Hitting may not be contagious for the Rockies, but pitching apparently is.
Coming off his finest outing of the season, Jason Hammel was even better Saturday night, limiting the Toronto Blue Jays to three hits in a 1-0 Rockies victory.
Hammel, who had thrown 7 1/3 shutout innings Monday night against Houston, completed eight innings for the first time this season. In the process, he lowered his ERA to 0.99, the stuff of Ubaldo Jimenez, in his last four starts.
The Rockies needed every out they could get from Hammel because, once again, their bats took most of the night off. The game marked the seventh one-run decision in their last 11 games, of which they are 3-4.
With the win, the Rockies are 5-0 all-time against the Blue Jays at Coors Field. A victory in today’s series finale would give them two sweeps at home over Toronto and allow them to avoid their first-ever losing homestand under Jim Tracy.
What, you don’t think starting pitching is the key to the Rockies’ playoff aspirations? Think again. They’re 27-10 when their starter pitches six-plus innings, 5-20 when he doesn’t.
Hammel not only pitched the Rockies to the win, he scored the game’s only run after coaxing a walk off Toronto starter Brandon Morrow to open the sixth inning. One out later, Hammel was singled to third by Todd Helton. He scored on a broken-bat sacrifice fly to right by Carlos Gonzalez.
The Rockies might have scored another run or two if not for Helton’s baserunning. He was thrown out by several feet in the fourth when he tried to advance to third from second on an out at first base.
Two innings later, Helton was thrown out by 15 feet when he tried to score on a single to right by Ryan Spilborghs.
Hammel’s win, his fourth in seven decisions, made for an interesting stat. He’s 7-1, 3.29 in his career in June and 14-25, 5.59 in the other months of the season.
Manuel Corpas pitched the ninth for his eighth save in 10 chances.
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
