1) Creeping up in the standings
Nine days ago, the Rockies were coming off their second straight blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, and their fans were calling for them to start selling. Since then, Colorado has won eight of their nine games and all of a sudden, a playoff spot looks a lot less far-fetched.
The Rockies are just five games out of the second wild card slot, and no team in MLB has been better over their last 10 games. Even the NL West, which seemed destined to be a two-horse race between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers, is back on the table.