NL West: Rockies becoming the hitmen of baseball

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07/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's all about making the 'hits' in organized crime.

In Major League Baseball, producing hits is what usually wins games and the Colorado Rockies have been whacking opposing pitchers on their four-game winning streak. The Rockies had a season-high 19 hits in Tuesday's win over St. Louis and have at least 11 in seven straight games.

Colorado (47-38) has popped off a grisly 94 hits on its current 10-game homestand in which it sports a 6-1 mark. The Rockies recorded at least 12 hits in a franchise-best six straight games before posting JUST 11 in Thursday's victory over the Cardinals to cap a three-game sweep.

Jason Giambi got into the act with a 4-for-4 performance to help Cy Young candidate Ubaldo Jimenez to his MLB-leading 15th win of the season last night.

"We were just battling and trying to put the ball in play," Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez told the team's site. "Giambi had a great game, and we all did a bit of everything to win this game."

Gonzalez leads the team in hits, while Jimenez continued his rampage through the league. The strong right-hander, who hasn't lost since May 9 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, has won a team-record nine straight decisions over his last 11 starts to go along with a 2.97 earned run average. Jimenez is the first pitcher to head into the All-Star break with 15 victories since David Wells in 2000, and the first in the NL hurler since Greg Maddux in 1988. He is 15-1 with a 2.20 ERA in 18 starts in 2010.

The Rockies, however, won't have their ace for a very important three-game home series with the National League West-leading San Diego Padres. Instead, Colorado, which is three games behind the Padres in the division standings, is slated to send out Jorge De La Rosa, Jason Hammel and Jeff Francis. De La Rosa has been on the disabled list since late April with a torn left middle finger tendon and is 3-1 with a 3.91 ERA in four starts this season.

De La Rosa is slated to take the hill Friday night and is just 1-2 in 11 career games (7 starts) against San Diego.

SURGING GIANTS TO GET A TASTE OF STRASBURG

The mania that is Stephen Strasburg will resume tonight, this time against the San Francisco Giants in the nation's capital.

San Francisco's four-game winning streak and hopes of making ground in the NL West will be put to the test against the flame-throwing Washington rookie. After beating up on also-rans, the Giants are ready for some heat.

"I'm going to try to be aggressive," Giants outfielder Andres Torres said. "Sometimes I try to be more patient. But with guys like him, who come with the fastball, I'm not going to think too much. Just let it go."

The Giants (45-40) have been letting themselves go on a season-long 11-game road trip and followed a 15-2 win at Milwaukee on Wednesday with a 9-3 triumph last night to complete the first-ever four-game sweep in Brew City. They outscored the Brewers, 36-7, in the series and like what they see so far from young catcher Buster Posey. Posey busted out six RBI and two homers, including a grand slam in the recent 13-run victory over Milwaukee.

"It was a lot of fun," Posey said after the game.

San Francisco first baseman Aubrey Huff is having some fun too, as he leads the ballclub in hits (88), home runs (17), RBI (54) and slugging percentage (.556). He is on pace to become the first Giants player to hit 30 homers in a season since long ball king Barry Bonds slugged 45 out of the park in 2004.

In medical news, Giants infielder Juan Uribe missed his third straight start with an injured left ring finger and could be back into the lineup soon. He is hitting .251 with 12 homers and 46 RBI for the Giants, who are five games off San Diego's lead in the NL West and 5-3 on the 11-game road swing.

CONSISTENCY KEEPING PADRES ATOP NL WEST

It's obvious and very difficult to do, but consistent pitching from both the rotation and bullpen along with great hitting generally lead to success.

Padres manager Bud Black has been fortunate to get all three this season, as San Diego continues to lead the National League West heading into the final weekend before the All-Star break.

"The consistency has sort of been a benchmark of this team," Black said on the club's site. "Right now we have -- with the exception of a couple of guys on the disabled list -- the best players in the organization. The starting rotation has been extremely steady. The bullpen has remained extremely steady. I do think our batting averages, individually, will climb in the second half."

