HOUSTON — The Rockies want to be contenders. They want to be somebody. They want to win the National League West.
The way they’ve been playing lately, all of those things are possible.
After winning three or four against the Dodgers at Coors Field, the Rockies swaggered into Minute Maid Park on Tuesday night and beat ace Justin Verlander and the defending World Series champion Astros, 5-1.
The Rockies decked the Astros with a combination of punches, but none bigger than the seven innings of one-run, three-hit pitching by German Marquez. Colorado also got two huge home runs, one from MVP candidate Nolan Arenado and another from Trevor Story, who smacked his 25th and extended his hitting streak to 11 games.