"While the Rockies took care of present business Friday night, right-hander Aaron Cook put a possible down payment on the future.

After sitting idle since Aug. 21 with a shoulder injury, Cook stepped up with what manager Jim Tracy called a clutch performance just when his pitching staff needed a boost. With five scoreless innings, Cook may have taken a gigantic step toward a spot on the postseason roster if the Rockies make it there.

"I'm not worried about the playoff roster," Cook said. "I'm worried about going out and keeping us in games. Tracy will decide when the playoff-roster time comes. We have to make the playoffs before we worry about any other decisions."

Tracy was impressed with the entire Rockies' pitching effort against the St. Louis Cardinals and made it sound like a playoff performance.

"What a pitching performance," he said. "We don't win the game if we don't get the type of pitching performance we got from the four guys tonight. The combination of the pitching and one heck of a play by our third baseman made it stand up.""