If you sweep the hottest team in baseball, does that then make you the hottest team in baseball?
In the case of the Colorado Rockies, you better believe it because they swept the Oakland A’s at home in three games. The same A’s that came into the series on a 28-7 run since the middle of June. Now, it’s the Rockies that have suddenly won 19 out of 24.
They did it with pitching. Over the three games, Rockies pitchers allowed just four runs while the offense put up 10. The three starters — Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela, and German Marquez — all did their job while the bullpen held the lead in all three games.
On offense, a handful of guys stepped up and powered their way through the A’s rotation. In game one, Nolan Arenado hit a bomb off of Sean Manaea into the left field stands.
Nolan Arenado blasts his 100th Career home run at Coors Field and the Rockies take a 3-0 lead over the A's. We head to the 6th on @ATTSportsNetRM. #Rockies25th pic.twitter.com/80KHFggpaj
— AT&T SportsNet™ | RM (@ATTSportsNetRM) July 28, 2018
Then, in game two, the Rockies fought back against an early deficit (their only one of the series) with a run-scoring triple from backup catcher Tom Murphy.
The force is with Tom Murphy tonight as he hits his first career triple to tie up the ballgame! Rox lead the A's 2-1 in the 3rd on @ATTSportsNetRM #Rockies25th pic.twitter.com/xncs0OGKT6
— AT&T SportsNet™ | RM (@ATTSportsNetRM) July 29, 2018
And then Nolan did his thing again. He saw a pitch from Brett Anderson on the outside of the plate and went the other way with it, slapping the ball juuust into the right field stands.
FIRE UP THE LIGHTSABERS!! Nolan Arenado hits his NL leading 27th HR of the year! #Rockies25th pic.twitter.com/QC46Hx1JyX
— AT&T SportsNet™ | RM (@ATTSportsNetRM) July 29, 2018
On Sunday, when they were on their way to the sweep, Tom Murphy came through again and hit a laser beam that snuck over the wall in center field.
Tom Murphy puts the @Rockies up 2-0 with his 2nd HR of the season. Tune in to @ATTSportsNetRM as the Rockies try to finish the sweep! pic.twitter.com/ddnDcpDXpc
— AT&T SportsNet™ | RM (@ATTSportsNetRM) July 29, 2018
The A’s tried to salvage the third game with a pair of homers from Khris Davis and Matt Chapman, but the Rockies closed it out and swept the A’s all the way back to Oakland. Just another Denver team beating a team from Oakland, shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.
Holding the A’s to just four runs in a hitter’s park was no small feat. Even after this last weekend, the A’s are sixth overall in total runs scored (and they play in a pitcher’s park). The Rockies pitching is coming together at the right time, with the starters and the pen in perfect unison, and it’s resulting in a hot streak that’s on par with the ’07 and ’09 Rockies that both made the playoffs.
Right now, Colorado is just a game back in the NL West. Bring on the Cardinals.
