Rockies' Carlos Gonzalez returns; Tulowitzki expected back tonight

 
WASHINGTON — Carlos Gonzalez returned to the Rockies' lineup Friday night, five days after a nasty collision with the center-field wall at Coors Field. Troy Tulowitzki will return tonight, five days after suffering a strained right quadriceps in Atlanta.
No, it isn't a coincidence that both are returning so quickly. At this point, with the Rockies' season spiraling downward, they don't have much of a choice.
"No doubt about it, I'm stuck in a tough situation here," Tulowitzki said. "We're not playing good on this trip. Probably more so than ever this season, it's time we need to stop this losing streak.
"It's tough, there's no doubt about it. I've never been a guy to beat around the bush. We're struggling. We're not playing good baseball.
"Somehow we need to respond in this series, go into the break and hopefully get healthy, and play a lot better in the second half. Otherwise this season is going to be done real quick."
Tulowitzki plans to play in Tuesday's All-Star Game, where he figures to start in place of injured Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, but his mind is in D.C., not Phoenix, site of this year's game.
"This is what I think about before I go to bed," he said. "It's not the All-Star Game. It's about helping the Rockies win."
What a relief.
No truth to those rumors that nothing is going right for the Rockies. Case in point: CarGo's return.
Gonzalez has a deep bone bruise in his right wrist and a bruised left wrist. Frankly, it could have been worse, much worse.
"He's beat to heck," Rockies trainer Keith Dugger said. "We're fortunate that's all it was, to be honest. It's not just a skin or knee type of bruise."
Gonzalez was on a hot streak that had boosted his batting average to .296 before his injury. He had six RBIs in Sunday's game against Kansas City before being wheeled off the field on a cart.
"Obviously, I don't feel 100 percent, but I've got to make sure I play," Gonzalez said. "We can't wait too long. We've really been playing terrible lately and we've just got to get better.
"The first couple of days, maybe the first couple of weeks, it's going to feel sore, but I've got plenty of faith that it's going to go away."