WASHINGTON — Eleven weeks ago, it wasn’t hard to imagine a big Denver sporting event in August. Only most figured it would involve the Broncos.
Tonight, the Rockies begin a four-game series dripping with playoff implications against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field. Colorado leads the Giants by two games in the wild-card standings and sits 3 1/2 shy of the NL West-leading Dodgers, who follow San Francisco into town.
With apologies to Kyle Orton’s next interception, the Rockies are kind of a big deal.
“It goes without saying that we need to win games against these teams if we are going to make the playoffs,” said right fielder Brad Hawpe, whose club on June 3 sat 9 1/2 games back in the wild card and 15 1/2 behind in the NL West. “We are proud of the position we have put ourselves in, and we believe this is a team our fans can be proud of.”
The Rockies are expecting crowds to exceed 40,000 this weekend, with tickets selling briskly for both series. Colorado plays San Francisco seven times over the next 10 days, finishing next weekend at AT&T Park.
The Rockies are 3-2 against San Francisco at Coors Field this season, outscoring the Giants 27-18. Colorado is much more suited to take advantage of its home park. The Rockies average 5.9 runs at Coors Field, and their best players are even better — Troy Tulowitzki has 15 home runs and Todd Helton and Hawpe are hitting .337.
“Being home is going to help us,” outfielder Carlos Gonzalez said. “The key is not to do anything differently. If a guy is on second, you try to move him over. You can’t worry about putting up crazy numbers, you have to be unselfish.”
The Giants wander into Denver hopeful their bats arrived with the luggage. They scored just two runs in their final 18 innings against the Reds, one coming courtesy of a wild pitch.
“We got into a funk that we will have to get out of real soon,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.
Aaron Cook, coming off an ugly loss last weekend in Florida, starts for the Rockies tonight. He knows this is a big game, giant weekend and a huge stretch. But forgive him if he views through a narrow lens rather than see the big picture.
“We can’t get caught up in the hype,” Cook said. “Yes, it is important. But I have never been on a team that does a better job of focusing on winning the game in front of us. We run into problems when we think about it any other way.”
An XL series vs. Giants
The Rockies begin a crucial four-game series tonight against the Giants, part of a seven-game homestand that also includes Los Angeles. National baseball writer Troy E. Renck provides a quick overview:
At stake: The wild-card lead. The Rockies hold a two-game advantage over San Francisco.
Series: Today, 7:10 p.m.; Saturday, 6:10 p.m., Sunday, 1:10 p.m., Monday, 6:40 p.m.
Keys to success: The Rockies are much better suited to win at Coors Field than the Giants, who struggle to score runs. If the Rockies average five runs a game — as they have their previous five home games against the Giants — they will win the series.
