Inside Sports

BY DAVID MARTIN

Take a look at the 2011 National League West champions. The Arizona Diamondbacks.

When the Colorado Rockies and Diamondbacks christened their new spring training facility in late February, the talk wasn’t about the local team having a chance to be good, it was all about the retooled Rockies and the depth that they possessed that would guide them to their first NL West championship.

Most predicted that Arizona would finish in fourth place, having improved their bullpen, but not making enough of a change to really gain too much ground.

What no one factored in was the most important element. Heart.

Guided by Kirk Gibson, a leader who manages the same way that he played, with energy and scrapiness, the D-Backs have played above their talent level, and with their recent winning streak, they are now sitting six games ahead of the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants.

Arizona, no doubt has been energized by the Rockies essentially failing to show up.

The party was planned for this Colorado team to be celebrating its first NL West title way back in February, but the team forgot to make the necessary arrangements for that party to actually happen.

The Diamondbacks saw the opportunity to steal the show, and they have done exactly that. It looked like it was going to be a two-horse race between Arizona and San Francisco down to the wire, but right now the scene looks more like a Diamondback team that has a tight-fisted grip on the race and has no intention of loosening.

The disappointment for the Rockies is celebration for the Diamondbacks. The Rockies should take note. With far less talent than the Rockies, and certainly the Giants, the Diamondbacks don’t give in to anyone. They find ways to move runners over, they make great defensive plays and their pitchers find ways to get guys out. They play with a confidence and a swagger that they have something to prove.

The Rockies went into the season thinking that changing one thing would instantly result in a division title. They thought that coming out of the gate strong would solve their issues. As soon as they got over the April hump, they looked as if they thought they could put it on cruise control and win enough games.

Instead, the other teams in the division didn’t roll over. They got to work. Those other teams started gunning for the Rockies, and they got them because Colorado wasn’t on top of its game.

The Rockies willingly gave away their division title, and the Diamondbacks are taking advantage.

BY DAVID MARTIN

Baseball is a business.

Nothing will remind the average fan of that like news that no fewer than 17 teams had scouts in the stands watching Ubaldo Jimenez.

As rumors swirl about the ace, he insists he will go about his business in the exact same way that he always has. He proved that to be true on Tuesday night as he completely dominated the Atlanta Braves. Behind six runs of support in the first three innings, the subject of trade rumors pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits. He struck out nine and walked just two. The final part of that line being the most important.

When Jimenez is ahead in the count, he is able to mix in all of his pitches. When he is behind in the count, he is forced to throw his fastball, which doesn’t have the same life that it did in 2010. Throwing fastballs being down in the count is a recipe for disaster for any pitcher. Jimenez has done a great job in his last three starts of staying ahead in the count.

Make no mistake, despite what some national baseball experts are saying, the Rockies are not actively shopping Jimenez.

This is the same team that has been extremely hesitant to deal the likes of Eric Young Jr. and Chris Nelson because they want to see what they can do at the Major League level. There is no way that with a team-friendly contract like Jimenez is locked into, the club is going to deal him because his velocity is down and he isn’t having the best season.

The only reason that Jimenez will be dealt is if the Rockies know something about the right-hander’s health that no one else does. If there is something that would suggest to them that he will never regain his previous form, and on top of that, he will continue to regress and possibly suffer a major injury.

That said, if the Rockies do deal Jimenez, fans should be upset at the loss of their first-ever true ace, but they should know that the return that they get for the Dominican will be so good that the club could not refuse the offer. It will go a long way to help the depth issues that the team has been experiencing for the first time in the past few seasons.

At this point, it is easy to forget how good Jimenez can be. Frankly, he is a major reason why the Rockies won’t be playing in October. In a season full of expectations, Jimenez was the first sign of trouble for the club, as he just didn’t seem right in the opener.

However, if Jimenez doesn’t have an injury that no one is making public, the Rockies should be very hesitant to deal him. Even with his velocity way down, he is still very effective at 95 mph, with a great curveball.

In short, the Rockies might be tempted to deal Jimenez. If they do, it will be tough to see him go, but the Rockies are smart enough, and hesitant enough, to make sure that they get a deal that they can’t refuse if they did choose to move him.

BY DAVID MARTIN

Jason Hammel wound up, made the turn, pulled the ball out of his glove, and then stopped. That’s right. He just stopped. Home plate umpire Sam Holbrook then made the easiest balk call of his career.

With two outs in third inning, runners at second and third base, and Indians DH Travis Hafner down to his final strike, Hammel committed the most embarrassing moment of his career. He forgot what pitch he was throwing, and simply stopped midway through his pitch, allowing Cleveland to score its second run of the night.

