I should know by now.  After the Giants put two across in the top of the 14th, I turned off the broadcast.  It had been a nice game, but the Rocks had more or less tossed it away earlier on Tulowitzski’s baserunning error, and their inability to make anything of all their men on third.  That had made it 3-1, and I figured I needed to concentrate on the County website.

So naturally, when I go to check the scores, they’ve won 6-4.   Instead of being back where they started when the Giants came into town, they’ve opened up a 4 game lead for the Wild Card, and closed to within 3 of the Dodgers.  The Dodgers, by the way, are in town for a 3-game set starting tomorrow night, so it’s possible – although extraordinarily unlikely – that the Rockies could be tied for first by the weekend, and playing for home field in the NL playoffs.  They have played close to .700 ball since the beginning of June, come back from almost dead last in the league (the Nationals have had that pinned down since early April), and are now seriously thinking about playing in October again.

Apparently, the Colorado Rockies are simply a force of nature.

I never liked the intentional walk. I’ve always believed that the intentional walk messes up the pitcher’s rhythm. He’s trained and trained to throw pitches, and you’re asking him to interrupt that to play catch for four tosses. You’re also facing the next batter’s on-base percentage, as opposed to the first batter’s batting average.

But I especially don’t like the intentional walk when your pitcher nearly sends the first pitchout over the catcher’s head. If they guy’s that tired, and just hanging on, why on earth do you want him facing a power hitter – even a journeyman power hitter – with the bases loaded? Pretty much everything Jim Tracey has tries this season has worked, but he left Rincon in for exactly one pitch too long, and even I saw it coming.

CORRECTION: Franklin Morales came in to pitch, forcing the Mets to pinch-hit Tatis.  So Tracey didn’t leave Rincon in one pitch too long at all.  The hazards of multi-tasking.  That said, you’re still almost always making the odds against you worse by putting more men on base with the same number of outs.