Black's bunch is first in the majors in pitching with a team earned run average of 3.11, first with a 2.80 ERA among relievers, but hitting is down with a .249 average. Adrian Gonzalez is the leader at the plate with a .300 batting average, 17 home runs and 54 RBI. Will Venable is no slouch either with eight homers and 32 runs batted in, but is on the disabled list.

Tony Gwynn is also hurting because of a bruised left heel and David Eckstein hasn't seen action since July 6 at Washington. Eckstein has not committed an error this season, the only infielder in the big leagues to have not recorded an error with at least 60 games played this season.

The Padres (50-35) may get them back into the lineup tonight, when they pay a visit to the Colorado Rockies for an important three-game series at Coors Field. They have won four of six and 11 of the past 17 games, and sit three games ahead of both Los Angeles and Colorado in the division standings. The Rockies took two of three matchups with San Diego from June 28-30.

LA'S FURCAL CONTINUES TO CARRY TEAM

After having a 10-game hitting streak cut short, Dodgers All-Star snub Rafael Furcal was able to bounce back and lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to victory last night in the opener of a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs.

Furcal, who went 3-for-3 with the go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning, entered the night ranked second in the National League in average (.429), on-base percentage (.509), hits (24) and first in both runs (17) and RBI (15) since June 24. The current NL Player of the Week solidified his great surge with Thursday's clutch home run off Cubs youngster Randy Wells.

"It was something right in the middle," Furcal said. "I go to home plate looking for something I can hit, I don't look for fastball anything, breaking ball. Just try to see something in the middle and drive it. I didn't even know it was out, I knew I hit it hard. My main thing is push a little bit so that the ball gets fair at least."

The strong-armed shortstop hasn't treated opposing pitchers fairly, but the Dodgers (47-38) don't care since they're in the thick of an NL West race. Los Angeles is currently tied with Colorado at three games behind the division- leading San Diego Padres. LA has won two of three and seven of its last 10 games and received good news on slugger Manny Ramirez.

Ramirez, who's on the disabled list with a right hamstring strain, is scheduled to start a rehab assignment with Class A Inland Empire this weekend. According to the Dodgers' website, manager Joe Torre preferred Ramirez to rehab with Triple-A Albuquerque like he did after his 50-game suspension, but said the decision is up to him.

Injured catcher Brad Ausmus completed his first rehab assignment with Inland Empire on Wednesday. It was his first action since undergoing back surgery in April. The Dodgers already have Russell Martin behind the plate, but it doesn't hurt to have a solid, and healthy, backup.

D'BACKS STILL ALL SMILES WITH YOUNG, MONTERO

With a fresh face in the dugout in skipper Kirk Gibson, the Arizona Diamondbacks have turned a new leaf. Even though it's a change in the desert, there are still a few players who are sticking with their old ways.

Take catcher Miguel Montero as an example. Montero has reached base safely with a hit or walk over his last 19 games, and is heating up after missing 57 games because of surgery to repair a torn knee ligament.

All-Star outfielder Chris Young keeps piling on the numbers during the best start of his career, and has collected 59 runs batted in through the team's first 85 contests. He leads the Diamondbacks in that category and is on pace for a career-best 112 RBI. He had 85 RBI in 2008.

Montero and Young are improving their numbers despite not playing last night, while former staff ace Brandon Webb is just trying to feel normal again. The 2006 NL Cy Young Award winner finished another bullpen session this week and is aiming for a complete turnaround since having right shoulder surgery last August.

"[Tuesday] was a huge step forward," Webb told the team's site. "I felt like the ball was coming out really good. It was quite a long time and the intensity was the biggest thing yesterday being able to bump that up. By far it was the best I've thrown to date."

Before he can face live hitters in batting practice or toss a simulated game, Webb must get in at least two more bullpen sessions before that happens. The Diamondbacks could use some help in the rotation and began the final stretch of their 10-game homestand with Thursday's win over Florida in the opener of a four-game series at Chase Field.

The D'Backs (33-53) are 20 games below .500, last in the NL West Division and just 2-5 on the current residency.