Tulo showing plenty of pop at the plate

DENVER -- For the 23 straight homerless games that Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki experienced before hitting one Thursday -- and another Friday -- the scrutiny was in full.

Tulowitzki actually hit .307 in 79 at-bats during the drought, but had just five doubles. So when balls didn't fly the way they often do off Tulowitzki's bat, the natural reaction was to stare at him on his way to the dugout. Was he limping? Was there any grasping of his midsection that let on that he was hurting, since he missed 25 games in June and July with broken ribs on the right side?

Still, Tulowitzki, who sat Saturday night just as a day off, has a healthy 24 homers this year, second on the club to Carlos Gonzalez's 26. He has had at least 24 homers in every full year but 2008 and last season, when he missed bigger chunks of time to injury.

"I feel good; it's just baseball," said Tulowitzki, who entered his start against the D-backs on Sunday with a .315 batting average and 80 RBIs. "You look around the league at some power guys and they go through stretches, whether it be 50, 100 or 150 at-bats where their power doesn't show. It just comes in bunches at times. Over the course of my career, I've hit homers in bunches and gone homerless in bunches, too.

"You'd love to be more consistent, but it's just how power plays out."