Rockies Double Their Fun

Once dependent on the home run, the rebuilt Colorado Rockies are scoring runs in record numbers without utilizing the long ball.

Todd Helton drove in Jeff Cirillo with a double to break a 6-6 tie and the Rockies reached double figures for the seventh consecutive home game Sunday, defeating the San Francisco Giants, 11-7.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Colorado is the first team in the modern era to score at least 10 runs in seven consecutive home games. Such records were not kept before 1900.

Surprisingly, the Rockies hit only three homers in their three-game sweep of the Giants, and they have scored 11 runs or more without a homer in four games this season. All four have been at Coors Field.

“They have always been tough in this park,” San Francisco Manager Dusty Baker said. “We shut them out [twice] in our park and they get a ton of hits back here in their park. They feel very comfortable here as their record indicates.”

Helton raised his major league-leading average to .417 as he continued to set the pace for the Rockies, who are hitting .401 as a team during their seven-game double-digit streak.

The Rockies could be without Helton when they open a six-game trip Tuesday in New York. He left the game because of a strained right hamstring after his double against Livan Hernandez (2-5) in the seventh.

“I’m fine,” said Helton, who also leads the league with 41 RBIs. “I hope I’m fine. We won’t know until [today].”

Jeffrey Hammonds followed Helton’s double with a triple and the Rockies added three runs in the eighth when San Francisco right fielder Armando Rios turned Tom Goodwin’s single into a three-base error.