Troy Tulowitzki

ROCKIES PITCHER James Moyer isn't talking. Braves third baseman Chipper Jones won't shut up. During Saturday night's game, Moyer accused Jones of stealing signs. Jones was on second at the time, having doubled in a run to cut the Rockies' lead to 6-2. One batter later, Brian McCann singled home Jones. The Braves went on to win , 13-9. On Sunday, Jones said Moyer was paranoid and even took a shot at the Phillies, the team the 49-year-old lefthander played with for five seasons.

Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado's cleanup hitter, begs to differ on the conventional wisdom about Phillies closer Brad Lidge. Forget those 11 blown saves in the regular season. Lidge can still lock up victories, Tulowitzki said. "His stuff was really good," Tulowitzki said. "I tip my cap to him. You go through ups and downs in this game. I think he's still pretty good. " Tulowitzki spoke from the voice of hard experience. Lidge retired him to finish the Phillies' wins in each of the final two games of the National League division series.

The Colorado Rockies are closing in on a record-breaking contract extension with shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, the Denver Post reported yesterday. The Rockies and their shortstop have agreed to the framework of a six-year, $30 million contract, which would be the largest extension ever given to a major-league player with fewer than two years of experience. Tulowitzki finished second in the rookie-of-the-year voting, behind Milwaukee's Ryan Braun. The Rockies star hit .291 with 24 home runs and 99 RBIs as Colorado reached the World Series.

The Yankees beat Miami, 10-8, on Sunday in the first exhibition between major-league clubs at Marlins Park. But the new park, built on the site of the old Orange Bowl, was secondary to the startling news that closer Mariano Rivera gave up a run in his inning of work, the first time he has allowed a spring training earned run since April 15, 2008. The ballpark, about 16 miles south of the Marlins' old home in the Miami Dolphins' stadium, is still getting finishing touches, among them a pair of 450-gallon aquaria behind home plate.

In the same clubhouse at Coors Field where the Phillies appeared optimistic and loose before Game 3 of the National League division series, the Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday appeared optimistic and loose before Game 3 of the NL Championship Series. But isn't it difficult to remain upbeat at a time like this? "No," Diamondbacks first baseman Tony Clark said. "You know what's fantastic? The sun came up this morning. Our plane arrived safely. My wife and my kids love me. " The Diamondbacks, like the Phillies, lost the first two games of their postseason series against the Colorado Rockies at home before they arrived at Coors Field.

The Colorado Rockies celebrated their National League championship yesterday with a pregame jubilee filled with fireworks, fly-bys and flashbacks, then played nothing like the charmed team that won its first pennant 6 months ago. Arizona righthander Micah Owings (1-0) struck out a career-best nine batters and allowed just one run and two hits over 6 2/3 splendid innings in the visiting Diamondbacks' 8-1 win over Colorado. Chad Qualls and Juan Cruz completed the two-hitter, and Mark Reynolds homered, doubled and drove in three runs for the Diamondbacks, who watched the Rockies celebrate a sweep of the NL Championship Series the last time they were in town.

A clutch home run came from an unlikely source yesterday as the Colorado Rockies beat the Phillies, 5-4, in Game 2 of the National League division series. Catcher Yorvit Torrealba hit a 1-1 hanging curveball off Cole Hamels for a two-run homer to left field in the fourth inning, extending the Rockies' lead to 3-0. The catcher's home-run trot was admittedly rusty. He hit only two this season, and his last one came May 6 against the San Francisco Giants. Torrealba went his final 56 regular-season games plus the first game in this series without breaking out that trot.

Tulowitzki savors his cycle Troy Tulowitzki laced a line drive into the left-field corner Monday night and took off to snag a page in baseball history. The Colorado shortstop did not intend to stop till he made it to third or was tagged out. As he slid headfirst into third to complete a cycle, Tulowitzki knew he had to thank teammate Brad Hawpe. "We were sitting on the bench together, and he was telling me, 'If you get anywhere close to getting a triple, you'd better go,' " Tulowitzki said.

The thing that Troy Tulowitzki loves most about the Colorado Rockies is that nobody is hung up on individual statistics. So long as the team wins, everybody is happy. They've been winning a whole lot lately. The numbers Tulowitzki is putting up have a lot to do with it. The sweet-swinging shortstop clobbered home runs in each game of a doubleheader yesterday, and the visiting Rockies wrapped up a four-game sweep of the New York Mets in style. They won the opener 6-5, hanging on through a wild ninth inning, before taking the second game, 9-4. "A lot of times you can come on the road, you get down late - sixth, seventh inning - and you shut it down, get ready to go home," Tulowitzki said.

Many times, a managerial switch is made just to shake things up, to provide a different voice to hear, and turns out to be nothing more than window dressing. In the case of the Colorado Rockies, naming Jim Tracy to replace the fired Clint Hurdle saved the season. Under Tracy, who replaced Hurdle on May 29, the Rockies were 74-42, won the National League's wild-card berth, and begin their division series against the Phillies this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. "We wouldn't be here without him, and he's turned my career around personally - just the opportunities he has given me, and believing and trusting in me," second baseman Clint Barmes said yesterday.

