Colorado Rockies manager Jim Tracy juggled his lineup Sunday with Phillies left-hander J.A. Happ on the mound instead of Pedro Martinez.

Tracy benched All-Star right fielder Brad Hawpe, who has slumped over the second half of the season, and replaced him with Ryan Spilborghs for Game 3, which was bumped back a night because of a snowstorm.

Tracy also moved catcher Yorvit Torrealba up two spots to fifth in the order, hoping to put his hottest bat behind Todd Helton and Troy Tulowitzki, who have yet to get into an offensive groove in this best-of-five series.

Torrealba, a career .255 hitter, said he had never batted fifth in the order.

Click here to read the full article – By ARNIE STAPLETON of phillyburbs.com

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Todd Helton is the Rockies. For more than a decade, he has achieved a level of consistency and durability no other Colorado player has ever equaled.


As the Rockies open their National League division series today against the Phillies, Helton will be at first base and in the third spot in the lineup.

If shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is the franchise, Helton is the fixture.

“We all look to Todd,” outfielder Brad Hawpe said.

In aging, Helton has evolved, as a player and as a leader. At 36, he’s not the breathless slugger who can change a game with one swing. Helton’s value has changed with him. Where he benefits the Rockies most is not in statistics but rather in the dugout and in the clubhouse.


Click here to read the full article – By Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post

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The Rockies lost so many games the first two months that they lost their manager. They won so many games over the final four months that they nearly won the National League West. All that matters now is what’s up next. The playoff picture is in focus.

The Phillies are the defending World Series champions, a distinction that came a year too late for their tastes. The Rockies broomed Philadelphia in the 2007 playoffs, an embarrassment that Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins conceded provided motivation last season.

This time around, the Phillies are favored again, largely because of their starting rotation, led by lefties Cliff Lee and World Series MVP Cole Hamels. One, probably Lee, will start Wednesday, followed by the other.

The Rockies are a pedestrian 27-26 when facing a left-handed starter this season and 8-16 on the road. Lee and J.A. Happ, a potential Saturday starter, defeated the Rockies at Citizens Bank Park in August.

Click here to read the full article – By Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post

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Perhaps forgotten in the madness of the Rockies’ latest chapter of LoDo magic was the performance of starter Jason Marquis.

Going into Tuesday night’s game against the Brewers, he was lost. But he just might have found himself with six resourceful innings of pitching.

“I would be lying if I said I didn’t have any doubts,” Marquis said about his state of mind entering Tuesday’s game. “Any human being who goes through struggles will have doubts. Hopefully you don’t bring them out to the mound.”

But Marquis appeared to have been doing just that of late. In each of his three previous starts, he went out hunting for his career-high 16th victory. But each time he got blown out, going 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA.


Click here to read the full article – By Patrick Saunders of denverpost.com

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Troy Tulowitzki is on pace to have one of the best seasons ever by a shortstop.

That brilliant campaign notched another highlight last week, and it led to yet another one on Monday, when — thanks in large part to a home run streak that put him in rarefied air — the Rockies’ infielder was named National League Player of the Week, presented by Bank of America.

Tulowitzki homered in four consecutive games from Tuesday-Saturday, becoming the first shortstop to accomplish that feat since Miguel Tejada did it in 2005. Also, the 24-year-old hit .391 (9-for-23) last week, and his four homers and eight runs scored tied for the Major League lead.


Click here to read the full article – By Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com

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Tuesday was Rockies right fielder Brad Hawpe’s night to reflect and recharge.


He did not play in the Rockies’ 10-2 loss to the Giants. The presence of Barry Zito on the mound and Hawpe’s own hitting slump — he is hitting .242 since appearing in the All-Star Game and has managed one RBI in September — made giving Hawpe the night off a feasible move for manager Jim Tracy.

As he relaxed in a hallway near the Rockies’ dugout before Tuesday’s game, Hawpe said he would think positive thoughts. The Rockies need for Hawpe to have his mind and his swing in the right place. He’ll likely return to the lineup Wednesday as the Rockies try to avoid being swept for the second time in three weeks by the Giants, their closest competition in the National League Wild Card race. The Rockies lead the Giants by 2 1/2 games.


Click here to read the full article – By Thomas Harding of MLB.com

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The most successful 10-game homestand in Rockies history finished with third baseman Garrett Atkins finally having a chance to feel at home.


Atkins’ two-run homer in the third inning Thursday afternoon was his first at Coors Field in nearly five months. It was part of a five-run inning that helped the National League Wild Card-leading Rockies to their seventh consecutive victory, 5-1 over the Reds.

Before facing the Mets, D-backs and Reds at Coors, the Rockies had been swept in three road games against the Giants to extend their losing streak to five games. But they won 9-of-10 against their lower-division visitors, and finished by sweeping the D-backs in three and the Reds in four. Now they own a 4 1/2-game Wild Card lead over the Giants and are two back of the NL West-leading Dodgers.


Click here to read the full article – By Thomas Harding of MLB.com

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No longer are the Rockies talking about chasing the Dodgers.

After winning three of four at home against the Giants, the Rockies set their ambitions on catching the Dodgers in the National League West race. But after a five-game losing streak during which they dropped two at home to the Dodgers and absorbed a three-game weekend sweep at the hands of the Giants, the Rockies find themselves tied with the Giants atop the NL Wild Card standings.

Click here to read the full article – By Thomas Harding of MLB.com

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Ryan Spilborghs watched the flight of the ball as he ran to first base, but once it landed into the Rockies bullpen, he raised his arms in celebration and jetted around the bases — literally. After rounding halfway past third base, he threw his helmet off toward the Rockies dugout and jumped on home plate into the waiting arms of his celebrating teammates.


Spilborghs hit the first walk-off grand slam in Rockies history, his second career grand slam and his first walk-off homer in the 14th inning to squeak by the Giants, 6-4, Monday in front of about half of the 27,670 paid fans who remained at Coors Field.

Click here to read the full article – By Cheng Sio of MLB.com

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Rockies first baseman Todd Helton has played through many a Trade Deadline, a few of which saw his team practically bark, “Contracts! Contracts! Get your big contracts here!”

In the last week, he saw the Rockies taste — well, nibble — at how the rich live. “It’s good to be on the buying side, there’s no doubt about that,” Helton said. Well, we’re talking the cost-conscious Rockies in a 2009 Major League economy. In comparison to big-market teams, the Rockies didn’t open the bank account. But all of that is relative.

Click here to read the full article – By Thomas Harding of MLB.com

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