"As Jason Giambi flipped his helmet in the air like a wedding bouquet and stomped on home plate Sunday, there was only one possible conclusion to reach:

When it comes to the Rockies in September, they are much easier to accept than explain.

After five months of reaching repeated crossroads, a clear path to the playoffs has opened after a 4-2 walkoff victory over the Diamondbacks. The only team that felt worse than Arizona about Colorado's 10th straight win was the San Diego Padres.

They are next. They arrive tonight as a first-place team in name only, locked in a virtual tie with the Giants and leading the Rockies by only 1 1/2 games after dropping 13 of their last 17.

The Rockies started this current streak against San Diego on Sept. 3. They have won 13 of their last 15 games at Coors Field and own a 10-game winning streak against division leaders.

"Even (Sunday), the (Arizona) guys, were asking, 'How do you guys keep doing this every year?' " said shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, whose Rockies are 58-33 in September since 2007.

"You know other teams are aware of it. It goes to show that there's no quit in us. It's always in the back of our mind that we are capable of doing this."

After losing Sept. 2 to the Phillies, which was nothing less than a crowbar to the shins, the Rockies trailed the Padres by 7 1/2 games. They have been supermodel hot since. During their current streak, they have outscored opponents 62-29, outhomered them 14-5 and outpitched them, their starters compiling a 3.50 ERA.

"Ten days ago, every loss felt like, 'Oh, my God!' Now, we don't have to walk in that clubhouse anymore and think we have to win every game," manager Jim Tracy said. "We have put ourselves in good position if we can just continue winning every series.""