Batting practice last week provided the first hint. The ball was fleeing Troy Tulowitzki’s bat, screaming as it sailed over the outfield fence. His left wrist, which was broken June 17 when he was hit by a pitch, was finally better.
“I could tell in my swings. I was able to let it go more,” Tulowitzki said.
Lost in Carlos Gonzalez’s nuclear month, Tulowitzki has become scalding hot, belting six home runs in his last seven games. He tied the score in the eighth inning off reliever Nick Masset on Thursday, setting the stage for the Full (Chris) Nelson hold on the Reds.
Masset was trying to get Tulowitzki to chase a fastball high and outside. And sure enough, he did. Trouble is, it landed eight rows deep in the right-field bleachers.
“I don’t even know how he hit it out,” Masset said. “Good hitters put good swings on balls. These guys, their moment has just been pretty electric lately. You get lucky, and things like that happen.”
Meet again.
Manager Dusty Baker is convinced that his team hasn’t seen the last of the Rockies, who have won 10 consecutive against the Reds at Coors Field.
“The way they are playing, there’s a good chance we’ll see them again here,” Baker said of a possible playoff matchup.
Rox on a roll.
The Rockies’ seven-game winning streak is their longest of the season and the longest current streak in the major leagues. Minnesota has won six in a row.
“I have seen more crazy stuff happen here in less than two years than I did in the rest of my career combined,” reliever Joe Beimel said.
Footnotes.
Said first baseman Joey Votto of Nelson’s bravado: “That’s a big-time risky play. I would say nine times out of 10 you’re out at home.” It is the first straight steal of home against the Reds since San Diego’s Eric Owens on May 21, 1999. . . . Nelson is the first player to steal home for his first stolen base since Dan Uggla in 2006, according to STATS LLC. . . . The Rockies are 47-22 at Coors Field, a .681 percentage. Their best season at home was 1996, when they finished 55-26, a .679 percentage. . . . Former Rockies reliever Taylor Buchholz was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays, ending his tenure with Colorado. . . . The loss gave the Reds a five-game losing streak, matching their season high.
Troy E. Renck and Jim Armstrong, The Denver Post
