Down the stretch they come in a tight batting race that could very well be decided on the final day of the season.
Entering baseball’s final weekend, Rockies first baseman Justin Morneau trails Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Josh Harrison in the race for the National League batting title. Harrison, batting .319, went 3-for-5 in Atlanta on Thursday night to overtake Morneau, who is batting .317. The Rockies didn’t play Thursday.
Also still in the race is Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen. After his 1-for-2 performance Thursday, he is batting .314.
Morneau won the American League MVP award in 2006 while playing for the Minnesota Twins, but he doesn’t own a batting title. Naturally, he’s not taking the race lightly.
“I don’t care what anybody says, when it comes down to it, you want to win,” Morneau said. “You want to do as well as you can, and you want to be better than the next guy.”
Wednesday night at San Diego, Morneau went 0-for-3 with a walk.
Should the race come down to Sunday’s final games, the contenders will face big-time arms.
Scheduled to pitch against Morneau and the Rockies at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium is right-hander Zack Greinke, L.A.’s best pitcher behind Clayton Kershaw, the prohibitive favorite to win the NL Cy Young Award. Greinke is 16-8 with a 2.74 ERA. He has dominated Morneau, holding him to a .200 batting average (9-for-45) with no home runs allowed.
The Pittsburgh duo also is scheduled to face a formidable pitcher Sunday, in Cincinnati. Scheduled to start for the Reds is hard-throwing right-hander Johnny Cueto (19-9, 2.29 ERA). However, the two have enjoyed success against the Reds’ ace. Harrison has only 14 at-bats against Cueto, but he’s rapped out six hits, including two doubles, for a .429 average. McCutchen has more history vs. Cueto, batting .286 (16-for-56) with four home runs.
The Pirates have clinched a wild-card playoff berth but are desperately trying to catch the St. Louis Cardinals and win the National League Central crown.
The Rockies have been out of the playoff hunt since early in the summer, but a Morneau title would give the Rockies back-to-back champions.
The Rockies already own eight batting titles, and Morneau would become the seventh different Colorado player to win the batting championship — outfielder Larry Walker did it three times (1998, 1999 and 2001).
Walker and Morneau are Canadians, and this week Morneau called Walker to ask for some advice about how to approach the batting race when his team is out of the playoff hunt.
“Anybody who hasn’t won a World Series will tell you they’ll trade any personal accolade for a World Series ring,” Morneau said. “Obviously, it helps with the focus of the last week of the season. But I’m trying not to treat it any differently than I have all year.”
Patrick Saunders: psaunders@denverpost.com or twitter.com/psaundersdp
NL batting race
Josh Harrison Pirates .319
Justin Morneau Rockies .317
Andrew McCutchen Pirates .314
Ben Revere Phillies .308
*Buster Posey Giants .308
(*Played late Thursday)
Rockies batting champs
Justin Morneau is in the running for the National League batting title. If he pulls it off, he will become the seventh different Rockies player to accomplish the feat:
1993 Andres Galarraga .370
1998 Larry Walker .363
1999 Larry Walker .379
2000 Todd Helton .372
2001 Larry Walker .350
2007 Matt Holliday .340
2010 Carlos Gonzalez .336
2013 Michael Cuddyer .331
Looking ahead
Rockies’ Jordan Lyles (7-3, 4.15 ERA) at Dodgers’ Roberto Hernandez (8-11, 4.08), 8:10 p.m. Friday, ROOT; 850 AM
Considering that Lyles initially was penciled in to begin the season in Triple-A and then lost two months because of a fractured left hand, he’s had a productive season, solidifying his place in the Rockies’ starting rotation next year. The right-hander has dealt with a lot more traffic than he would like, but his ability to get groundball outs has rescued him. Hernandez’s final regular-season start could determine whether he is placed on the Dodgers’ postseason roster. Acquired from Philadelphia in early August, he started strong but has faltered of late. He failed to last longer than 4 ? innings in each of his past four starts, surrendering 11 earned runs in 15 innings.
— Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
• Saturday: Rockies’ Eddie Butler (1-1, 5.56 ERA) at Dodgers’ Dan Haren (13-11, 4.03), 7:10 p.m., ROOT
• Sunday: Rockies’ Christian Bergman (3-4, 5.29) at Dodgers’ Zack Greinke (16-8, 2.74), 2:10 p.m., ROOT
• End of season
