Rockies' wild rally sinks Padres, ices playoff spot
02.10.2007 06:00
Sport and Travel
- Source: USA Today
DENVER — Colorado Rockies teammates Matt Holliday and Todd Helton didn't talk about it much, the fact that Helton, a decorated 10-year veteran and career Rockie, never had reached the postseason.
"We all knew," Holliday said after scoring the winning run in Monday's 9-8 National League wild-card tiebreaker win against the San Diego Padres to send Colorado into the playoffs. "It was like the elephant in the corner." GAME REPORT: Rockies 9, Padres 8 (13 inn.) When they talk about it now, it will only be in the past tense. Helton's wait is over, thanks to Holliday's gritty slide into home plate after Jamey Carroll sent a sacrifice fly to right field to break an 8-8 tie in the 13th inning Monday. "This is just pure happiness right now," said Carroll, a utility player who came in as a pinch runner for Garrett Atkins in the seventh and stayed to play third. After a Scott Hairston two-run homer in the top of the inning put the Padres ahead, the Rockies had to rally against all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman. Leadoff hitter Kazuo Matsui and Troy Tulowitzki kicked off the rally with doubles, and Holliday drove in the tying run with a triple. "I really can't believe what just happened," Helton said. "I knew we'd put up a fight, but you're still going up against the greatest closer of all time." The Coors Field fans loudly chanted "MVP!" every time Holliday, a leading contender for the league award, stepped to the plate Monday. Helton, when asked if Holliday deserves the award, said, "No doubt about it." Holliday finished the regular season with a .339 average for the NL batting title, just edging Atlanta's Chipper Jones (.337). Holliday's 137 RBI lead the NL, making him just the fifth player in the last 59 years to lead the NL in both batting average and RBI in the same season. But after the game, Holliday deferred to Helton. "I hope the national attention goes to him, and everybody sees what a great player he is," Holliday said. Wednesday, when the Rockies open the Division Series at Philadelphia, Helton, a five-time All Star, three-time Gold Glove Award winner and 2000 batting champion, finally can add a playoff appearance to his résumé. Helton, who drove in two runs Monday, was drafted in 1995, the same year the Rockies last made the playoffs as the NL wild-card winner. He made his major-league debut in 1997. Until Monday's win, Helton trailed only the New York Mets' Damion Easley on the list of active players who have appeared in the most games without reaching the postseason. Helton worked his way off the list with a 41-for-105 (.390), four-home run, 20-RBI performance in September. "We put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears for this," Helton said. "Everyone deserves this." The victory capped an improbable quest for the Rockies, who battered Cy Young Award favorite Jake Peavy then rallied to win the seventh playoff game in baseball history. Colorado won all but one game the last two weeks of the season. "We still have a job in front of us," Tulowitzki said amid champagne showers in the clubhouse. "We're not done yet." Hoffman (4-5), who has 524 career saves, blew his seventh chance in 49 tries. On Saturday, he was one strike away from clinching a playoff spot when Tony Gwynn Jr. hit a tying triple for Milwaukee, which went on to win 4-3 in 11 innings. "I'm having a hard time expressing myself right now," Hoffman said. "I wish I could, but I can't after what happened tonight." Colorado, making only the second playoff appearance in its 15-year history, will face the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park in the opener of the NL Division Series. On Sept. 18, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Helton unveiled the first bit of magic the Rockies would manufacture for their improbable ride to the playoffs. With Holliday on base and the Rockies down by a run with two outs in the ninth, Helton hit a two-strike home run off Dodgers closer Takashi Saito, against whom the Rockies to that point had been nearly hitless and hopeless this season. The victory was the Rockies' third in the 11-game win streak that stoked their climb through the standings, from 4˝ games behind San Diego in the wild-card chase in mid-September to Monday's tiebreaker. They head to Philadelphia with a 14-1 record to close out the regular season. And with a first baseman who finally can keep playing. "It's a special time," Helton said. Notes: The Rockies thought Garrett Atkins homered in the seventh, but umpire Tim Tschida ruled it hit the yellow railing and bounced back. ... Peavy failed in his bid for his 20th win — Boston's Josh Beckett was the only pitcher this year to achieve the feat. ... It was the first one-game playoff since the New York Mets beat Cincinnati 5-0 for the 1999 NL wild card. Contributing: Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY; wire reports
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