Thanks to a terrible past couple of weeks for the San Diego Padres, the San Francisco Giants have made the National League West pennant race one to keep an eye on. Don’t look now, but the Colorado Rockies have made yet another late-season surge and with a 10-game winning streak have made it a three-team show. There’s still some work to be done before we witness another “Rocktober,” but the fact that Colorado is making this kind of thing a habit is pretty interesting.

A crucial part of the Rockies’ season has been a breakout year for Ubaldo Jimenez, who’s 18 wins are tied for the league lead with Roy Halladay. Going into Monday’s games, his 2.75 ERA and 186 strikeouts were good enough for seventh and 10th in the league as well, making him a candidate for the Cy Young Award. However, he still faces the challenge of boosting his team into a playoff position, and with a pair of teams ahead, it won’t be easy.

In an undefeated week last week, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki put together a week better than any other National Leaguer. He hit .370 with six home runs, 11 RBIs and nine runs scored, bringing his season totals to .323 with 20 blasts, 72 RBIs and 74 runs, impressive totals all around. He also leads all Senior Circuit players in fielding percentage, making him a likely candidate to win both a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award.

Jimenez and Tulowitzki are certainly award of the individual honors that both may claim after the season, but certainly neither care about those while their team sits within reach of their first division title in franchise history, as that appears to be what they’ll need to win. The East/Wild Card race between Philadelphia and Atlanta may be out of reach for all three teams in the West, but the Rockies will bring a cold rush to the teams from California.