ATLANTA — As far as Major League Baseball teams go, the Rockies don’t have a national profile by any means. Reliever Adam Ottavino pointed out in July — while Colorado was turning in the hottest month by any team — that “for the most part, nobody watches our games in the Eastern time zone, and we barely exist outside the region.”
But America should start taking notice of what people inside the game have grasped leading up to, and since, the all-star break.
With a 5-1 road trip capped by the franchise’s first-ever four-game road sweep of the Braves on Sunday, the Rockies are 30-14 since June 28, a .682 winning percentage that is the best in the National League. The club also tied an NL record Sunday by playing its 46th consecutive game against a team with a better-than-.500 record, and Colorado improved to 30-16 in that stretch.
“I hear from the other managers, the coaches, the broadcasters — it’s a theme of, ‘Hey, you guys have got a good team,’ ” manager Bud Black said. “The guys know that, and I think people in the game are watching.”
BOX SCORE: Rockies 4, Braves 2
After Friday’s runaway victory was bookended by dramatic comeback victories Thursday and Saturday, the Rockies outlasted Atlanta 4-2 in the series finale at SunTrust Park behind two solo home runs, a couple of timely RBI knocks and an efficient outing by German Marquez.
It was a win in which the still-imperfect Rockies, while clinching their fifth sweep, inched closer to playing up to high preseason expectations.
“Talking doesn’t get it done. It’s the way that me and the guys are playing right now that does,” Nolan Arenado said. “We’re playing well right now. Everyone’s contributing — starting pitching, defense, offense, and with our offense we can even still do a better job. But we’re finding a way, and our pitchers are keeping us in games.
“We knew we could do this — what we’re doing right now.”
The Braves struck first with two outs in the first, an inning that has plagued the Rockies’ staff this season. In addition to a major league-worst 7.62 staff ERA in the frame, Marquez’s season ERA in the first is 9.72 as compared to 3.30 in all other innings.
On this occasion, Freddie Freeman’ double and Nick Markakis’ walk were followed by a Johan Camargo RBI single to give Atlanta a brief 1-0 lead until the first hitter of the second.
At that time, Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, who came into the game with an NL-best .352 average (56-for-159) since June 28, continued his all-star season against Atlanta starter Aníbal Sánchez with home run No. 26 to lead off the frame.
The Rockies then took the lead in the third inning, when DJ LeMahieu clubbed his career high-tying 11th longball of the season (and ninth on the road) before a David Dahl hustle double and an Arenado RBI single extended Colorado’s advantage to 3-1.
And after yielding the typical first-inning damage, Marquez settled in, allowing only one Braves baserunner from the second through fifth innings while striking out four in that span.
“My mentality was to attack, and attack relentlessly, and put them away as quickly as possible,” said Marquez, who threw only 93 pitches and worked ahead against 21 of 28 batters faced. “That was the formula. That’s an aggressive ballclub that swings early in the count, and I was loyal to my plan.”
Atlanta got a run back in the sixth inning off another Camargo RBI, cutting the score to 3-2, but Marquez rebounded with a scoreless seventh before manager Bud Black handed the lead over to the bullpen.
“It was a bit lengthy first inning from German, but then the ball-strike ratio was great,” Black said. “He had good use of the slider, the fastball, the change — he had his weapons today, and he continues to pitch steady for us.”
From there, Ottavino locked down the eighth inning and Wade Davis earned his NL-leading 35th save in the ninth. In between, Carlos Gonzalez came on for a pinch-hit, RBI single to push the score to 4-2.
Entering Sunday, Colorado was half a game behind Arizona in the NL West and 1½ games ahead of Los Angeles, after both divisional foes lost Saturday. The Diamondbacks played at San Diego on Sunday, and the Dodgers were at Seattle.
Looking ahead
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Padres LHP Robbie Erlin (2-3, 3.33 ERA) at Rockies LHP Tyler Anderson (6-5, 4.39), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
Wednesday: Padres RHP Jacob Nix (1-1, 6.75) at Rockies RHP Jon Gray (9-7, 4.76), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
Thursday: Padres LHP Joey Lucchesi (6-7, 3.79) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (11-7, 2.96), 1:10 p.m., ATTRM
Friday: Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (13-3, 2.80) at Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela (4-3, 4.47), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
