When the Colorado Rockies swept the Atlanta Braves at Coors Field earlier this week, a renewed hope came over many Colorado baseball fans, and dimming playoff dreams began to brighten.

Bleacher Report has condensed some of that optimism into five reasons the Rockies, sitting just four games out of the National League wild-card spot, aren’t out of the running.

Among them: First baseman Todd Helton, suffering one of the worst seasons of his career, is getting his bat back. And if he continues to improve, he might boost the Rockies into a run. Another: The team has outfielder Carlos Gonzalez and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, two of the hottest hitters in the NL and a couple of the best position players in baseball. Each has the ability to end a game with one swing of the bat.

Whatever happens, at the very least Rockies fans have another month of baseball to enjoy.

One pitcher we won’t be seeing, however, is Randy Flores, a left-handed reliever the team waived last week. The Minnesota Twins picked him up, and he’ll be a situational lefty out of the bullpen for the American League Central-leading Twins (via the Star Tribune).