The Colorado Rockies dropped their second straight game in Anaheim last night, landing on the wrong side of an 11-3 beat down by the Angels. For a team that started as bad as they did, which incidentally led to the firing of manager Clint Hurdle, the Rockies haven’t lost two games in a row since June 3, notes The Denver Post’s Troy Renck, who writes that by the time the Rockies get home July 3 for the annual fireworks game, they’ll have played the division-leading L.A. Dodgers, who have owned the Rockies this year by a count of eight out of nine games.

The team is still on a fantastic June run (winners of 17 of 19), which has won the attention of the national baseball scene. Many glowing profiles have been written about new manager Jim Tracy, who is now 19-6 with the team. Sports Illustrated wrote yesterday that “two years after the Rockies sprinted all the way to the World Series, they have again taken the fast track to contention.”

But others, like ESPN’s John Kruk, thinks the Rockies are just making a run and have no real shot at contending. Let’s hope they prove Kruk wrong.