It wouldn’t have been as big of a deal, had the Rockies not used the bat of Ty Wigginton to put them within one run. However, after Wigginton homered twice in the game, he couldn’t get a base hit off of Indians closer Chris Perez with Seth Smith on second base to tie the game up.

The run that Hammel allowed to score ended up being the difference. Isn’t that the way it always works?

Regardless, the Rockies won another series. They won a series against a first place team, on the road. Two of those wins were one-run wins. That is a huge step in the right direction. These Rockies are taking steps forward, regardless of their difficult schedule.

Make no mistake, the road ahead does not get any easier for the Rockies. They head into New York to play the Yankees, and frankly, they didn’t get the best draw when it comes to pitching matchups. On Friday night, the Rockies send Ubaldo Jimenez to the mound to face AJ Burnett. New York may have wanted to run Burnett out of town last season, but he has had a resurgence in 2011, he is currently 7-5 with a 4.05 ERA, a far better mark than the 5.26 ERA he posted a season ago. Jimenez, as anyone who follows the Rockies knows, is nowhere near the Jimenez who started the All-Star Game for the National League in 2010. He has shown flashes of the old Jimenez, but his 2-7 record with a 4.68 ERA isn’t anything close to what the Rockies were expecting from him.

Saturday features Aaron Cook vs. CC Sabathia. Hoping for a Rockies victory in that game, given the way Cook has looked since returning from injury, and frankly, since his appearance in the 2008 All-Star Game, gives the Rockies little hope against the perennial Cy Young candidate.

Sunday will see potentially the most winnable game for the Rox. They send Juan Nicasio to the mound to face Ivan Nova of the Yankees. If Nicasio is able to pitch with the stuff that he showed in his first two starts, the Rockies offense may be able to get to Nova to get a chance for the win.

The Rockies look to win their fourth series in a row at Yankee Stadium, and may have a chance to do just that if they are able to use the short porch in right field to score runs off of the New York starters.

BY DAVID MARTIN

Has the page finally turned? Did the Colorado Rockies finally get that big hit that will open the flood gates to the rest of the big hits that they will get for the rest of the season?

On Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park the Rockies looked like a completely different team then they did through the first eight games of the road trip, and frankly, a different team then they have been since they were the best team in the majors with a record of 11-2.

With two runners in scoring position in the top of the ninth inning, Troy Tulowitzki stepped to the plate against a guy who has had his number. Heath Bell had held the Rockies superstar hitless in 14 career at-bats. Apparently, the 15th time is the charm. Tulo ripped a fastball over the drawn-in infield, scoring both runs and giving the Rockies a 5-3 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.

It was the exact moment when most Rockies fans figured something bad was going to happen. It has gotten that bad for the Rockies that the best player on the team would be coming up with the winning run 90 feet away and there is no hope for victory. However, contrary to the common feeling, Tulowitzki pulled through and gave the Rockies a decent road trip, despite their lackluster offense.

Tulowitzki has to be the guy. He must be the leader who comes through in clutch situations. This team belongs to him, and he must find a way to put the club on his shoulders when they are struggling like they have over the past six weeks. He took a big step toward that on Wednesday, not giving in to a high-profile closer, not giving in to his career against Bell, and not believing that the Rockies were not the better team.

With Tulowitzki taking home top honors for his clutch performance, don’t forget Todd Helton. The almost-38-year-old has officially found the fountain of youth. After the Aaron Cook gave up a second-inning run, it was tough to not think that the game was over with the way the Rockies had been swinging the bats.

However, Helton provided a huge lift in the next half inning, one-handing an inside pitch down the right field line for a game-tying homer. It was Helton’s eighth. That is not a huge number by any standards, but considering it matches his total for 2010, it says something. Not only is Helton able to drive the ball out of the park better than he has in the past few years, he simply continues to hit and take good at-bats. On Wednesday he went 4-for-4 with the home run and two doubles. He scored three runs.

Sometimes in baseball, one at-bat can spring a resurgence. Sometimes struggles have nothing to do with physical actions, but become so mental that they compound on themselves. Those types of struggles take one game, or one at-bat to turn around. It takes one or two guys who fight through that mentality and carry a team to victory. That is what Helton and Tulowitzki did on Wednesday. Whether that carries over to tomorrow is yet to be determined.

A tip of the cap has to go to Aaron Cook, who looked solid in his return to the mound. He gave up three earned runs in less than six innings, but was good enough to keep his team in the game. That is all that can be asked of a guy who hasn’t thrown a Major League pitch since September.