Taveras quickly gets up to speed in series

DENVER -- Shortly after Willy Taveras went to the sidelines with a strained quadriceps last month, the Colorado Rockies embarked on a historic winning streak, leaping from fourth to second in the National League West, beating the San Diego Padres in a one-game playoff to earn the league’s last postseason berth, then sweeping the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL division series.

So when Taveras hobbled back into the Rockies’ clubhouse before the start of the League Championship Series in Arizona last week, he was hoping to be added to the team’s playoff roster. But he wasn’t so sure he wanted to be added to the lineup.

“I was nervous to go out there,” joked Taveras, bundled in a wool cap and heavy jacket against the chill of the Rockies’ dugout at Coors Field on Saturday. “If we lose, it was all on me. I feel I’m a big part of this team and when they’re winning ballgames without you, that makes you think a little bit.”

Now, however, they’re winning games with Taveras. Or better yet, make that because of him.

The surprising Rockies head into Game 3 of the NLCS tonight leading the best-of-seven series, 2-0, thanks largely to two spectacular performances by their oft-injured center fielder.

In Game 1 he singled, stole second and then scored what proved to be the game-winning run in a 5-1 victory. And a night later he did even better, walking and scoring in the fifth, walking with the bases-loaded to drive in the winning run in the 11th and saving a run with a sparkling diving catch in the seventh inning of a 3-2 victory.

“To this point,” Diamondbacks Manager Bob Melvin deadpanned, “he’s had a great series.”

Despite Taveras’ demonstrated ability to change a game -- and a playoff series -- Colorado Manager Clint Hurdle waited until the night before the NLCS opener before activating him. His team, after all, had won without him -- several times, in fact, since a strained groin, a crushed index finger and a strained right quadriceps, among other ailments, limited Taveras to a career-low 97 games this summer.

“Are we superstitious to that effect?” Hurdle asked. “I think there’s a little -- not superstition, but there’s a mojo that’s playing you want to be respectful of.”

Against that, however, Hurdle had other facts to weigh: such as the fact that, despite that limited playing time, Taveras led the team with 33 stolen bases and was tied for second with a .320 batting average.

And with a .349 average in 14 postseason games, Taveras, acquired in a December trade with Houston, had the most experience of anyone in the Rockies’ lineup.

“You have to put your best team on the field that’s available to you,” Hurdle said.

And a healthy Taveras certainly makes Colorado better, teaming with No. 2 hitter Kaz Matsui to give the Rockies two fast, patient hitters at the top of the order and allowing Hurdle to move slugging rookie Troy Tulowitzki to the seventh slot, lengthening the lineup.

But perhaps the most important ingredient he brings is speed.

“When you’ve got speed, you make things happen,” Rockies reliever LaTroy Hawkins said. “You can’t say that enough. You can neutralize it just a little bit. But overall it’s just tough to deal with.”

Hawkins got a first-hand look at just how speed can change a game Friday when, with the tying run at first with two out in the seventh, the Diamondbacks’ Tony Clark hammered his 2-2 pitch deep to right-center field in spacious Chase Field.

“I thought [Taveras] was pretty straight up, so I’m like ‘OK, he can get to that ball,’ ” Hawkins said.

But Taveras was shading Clark to left, leaving him with a long run.

“I saw him take off,” Hawkins said, “and I was like ‘oh, man.’ But if anybody can get to the ball, it was Willy T. He’s a pretty fast man.”

Fast enough to save a run, and possibly the game, by spearing the ball just off the grass with a head-first dive that had him feeling sore a day later. And fast enough to turn the usually stoic Hawkins into a leaping, hand-clapping cheerleader on the mound.

“I had to give Willy T some props on that one,” Hawkins said.

And with two more wins, the rest of the Rockies might very well be doing the same thing.

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kevin.baxter@latimes.com