MLB: That Unexpected & Big TURNABOUT (Colorado Rockies); the Week's Standings.

FOR more analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com. SPORTS NOTEBOOK posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of each week. Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner) . . . /// . . . MLB---WHILE the 56-64 Colorado Rockies chances for a playoff billet are probably dead, the team definitely IS NOT. After losing nine of 10 straight games, the Colorado Rockies BROOMED MLB’s current National League number two ballclub, the 70-47 Pittsburgh Pirates, on August 9 the score being 10-1, on August 10, 6-4, August 11, 3-2; then, on August 12, the Rockies humiliated the San Diego Padres with a second double-digit lead and its best winning score all season, 14-2. The Rockies moved suddenly from NL West fourth place and 13 games behind to third place and 12 behind. Noteworthy is that the turnabout was from nearly an entire team instead of from a select stronger and suddenly more skillful few: a batting order including 2B D.J. LaMahieu; SS Troy Tulowitzki, RF Michael Cuddyer, 1B Todd Helton, C Wiln Rosario, 3B Nolan Arenado, others, all contributing to games won primarily from being base-runners and having a much lower preentage of runners left in scoring psiiton than that which has characterized many a losing Rockies game; plus Rockies starting pitchers who were feared to be regressing toward levels beneath mediocrity rose since August 9 to their better days, lowering their ERA’s, among them, Jorge DeLaRosa, Jhoulys Chacin. So, exactly how did these Rockies spiral upward so suddenly “and fantastically,” accumulating 33 runs in four days, on average more than eight runs scored per game, when from July 30 until August 9 it appeared that they had no juice left? Maybe the great Yogi Berra’s comment that a batter can’t hit a baseball and think at the same time applies here. In other words, the Rockies ought just go afield and play, not think about what constitutes winning or losing, JUST PLAY! Meanwhile, the Rockies GM, other front office execs and fans (those outside the arena where most of the credit for winning is really due), they can ponder why those nine of 10 losses occurred, why since April the Rockies haven’t had more wins than losses. Okay, the Rockies are under .500 still, they are at .466 today, therefore the Rockies leading the NL West by late September can only be in the cards from an unlikely and long (very long) winning streak, plus other NL West teams losing a big share of their remaining contests. This said, the last few days of Rockies play reminds of a fact about Nascar and Formula One motor races, where quite often the most interesting, most enjoyable racing competition is from the cars at the back end, from those behind by what seems an infinite number of laps. Rockies fans can still shout “Go, Rockies, Go!” without feeling that defeat will always be in the air, anyway "not at 5280" . . . /// . . . MLB STANDINGS--- NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST: WHILE second place team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, dropped from being in first place approximately one month ago and is now seven games behind first, the now 67-50 Los Angeles Dodgers rose to first by winning 13 games, now tied at third place within the greater NL alongside the NL Central’s 67-50 St. Louis Cardinals. Unexpectedly, and against expectations, is last year’s World Series winning team, the 52-65 San Francisco Giants, now in last place, having gone from six games behind first a month ago to 15 behind today. . . NL CENTRAL: From second place around one month ago, the today 70-47 Pittsburgh Pirates ascended to first position and has a three game lead over the Cardinals, four above third place team, the 66-52 Cincinnati Reds. . . NL EAST: Here it’s the 72-47 Atlanta Braves (best in both leagues by one run above the American League East’s leading club, the Boston Red Sox), a month ago six games above second place team, the Washington Nationals. The Braves now have a 14 game lead, the steepest over a second place club in either league. . . . AL WEST: One month ago, it was the now 67-50 Oakland Athletics leading second place team, the Texas Rangers, by one game, and this has reversed, the 69-50 Rangers are now ahead of the Athletics by two wins, with third place team, the L.A. Angels, behind the Rangers by 13 games. . . AL CENTRAL: Around July 12, the now 69-48 Detroit Tigers led with one game above second place team, the Cleveland Indians. This advanced to today’s six game Detroit lead over the 62-54 Kansas City Royals, the Indians now at third position from seven games back. . . AL EAST: One month ago, the now 71-49 Red Sox ruled, three games above the Tampa Bay Rays, and that hasn’t changed much, the Rays now 66-50 and one above the 65-52 Baltimore Orioles, the latter now five wins behind the Red Sox. . . About all that can be said about this is that for most division first and second place teams of the past month, status hasn’t changed dramatically, and that among last month’s third place teams the ascension surprise has been the AL Central’s Royals moving to second position. END/ml