On the whole, they'd rather be in Philadelphia.
It may not have technically been a playoff game, but there was bunting (and Kaz Matsui's bad bunting), and there were six umpires (none of whom could see a home run), and it was one-and-done for both teams, so it sure felt like a Game 7.
Somehow, the Rockies, who couldn't hit middle-school middle relief all night, took this year's presumptive Cy Young Award winner, and a Hall of Fame closer, and knocked them around like a couple of rag dolls. Somewhere, Jorge Julio is buying Rolexes for the top half of his team's batting order. And Matt Holliday justified an M-V-P chant that had gone a little hollw after botching a game-tying fly ball to left.
Actually, you can blame me for that one. I don't have access to the office after-hours, so I took the laptop to the game with me. With the Rockies up 6-5 in the top of th 8th, I decided to go ahead and buy tickets for a possible NLDS Game 4 here on Sunday. As I was going through virtual checkout, the Pods hit a game-tying double. I closed the laptop, and only re-opened it after the winning run was recorded. I now have two right-field corner seats for Sunday's game, so if you're in Vegas, your best bet is a 3-game sweep.
A couple of game notes. I haven't actually been to many Rockies games this year, so I hadn't seen Ture-lure-witzki's stance. Let's just say it would make Larry Craig proud. I have no idea how he generates power from there, but evidently he does.
Blown home run call or no, the Rockies got themselves into trouble all by themselves. Their defense - which has been sparkling all year - generated one formal error and three mistakes. Holliday misplayed that fly, but the third-baseman-at-the-time pulled Helton off first with a wild throw, and Tulewitzki bobbled what should have been a relatively easy play at first. If that's nerves, then at least nobody else in the NL has much playoff experience, either.
At the time, I thought manager Clint Hurdle was way too fast with his relievers, running through Fuentes, Affeldt, Corpas, and Buchholz in the space of about two innings. Herges was game, but the quick moves - especially pulling Corpas for a pinch-hitter who flailed away like a pitcher - left Hurdle with Jorge Julio in the 13th. Julio was so wild, you wanted to yell, "Aim at the mascot!" But having survived, he's left with a basically intact bullpen, since nobody went more than warmups.
I did think the intentional walk in the 11th, with one out, was playing with fire. I've never liked intentional walks. Pitchers are trained to find location, and making them throw four straight junk balls just never seems like a good idea. But further, suppose the batter sacrifices the runner to third. There are two out. The next guy needs a hit to bring him home, the same as you need to score the guy from second. And if you're that scared of him, the pitcher's spot was up next. Hurdle had a chance to force Black to either waste a chance or a waste a pitcher, and he passed it up hoping for a ground ball.
These are quibbles, to a degree. The Rockies have played both the Phils and the D-Backs well. And for the moment, we do indeed have Rocktober. When a friend of mine - a Red Sox fan - asked if I had ever seen anything like it, I couldn't resist the obvious. This wasn't Bill Buckner or Bill Mazeroski, or even Kirk Gibson. But it'll do.
