Colorado Rockies morning after: Everything is going Colorado’s way

The story of the night at Coors Field on Wednesday continued to be the rise of a young Colorado Rockies star on the mound. But just when you thought there were enough highlights in the first three innings of the game, the Rockies offense asked us all to hold their collective beers.

Boosted by a three-homer fifth inning and a dominant performance from German Marquez, the Colorado Rockies continued to batter the Philadelphia Phillies, posting a 14-0 win before 35,181 fans. Colorado’s third straight win was the third straight night the Rockies had posted double-digit run totals … and they’ve outscored the Phillies 34-4 in those games.

34-4, including 14-0 on Wednesday. Let that soak in for a minute, all you lovers of run differential.

Philadelphia looks every bit like a team ready for the season to just be over. The Rockies are more than happy to take advantage of that while cementing their postseason chances. A time zone away along Interstate 70, the Milwaukee Brewers finished off a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, dropping the Redbirds even further back in their quest for the postseason and giving Colorado some additional breathing room.

Milwaukee’s win pushed both the Brewers and the Chicago Cubs into the postseason, meaning the Cardinals will have to knock out the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Wild Card chase. St. Louis is off on Thursday and finishes the season with three games against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Los Angeles is off on Thursday before a season-ending three-game trip to San Francisco.

And yes, the Dodgers are the ones the Cardinals are chasing in the Wild Card standings as Los Angeles dropped their second consecutive game in Arizona late Wednesday night. With the loss, Colorado leads the National League West by a half-game over the Dodgers with four games to play.

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But let’s get back to Coors Field on a Wednesday night that had a fall feel to it. Marquez made Rockies history, becoming the all-time single-season strikeout leader. He did it with flair, striking out the first eight batters he faced. You can read all about the moment and how Marquez got there by clicking here.

Colorado’s offense, meanwhile, received another boost from David Dahl, who hit his third home run in three games to ignite a seven-run fifth inning that put aside any drama about the game’s outcome. Trevor Story added a two-run, 465-foot blast two batters later and Ian Desmond hit his third post-All-Star-break long ball with a shot to center field after a Carlos Gonzalez double.

How did Colorado salt away the win in the fifth? By going walk-homer-double-homer-double-homer-walk-single. That’ll do it most nights and it did for the Rockies on Wednesday.

“A lot of hits from top to the bottom,” Gonzalez said of Colorado’s offense right now. “You want everyone to contribute. At this point, nobody wants to just go out there and try to carry their weight or try to be a hero. Everybody needs to do their part and believe in ourselves and in our teammates. That’s what we’re doing.”

This Colorado team has re-discovered its swagger. It found it in the desert during a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks over the weekend and put it on full display once the games at Coors began again on Monday. It’s perfect timing for a team that can smell Rocktober for the second consecutive season.

It’s also perfect timing for a fan base that can smell the postseason as well. Cheers erupted as the scoreboard changed to reflect Milwaukee’s win and Arizona grabbing the early lead over the Dodgers in the desert. Those moments were even captured on the big screen for all to see.

Scoreboard watching and a Rockies team seemingly destined to right the ship that looked to be sinking last week in Los Angeles. A chance for franchise history to be made with Colorado’s first-ever NL West title. It’s a beautiful time to be at 20^thand Blake.