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DENVER, July 30 .   .   .   Breaking the spell, being able to shout “the demon is dead” is never easy. That fork in the road between hope and hopelessness can exist before us---if we believe that the demon’s spell has more juice and smarts than can be countered, we could go in the wrong direction, hunched forward from woe on a downward slope, no longer trying our best to overtake. A long string of losses can do that to any MLB club, not just to the Rockies, bringing the franchise to that devil’s choice between “Can do” and “Can’t,” especially when failures have been handed out by a mediocre team.

Last night, taking the hope road paid off for the Colorado Rockies, and it began with a “We won’t take it anymore” collective-decision during a players-only gathering after Wednesday night’s loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, more precisely from a “We had better get our asses in gear” meeting---the Rox did just that in game three of a series vs. Pittsburgh.

The Rox losing streak started to melt with a two-run double from Dexter Fowler, an unlikely hero as he went to the plate with only a few hits during his last 20+ at-bats. What followed was the Rox team of late-May, June and early July of this season, thus lots of above-the-margin pitching and an active offense remaining in synch, Ubaldo Jiminez recovering from sporadic faults paired with on-base drives from Fowler, Clint Barmes, Brad Hawpe and four others of the Rox line-up. In this third game vs. Pittsburgh, the Rox experienced 15 hits and only four strikeouts during 37 at-bats, final score 9-3, Rox ahead with an end to eight consecutive losses that had sent the team downward from second to fourth place in the National League-West and from one game rear of first place San Diego to eight now, plus four behind San Francisco and two back of Los Angeles. Of note is that these are three NL-W teams that the Rox will face in August for a total of 10 matches---winning the lion’s share of these contests could make the Rox wild-card possible.

If the demon of losing streaks left for a cooler climate (with any luck, California), what exactly caused it to do so? The language about missing ingredients from Rox manager and Rox players during the streak advises that skill and strength finally met up with opportunity. In simplest terms, last night Rox bats and gloves met the red-seam/white ball at the right place, at the right time and in the right way.

If really free from the downward spiral, the Rox will do well against the Chicago Cubs in a three-game series starting this evening. Presently, the fourth place NL-Central Division Cubs are six games behind the Rox’s 52 wins, with six more losses over the Rox’s 50, the Cubs average .451, the Rox avg., .510. The stats favor the Rox but that’s how it was facing the Pirates prior to the Rox losing two games to them. Extending yesterday's win into a streak by beating the Cubs will tonight rest largely with starting pitcher Jeff Francis and how well the Rox defense can back him up if he returns to those mid-game moments when opposing teams begin hitting whatever he throws. Games two and three will pit Jason Hammel and Jorge De La Rosa against the Cubs, so there's no reason for any Rox player to question “Can do.”

Facing Cubs starter Ryan Dempster won’t be easy tonight for Rox batters---he’s been averaging one strikeout per inning, has eight wins over seven losses and an ERA of 3.7; he’s no ball machine for easily placed singles, doubles or around-the-horn blasts.  Nor will Chicago's Saturday and Sunday starting hurlers Tom Gorzelanny and Carlos Silva be easy to hit off of, both having ERA’s under 4.0, Gorzelanny with six wins over five losses, Silva 10 wins over four.

It's hard not to be reminded of that Robert Frost poetry line about two roads converging in a wood, the one taken making all the difference. Hey, Rox, which way?

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