Josh Fogg had just ended the third inning by striking out Alex Rodriguez. All weekend, the Rockies tried to downplay the significance of a three-game series with the Yankees. But in front 48,077 at a sold-out Coors Field in a tight ballgame, even Fogg couldn't help but give a little leap and a skip back to the dugout on his way to a 3-1 victory.
"That was bad," Fogg said.
Fogg (3-5) certainly wasn't in shutting down the hot-hitting Yankees. He pitched seven efficient innings and kept the Yanks to only four hits and one run before turning it over to Manny Corpas in the eighth inning, almost to see his lead disappear.
Corpas loaded the bases with two outs after allowing two singles and walking Rodriguez. Jorge Posada, who finished the game hitting .344, was up next, and Rockies manager Clint Hurdle decided to replace Corpas with LaTroy Hawkins.
"I think Hawk's pitched more heightened innings in his career," Hurdle said.
Hawkins forced Posada into a fielder's choice groundout, and the Rockies were out of the inning and on their way to a Major League-best 18-7 run since May 22.
The Yankees had won 11 of 12 entering the game but left another victim of the AL East-drubbing Rockies, who are 5-2 against the division this season and 16-6 in Interleague Play over the last two seasons.
But more significant for the Rockies, they improved to 36-34.
"Our goal is to make it to the playoffs," said Yorvit Torrealba, who was 2-for-4 and had a sixth-inning solo home run. "I know it's kind of early to say that, but that's our goal. That's what we're playing for."
The Rockies are still 5 1/2 games back in the National League West, but Tuesday night had the feel of a postseason pitchers' duel.
The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, but the Rockies tied the score in the third on a Garrett Atkins RBI single off Mike Mussina (3-4) that scored Willy Taveras.
The Rockies took the lead in the fifth, when Matt Holliday drove in his 54th run of the season with a line-drive single to left. Kazuo Matsui scored after stealing second base on the previous pitch.



Torrealba added to the lead with his homer in the sixth.
Rockies closer Brian Fuentes worked the ninth inning to earn his 19th save of the season.
The victory for Fogg was his second straight against a storied franchise. Last Wednesday, he pitched five innings and got the victory against the Red Sox, the Majors' top team. Fogg downplayed the significance of the playing the Yanks and Sox before his start on Tuesday night.
"It's just another team," he said. "Same thing as [when] we went into Boston. We had to go there and play another team, go out there and play another game. I think the fans and the media make a bigger deal out of it than we will."
But then he gave his leap and a skip, proving that even the Rockies are thinking that this isn't just another series.
"If somebody else did that against our team, I'd have made fun of them," Fogg said. "That's just getting caught up in the moment. For starters, you go out there and there's big outs in games, so that was a big one. That's one of those things I'm not proud of, but it just came out."



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