During the defining moments of the Rockies’ 6-4 victory over the Mariners Friday night at Coors Field, the home dugout looked like Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras.
The Rockies laughed, slapped high-fives and acted like, well, like winners. And right now, they are doing nothing but winning.
Aggressive, gutsy decisions by manager Jim Tracy laid the tracks for the team’s ninth straight win, tying them with the 1997 Rockies for the second longest win streak in franchise history. Only the 11-game streak toward the end of the magical 2007 season (Sept. 16-27) was longer.
On a night when his bullpen was shallow, Tracy stuck with starter Ubaldo Jimenez, who notched the second complete-game victory of his career.
In a game where runs were tough to come by, Tracy pushed all the right buttons.
In the pivotal sixth inning with the score tied 4-all, Dexter Fowler laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Ian Stewart from third base. Stewart slid under the tag of Mariners catcher Rob Johnson, safe by a matter of inches.
“That’s the first squeeze I’ve been a part of _ ever,” Stewart said. “I was just trying hard not to give it away. I know I was safe, but it was close.”
Earlier in the sixth, the Rockies tied the game in most unlikely fashion. With Troy Tulowitzki on second following a walk, and Stewart on second after getting plunked by a Jarrod Washburn pitch, the Mariners expected starter Ubaldo Jimenez to bunt. They put the wheel play on and an alert Jimenez pulled off a slug bunt, dribbling the ball into right field for a base hit and driving in Tulowitzki.
“The manager said if you ever see the shortstop breaking, you have to pull the bat and swing,” Jimenez said. “I had never seen that before. I just reacted.”
The Rockies cashed in an insurance run in the seventh, thanks to Tulowitzki’s wheels and sloppy play by the Mariners. Tulowitzki walked, stole second and advanced to third on Johnson’s throwing error. Tulowitzki scored when reliever Miguel Batista uncorked a wild pitch to the backstop
“This is how I was brought up to play, coming from California and playing at Long Beach State,” said Tulowitzki, who cranked a solo homer to lead off the fourth. “It’s a lot of fun _ moving runners over and doing anything you can to win games. Not to say we didn’t before, but like you saw tonight, there were slash plays like Ubaldo’s, and hit-and-runs and drag bunts. It keeps you moving.”
While Jimenez was nails with the bat plate – he had two perfect sacrifice bunts prior to his clutch single – he didn’t have his best stuff on the hill. Russell Branyan made that clear in the first inning with an enormous solo homer into the bullpen beyond right field. Adrian Beltre’s two-run double off the left field wall in the third inning was confirmation that Jimenez was in for a trying evening.
But he hung tough, and Tracy hung right with him.
When Jimenez walked pinch hitter Ken Griffey Jr. with two outs in the ninth, Tracy strolled out to the mound.
“I just asked Ubaldo if he had enough gas in his tank, if he had enough to get one more hitter,” Tracy said. “And he told me he did. And I trust my players.”
With that, Jimenez got Ichiro Suzuki to ground out to Tulowitzki to clinch the ninth victory in a row.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
