer for a Fourth of July escape in South Park?
“Hey, give us some credit,” Holliday said.
The baseballs haven’t been flying, but fleeing the bats. The Rockies have posted 10 home runs in the last two wins, including six that traveled at least 420 feet. Manager Clint Hurdle cited the hot weather as a contributing factor.
Joe Koshansky’s first-ever home run landed 465 feet away from the plate, ricocheting off the ivy-covered wall in center field.
“I kind of lost track of it,” he said.
Iannetta followed Friday’s tape-measure shot onto the left-field concourse with a controversial fourth-inning blast Saturday that didn’t appear to clear the fence.
“I don’t feel guilty at all,” Iannetta said with a smile.
There was no doubt about Holliday’s latest crush. He smoked his 13th home run to center field in the fourth, providing an 8-0 cushion that felt strangely safe. Holliday, who is hitting at .342 with 49 RBIs, swatted a grand slam Friday in the largest come-from-behind victory in Rockies’ history, flashing two No. 1 signs in the air.
He let the shot, not the trot, speak Saturday.
“I feel about as good about my swing as I have all year,” Holliday said, “like I can drive most pitches.”
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
