NewsCook helps keep Rockies' streak alive
Colorado ties record with eighth straight road victory
By JR Radcliffe / Special to MLB.com
06/11/09 7:18 PM ET
MILWAUKEE -- When the 1997 Rockies won eight straight road games, it came as part of a stellar April and 21-9 record to start the year.The team's worst baseball was ahead, and Colorado dipped as low as 10 games below .500 before surfacing for an 83-79 finish to the year.
The 2009 Rockies are trying to run that tactic in reverse, perhaps with a more optimistic final outcome in mind. Colorado matched the club record for consecutive road victories and put the finishing touches on an uplifting three-city trip with its eighth straight victory Thursday, a 5-4 win over the Brewers.
"I can't even tell you what a road trip that is, to sit here and have won eight games in a row," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "Seven in a row between St. Louis and Milwaukee -- that's not easy to do. They deserve an awful lot of credit. We've played 37 road games already. Having done that, the important thing for us is to get back home and get our house in order. We're a much better baseball team at home than 9-14."
The Rockies (28-32) appeared on their way to a long season when they fell to 20-32 on June 3. Since then, the team's starting pitching has gone on a club-record run by earning decisions in all eight straight victories, with Aaron Cook working through the latest gem in the series finale at Miller Park.
Cook (5-3) allowed one run in six-plus innings, notching a season-high seven strikeouts in the process.
"When you see Aaron Cook start, and with three of the first four hitters, the ball's on the ground, that's a really good sign that it has a chance to be a very productive day for him," Tracy said. "He just ran out of gas in the seventh, that's all."
Cook's lone hiccup happened in the seventh, when he loaded the bases on two singles and a walk with nobody out. Corey Hart laced a pinch-hit sacrifice fly against reliever Matt Daley, but no further damage came across as the Rockies held to a 3-1 lead. Joel Peralta struck out Ryan Braun with the bases loaded, delivering a crucial late-inning strikeout for the second consecutive night.
"I sweated quite a bit today," Cook said. "It's a day game, and I just started to run out of gas. I got a couple balls up to the first hitters and couldn't really find the strike zone to [Jason] Kendall. [Tracy] did a good job of getting the right guys in, and the bullpen did a great job of picking me up today."
The bullpen had its tense moments, however. Colorado stranded runners on third base in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, then allowed three runs in the ninth with two outs. After the bullpen's scoreless-innings streak reached 13, Huston Street was summoned when Randy Flores put two runners on with one out in the ninth. Braun lined a three-run homer to left, and Prince Fielder walked before Street struck out Mat Gamel to end the game.
Street now has saves in each of the team's past four games, and 12 overall.
"We had a couple of awful sticky situations in the seventh, and then obviously it got very interesting in the ninth," Tracy said. "Just like last night, we made some huge pitches in a couple of big situations in that game. Braun, it looked to me, hit a really good pitch, and then [Street] really used his head with Prince Fielder, because you certainly don't want Prince Fielder to tie the game in that situation."
Troy Tulowitzki blistered a run-scoring double in the sixth against reliever Todd Coffey, and Paul Phillips provided what turned out to be the winning runs on a two-run single in the eighth, making it 5-1 at the time. Ian Stewart reached base and scored three times, including a leadoff home run in the fourth against Yovani Gallardo (6-3) to make it 2-0.
"It's hard to expect to win eight in a row, but we definitely are a team capable of doing it," Stewart said. "Our pitching has been unbelievable these last eight days. Timely hitting with runners in scoring position, keeping innings alive. Everything has kind of been going our way. We know we can be this good, so we just have to continue to play this way."
Stewart's home run came on a fastball from Gallardo, who left the game with more than 100 pitches in five innings. It marked the second straight game Colorado had driven the opposing starter's pitch count beyond the century mark through five.
"The later he gets into games, the stronger he gets," Stewart said. "Once we saw his pitch count, we were trying to see some more pitches, get his pitch count up and then hopefully get into his bullpen before he passes the fifth inning."
Cook also received an RBI when his bases-loaded chopper in the second was mishandled by Brewers second baseman Casey McGehee.
By retiring the first batter, Cook became the first pitcher to complete 1,000 career innings in a Rockies uniform.
"They've showed a lot of confidence in me over the years by signing me to two contracts," Cook said. "I love pitching here, and to have the opportunity to do that is something special. I'm sure I'll look back on it one day and realize how special it is."
The team's new road record, at 19-18, also has begun to look special considering where it was. The Rockies will go for a new club record in consecutive road wins when they visit the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on June 22. For now, they'll try to solve Coors Field, starting with the Mariners on Friday.
"I think we should just go straight to Seattle and keep playing," Cook joked.
JR Radcliffe is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
