Mark J. Rebilas/US Presswire

Jim Tracy took over as manager of the Rockies after the team fired Clint Hurdle on May 29.

By John Kruk, ESPN

The Rockies have won 17 of their past 18 games after knocking off the Angels in the opener of their series on Monday night. It's pretty clear their winning ways started when they fired Clint Hurdle and brought in Jim Tracy.

I usually would never say a manager is the reason a team isn't playing well, but I think bringing in a calmer, different perspective to the game has made a significant difference.

I've been in the middle of a couple of firings, and it always seems as if you play better immediately after. When you're a player and your manager gets fired, most players feel responsible. I've been a part of a couple of similar situations, and I always felt -- whether I was having a good year or not -- like it was my fault when the manager got fired.

It's a wake-up call to the players, essentially saying to them: "Look at what happened! A man lost his job because you couldn't play." Everyone likes Jim Tracy. I've never been around anyone from when he was with the Dodgers or the Pirates that ever said anything bad about him. He's a nice man; he's a good baseball guy. He was there all year as the bench coach, and the players already knew him. The players don't want another manager to lose his job. I'm sure they wouldn't mind having Tracy there next year. Sometimes when you're playing for someone to keep their job, you seem to play a little better and you focus and concentrate a little more.

Rockies by manager
	Clint Hurdle	Jim Tracy
W-L	18-28	18-5
Runs per game	4.9	5.5
ERA	4.93	3.58

Another reason for the Rockies' recent winning streak is Huston Street. He has started to pick it up since he made the simple adjustment about which side of the mound to stand on. The team is making Ian Stewart play every day, and as a result, he is producing for Colorado. Garrett Atkins was struggling. Hurdle is the loyal type, and he knows Atkins helped the Rockies get to the World Series a couple of years ago, so he was very loyal and wouldn't switch him out.

Now, though, Stewart is getting that playing time, and he leads the team in home runs. Coming into this season, the Rockies didn't have a second baseman. Clint Barmes, their shortstop a couple of years ago, was able to fill that role. Jason Marquis has been so much more than they expected. They didn't know he was going to be a nine-game winner and possibly headed to the All-Star Game. The big thing, for this team, its starting pitching has been better and the guys who were struggling have really picked it up.

This series with the Angels will be a good test for the Rockies, who just came off of a good series with Tampa Bay. When you play at home, you should win games. Now, the Rockies are on the road against a very good team, so it will be interesting to see how they handle this challenge. They're off to a good start with Monday's easy win.

When you get on a roll the way Colorado has, sometimes it's just that, a small streak. As reality starts to set in, it will be interesting to see whether the Rockies can maintain it. It's not going to be an easy task against the Angels.

Colorado's run is just that, a run. In my mind, this team is not a threat to win the wild card. Even though the Mets and Phillies have played terribly lately, the wild card is still going to come out of the NL East. Both teams are almost unwatchable at the moment, but I'm still certain the Phillies will win the division and the Mets will take the wild card.

Past Baseball Tonight Clubhouses: June 21 | June 18 | June 17 | June 16 | June 15

TOUCH 'EM ALL

Who went deep? Keep track of all the home runs hit each day on "Baseball Tonight" and on the Baseball Tonight Clubhouse page.

For more, check out the Home Run Tracker page.

Home Run Tracker
NAME	HR	OPP	PITCHER	SITUATION
D. Murphy, NYM	5	StL	Wellemeyer	Bot 5: 3-2, 0 Outs. None on.
R. Ludwick, StL	11	NYM	Redding	Top 6: 1-2, 2 Outs. 1 on.
B. Ryan, StL	1	NYM	Redding	Top 8: 1-0, 0 Outs. None on.

The complete list of Monday's homers

ON DECK: TUESDAY'S BEST MATCHUPS

Phillies at Rays, 7 p.m. ET

This one is a rematch of last year's World Series, and this series starts with an old vs. new pitching matchup. Jamie Moyer, 46, faces a pitcher half his age in Tampa Bay's 23-year-old David Price. How different are their styles? In 72 1/3 innings, Moyer has 42 strikeouts. In 26 innings, Price has 31 strikeouts.

Yankees at Braves, 7:05 p.m. ET

Time for another episode of the Chien-Ming Wang saga. He pitched a bit better in his most recent start, allowing three runs in five innings. Still, he lost and dropped to 0-5. Tommy Hanson has pitched well since his much-anticipated arrival in the majors, posting a 2-0 record with a 4.08 ERA in three starts.

Rockies at Angels, 10:05 p.m. ET

Ubaldo Jimenez has won each of his past three starts, going at least eight innings in two of those outings. Sean O'Sullivan could not have been much better in his debut, allowing a lone run in seven innings of a win against the Giants.

For the rest of Tuesday's schedule, click here.