Just shy of three weeks ago, the Rockies fired manager Clint Hurdle, having stumbled out to an 18-28 start and fallen 14½ games back in the NL West race. Owners of the league's worst record west of the Potomac, they surprised nobody by losing four of their first six games under interim skipper Jim Tracy. The Rox were sinking like stones, well on their way to their eighth losing season out of nine. Their PECOTA-based playoff odds, which were around 7 percent when the season began, had dwindled to 0.3 percent.