Troy Tulowitzki kicked back in a chair in front of his locker and, in two words, described everything that didn’t happen Sunday at Coors Field.
“Easy win,” he said.
Right. Like these Rockies are ever going to do anything the easy way. This time, they had a lopsided victory over the Cubs all but in their grasp, but had to hold on to win 8-7 thanks to a “SportsCenter” moment catch by Dexter Fowler in the ninth inning.
“I think it’s safe to say it’s a game-saving play,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. “It’s that simple.”
Not that anything else was. Nothing ever is for the Rockies. OK, so Fowler’s leaping catch that robbed Alfonso Soriano of an extra-base hit, if not a game-tying home run — replays were inconclusive about whether the ball would have cleared the wall — wasn’t as dramatic as, say, a 12-run eighth inning Friday or a recent nine-run ninth against the Cardinals. But you get the point: With the Rockies, it’s always something.
They may not make the playoffs, but they’re bound and determined to have their fans watch the pennant stretch from the edge of their seats. In the first six games of this homestand alone, they’ve had their own little version of planes, trains and automobiles: ambulances, cycles and carts.
Huston Street, the beneficiary of Fowler’s crash-dummy catch — he could land on the disabled list with bruises to his left hip and ribs — got things started Tuesday with an ambulance ride, no thanks to a batting-practice line drive that struck him in the pelvic region.
Four nights later, Carlos Gonzalez hit for the cycle. But not just any cycle. He won the game Saturday night with a walkoff home run in the ninth after the Rockies had blown a 5-2 lead. The next day, Fowler was carted off moments before Street, who took a four-run lead into the inning, ratcheted down the Mile High anxiety by striking out Jeff Baker to end the game.
“It was a great series for the Rockies,” Street said. “It was a poor day for me . . . but when you walk off the field with a win, everything is fine. I’ll be honest. We all think we’re going to make the playoffs. There’s a lot of baseball left.”
And, no doubt, a lot of drama. The bottom line, after all the theatrics, was a sweep of the three-game series that enabled the Rockies to rediscover their collective pulse after a 2-9 road trip and two losses in three games against the wretched Pirates.
If the victory was the best thing that happened, Jorge De La Rosa’s performance ranked second. The Rockies, who have to finish 37-20 to match last year’s 92-70 record, desperately need De La Rosa to rediscover his form of 2009, when he won 16 out of 19 decisions after June 1.
He allowed one run through six innings before tiring in the seventh, walking off the mound to a standing ovation. It was De La Rosa’s third straight quality start and gave him his first win since April 25.
De La Rosa watched the ninth inning in the clubhouse. Any anxious moments?
“It was OK,” he said. “I believe in Huston, so I was relaxed. I feel better every time out. It’s good to win, not only for me, but the whole team. . . . We want to make the playoffs.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
Upcoming pitching matchups
Tuesday: Giants’ Jonathan Sanchez (7-6, 3.55 ERA) at Rockies’ Aaron Cook (4-7, 5.08), 6:40 p.m., FSN
Wednesday: Giants’ Madison Bumgarner (4-3, 2.70) at Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez (16-2, 2.67), 1:10 p.m., FSN
Thursday: Rockies’ Jeff Francis (4-3, 4.44) at Pirates’ Daniel McCutchen (1-5, 7.94), 5:05 p.m., FSN
Friday: Rockies’ Jason Hammel (7-6, 4.37) at Pirates’ Zach Duke (5-10, 5.36), 5:05 p.m., FSN
