The Oakland A’s had trouble climbing the Colorado Rockies, losing 3-1 in yesterday’s game that clinched the series sweep for the Rockies (via the Oakland Tribune). The Rockies have now won 20 of their last 23 games and have improved to 22-7 since Jim Tracy took over as manager, notes The Denver Post.

Somehow, the Rockies are now playing with the promise most of us thought they had this spring but was nowhere to be found at the beginning of the season. They find ways to come up with key hits, and the starting pitching has been remarkable. The bullpen still needs some work, which is something that will ideally be addressed before the July 31 trading deadline.

The Rockies head into L.A. tonight to take on the Dodgers (8:10 p.m., Fox Sports Net), a team that has cleaned Colorado’s clock in eight of the nine games the teams have played this season. The Post also points out that it was after the Dodgers’ particularly bad three-game sweep of the Rockies that the Clint Hurdle era came to an end. Something tells me the Rockies are a different team now–more confident, and definitely more up to the challenge.