hawpe-brad1Dropping two of three to the Arizona Diamondbacks over the weekend had some people wondering just how far the Colorado Rockies had come. Yesterday, though, they got back on track with a 1-0 win over the visiting Washington Nationals. (Granted, the Nationals are in the running for the absolute worst team in baseball.)

The Denver Post’s Troy Renck writes that the two Rockies all-stars, pitcher Jason Marquis and right fielder Brad Hawpe (pictured), were crucial to ensuring the Rockies wouldn’t lose three in a row. Marquis picked up his National League-leading 11th win in a dominant start, and Hawpe was key in shutting down at least two scoring opportunities for the Nationals. We’ll see if the Rockies can string together another crazy winning streak, but in the meantime they’re getting national attention for all the right reasons.

If it were up to Sports Illustrated, the Rockies would be discussed for at least three awards: general manager Dan O’Dowd, second place for NL executive of the year; interim manager Jim Tracy, fifth place for NL manager of the year; and fifth place for Hawpe in SI’s consideration of NL most valuable player. Not too shabby considering the rough start to this season.