ROCKIES PITCHER James Moyer isn't talking. Braves third baseman Chipper Jones won't shut up. During Saturday night's game, Moyer accused Jones of stealing signs. Jones was on second at the time, having doubled in a run to cut the Rockies' lead to 6-2. One batter later, Brian McCann singled home Jones. The Braves went on to win , 13-9. On Sunday, Jones said Moyer was paranoid and even took a shot at the Phillies, the team the 49-year-old lefthander played with for five seasons.

The Yankees beat Miami, 10-8, on Sunday in the first exhibition between major-league clubs at Marlins Park. But the new park, built on the site of the old Orange Bowl, was secondary to the startling news that closer Mariano Rivera gave up a run in his inning of work, the first time he has allowed a spring training earned run since April 15, 2008. The ballpark, about 16 miles south of the Marlins' old home in the Miami Dolphins' stadium, is still getting finishing touches, among them a pair of 450-gallon aquaria behind home plate.

HIS LEFT ELBOW swollen and wrapped, Troy Tulowitzki felt confident that he'd be ready for Opening Day. He wasn't so certain on whether former Colorado teammate Ubaldo Jimenez deliberately drilled him, putting the All-Star shortstop's status in jeopardy. Jimenez nailed Tulowitzki with the first pitch Sunday in Scottsdale, Ariz., carrying their festering feud onto the field and causing the Cleveland Indians and Rockies to clear the benches. "You guys will have to talk to him and see if it was intentional or unintentional," Tulowitzki said.

Just seven more starts. That's all hard-throwing lefty Clayton Kershaw thinks he has remaining. Seven more chances to display his increasing maturity on the mound, seven more opportunities to show that he indeed belongs in the conversation for the NL Cy Young award with some more familiar names. Right now Kershaw is on a Los Angeles Dodgers team going nowhere. And there still is competition from the Phillies Three Aces of Roy Halladay , Cliff Lee , and Cole Hamels . But the 23-year-old Kershaw is at an elite level as he leads the NL in strikeouts (199)

DENVER - Ubaldo Jimenez brushed aside Atlanta's powerful bats along with all that trade talk, and Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez homered as the Rockies routed the Braves, 12-3, Tuesday night. It was the first win for Colorado in six tries against the Braves this month, and for once Atlanta rookie Freddie Freeman didn't do any damage at the plate. Freeman entered the game 10 for 19 against the Rockies after clubbing five homers and knocking in 10 runs against them. He was hitless in three at-bats against Jimenez, striking out twice.

The Braves' youngest stars are some of the biggest reasons the team is putting pressure on the Phillies in the NL East. Rookie Craig Kimbrel, only 23, took the major league lead with his 27th save and two 21-year-old sluggers, Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward, hit home runs as Atlanta beat Colorado, 6-3, yesterday to complete its first four-game sweep of the Rockies in 18 years. Freeman hit four homers and drove in seven runs in the series. His third-inning homer was the highlight of a five-run inning that knocked Juan Nicasio (3-2)

ATLANTA - Freddie Freeman's third homer in two games gave Atlanta the early lead, Derek Lowe hit a three-run double, and the Braves beat the short-handed Colorado Rockies, 5-3, on Tuesday night. Freeman, who had two homers in Atlanta's 4-1 win in Monday's series opener, hit his 12th homer to center field off Jhoulys Chacin in the second. Lowe (5-6) gave up three runs and five hits in 51/3 innings and pushed the lead to 4-0 with his bases-loaded double in the fourth. Lowe's hit drove in Chipper Jones, who doubled, and Dan Uggla and Nate McLouth, who both walked.

NEW YORK - CC Sabathia tossed eight stingy innings to win for the seventh time in his last eight starts, Alex Rodriguez drove in three runs and the New York Yankees, finally beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-3, on Saturday. A dozen pitchers began the day with nine wins, but Sabathia (10-4) won the race to double digits. The big lefthander allowed one run while striking out nine, improving to 19-7 all-time in interleague play. That win total makes him baseball's active leader. He threw just 103 pitches, but manager Joe Girardi decided against letting him finish the game.

NEW YORK - Jason Giambi hit a long homer against his former team and Ubaldo Jimenez overcame early wildness to pitch seven impressive innings, leading the Colorado Rockies to a 4-2 victory Friday night over New York in a rare trip to the Bronx. Troy Tulowitzki homered again in New York City and Todd Helton hit an RBI single for Colorado. No. 9 batter Chris Iannetta walked three times and scored a run. The Rockies were swept by the Yankees in a three-game series in 2004, their only other trip to the borough.

DENVER - Joe Saunders snapped a personal six-game losing skid and Kelly Johnson homered and drove in two runs in the Arizona Diamondbacks' 5-2 win over Colorado on Tuesday night that earned them a split of their double header. Carlos Gonzalez homered twice and the Rockies became the first team to decipher Josh Collmenter's tomahawk-throwing style, rallying past Arizona, 12-4, in the opener of the day-night twinbill. But Colorado lost pitcher Jorge De La Rosa to a torn elbow ligament.