28
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY JULY 22 2009
Rockies edge out Diamondbacks
MLB
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER — On May 29, Jorge De La Rosa and the Colorado Rockies were in a free fall. On Monday night, they were the NL wild-card leaders.
What a difference nearly two months makes.
De La Rosa pitched seven strong innings in his fifth straight win and drove in two runs, helping the Rockies defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-6.
"We're being chased now," said Rockies manager Jim Tracy, who took over when Clint Hurdle was fired after an 18-28 start.
Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ryan Roberts, left, and Colorado Rockies' Dexter Fowler look for the call after Fowler stole second base in the fourth inning of a baseball game in Denver Monday. The Rockies defeated the Diamondbacks 10-6.
After Tracy took over, the Rockies slipped to 20-32 before going on an 11-game winning streak. They are now nine-games over .500 (51-42), and have taken a half-game lead on San Francisco, who lost to Atlanta, for the wild card.
The team's revival has paralleled De La Rosa's resurgence. The left-hander started the season 0-6 but has
"With the guys we had coming out of spring training, we could have been doing this from the very beginning," second baseman Clint Barmes said. "It's just nice that it came around. I definitely think we have something special here."
gone 7-1 since. On Monday, he gave up one run on four hits, struck out six and walked one. He had a career-high two hits. "I think my control is much better and I have much better command of my fastball," said De La Rosa (7-7).
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He kept the Diamondbacks in check while the Rockies offense jumped on Arizona starter Doug Davis.
The Diamondbacks scored two in the eighth off of reliever Joel Peralta, and Stephen Drew hit a two-run homer off of Manuel Corpas in Arizona's three-run ninth.
It wasn't enough to keep the Rockies from moving into the NL wild card lead.