Rockies-Nationals box score

The schedule is alive with possibilities, a rare sensation for the Rockies in the waning days of August. They are used to saving face at this point in the season and trekking once again down their wait-until-next-year path as opposed to gearing up for a stretch run.

A 10-5 win against Washington on Sunday enabled the Rockies to sweep a three-game series from the Nationals, completing a well- timed turnaround from a dreadful series against Pittsburgh that resulted in three losses in four games.

"After Pittsburgh, people said we were done," said pitcher Josh Fogg, who will start tonight at San Francisco, where the Rockies begin a six-game trip. "We had a bad series, didn't pitch well. That happens. We pitched well this last series and swung the bats unbelievable. It's not like we're looking to win every game for the rest of the season, but we're looking to go out and win series and slowly get back into this."

The Rockies inched up to a tie for third place in the wild-card race, 3 1/2 games behind San Diego, which lost at Philadelphia. The Phillies are one-half game ahead of the Rockies in the wild card.

In the National League West, the Rockies remained tied for third, 6 1/2 games behind Arizona, which beat the Chicago Cubs.

"We definitely have a chance, and that's all you can ask for," said Troy Tulowitzki, who extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games. "At the beginning of the year, if you were to tell anybody in this locker room or the coaches or the front-office people that we'd be right in the thick of things coming into September, I think they'd all be excited."

The Rockies will have ample opportunity to make their own way in the weeks ahead. Twenty-five of their remaining 32 games — 16 at home and 16 on the road — are against NL West opponents. The Rockies have six games left with the Padres and six with Arizona, where Colorado starts a three- game series Friday.

Elmer Dessens will start Saturday at Arizona, coming off his first win with the Rockies and by far his best outing with the club. He didn't escape the fifth in his first two Colorado starts, throwing 74 and 78 pitches while allowing 12 hits and seven runs in 9 1/3 innings in those games.

Before Dessens took the mound against the Nationals, manager Clint Hurdle said he hoped Dessens, with better command, could boost his pitch count. He finished with 74 pitches in six innings and could have continued, but Hurdle wanted Ramon Ortiz and Matt Herges to pitch after both had been off three days.

Dessens allowed a two-out home run in the first to Ryan Zimmerman and only two other singles — none after the second — as he held the Nationals to one run in six innings. Dessens retired the final 10 batters he faced, seven on groundballs.

Left-handed hitters went 9-for-17 with a home run against Dessens in his first two starts, but he limited the left-handed hitters to one hit in nine at-bats Sunday.

"He hit spots," said catcher Chris Iannetta, who drove in two runs with a double and single, both with two out, upon rejoining the Rockies after three weeks at Triple-A Colorado Springs. "He mixed it up. He kept them off-balance. And once we gave him the lead, it was kind of cruise control — let them put the ball in play on the first three pitches and they got themselves out for the most part."

The Rockies staked Dessens to a large early lead because Joel Hanrahan self-destructed during a four-walk, two-run second followed by a six-run, seven-hit third. All nine runs the Rockies scored against Hanrahan, who retired only eight of the 21 batters he faced, came with two out.

The sweep of the Nationals — it was the Rockies' sixth sweep this season, matching their 2006 total — began with a definite turning point.

Namely the ninth inning Friday, when the Rockies, seemingly wobbling toward their third successive loss, rallied for five runs against closer Chad Cordero and won 6-5.

After winning 5-1 on Saturday, the Rockies reached double figures in runs Sunday for the first time since Aug. 11, when they walloped the Cubs 15-2. In the Nationals series, starters Jeff Francis, Ubaldo Jimenez and Dessens restored order to the overworked Rockies bullpen as they combined to allow four earned runs and 13 hits in 19 1/3 innings.

The Rockies must go 17-15 to finish with a franchise-high 84 victories, but with the possibility of meaningful games for the next five weeks, their sights are set well beyond that modest figure.

"We're excited every day to come to the ballpark," Garrett Atkins said. "We know we have a chance to win. That's what you want. Regardless of who we're playing, if we play good baseball, we can beat anybody. If we play bad baseball, we're not going to beat too many teams. That was the case in the Pittsburgh series and that was the case in this series, too. We played good and we won."

etkinj@RockyMountainNews.com