DENVER – There were police motorcycles that circled the warning track afterward, and fireworks that went up at Coors Field. Behind second base, the podium got set up, and soon enough the trophy was presented.
The Rockies are now in the World Series, clinching the NL pennant last night with a 6-4 victory and what was an impressive four-game NLCS sweep of the Diamondbacks.
In the Coors stands, there were brooms, and ultimately in the Rockies clubhouse, there was champagne.
Last night did come with late anxiety but it also eventually came with later relief, as the Rockies staved off an eighth-inning surge and a ninth-inning threat by Arizona. When they did, they continued what is an undefeated and incredible postseason, and they put themselves in the Fall Classic for the first time in their 15-year history.
Last night, 50,213 towel-waving fans at sold-out Coors watched the Rockies essentially clinch things in a six-run fourth inning, the highlight coming from appropriately, their best player – Matt Holliday – who smacked a three-run homer to give them a five-run cushion.
The superstar left fielder, a major candidate for NL MVP, earned the NLCS MVP last night, hitting .333 with two homers and four RBIs.
The Rockies’ remarkable berth in the World Series arrives thanks to an absolutely insane streak that’s seen them win 21 of their last 22 games. They’re unbeaten in the playoffs at 7-0 – a three-game sweep of the Phillies, a four-game whitewash of Arizona – and next Wednesday night they’ll open the Fall Classic at either Jacobs Field in Cleveland or Fenway Park in Boston.
Holliday’s homer was probably last night’s most exuberant moment, but reliever Manny Corpas’ battle against Arizona’s Tony Clark in the eighth was certainly the most anxious.
Colorado held what seemed like a slam-dunk-insurmountable 6-1 lead in the eighth, but reliever Brian Fuentes gave up Chris Snyder’s two-out, three-run homer to cut it to 6-4.
Justin Upton followed with a triple, bringing the tying run to the plate. In came Corpas, the Rockies closer, to face pinch-hitter Clark, and on a full-count pitch the big-hitting Clark whiffed at a slider.
The D’backs then brought the tying run to the plate again in the ninth with one out. But Corpas got Stephen Drew and Eric Byrnes to end it – and clinch it.
After finishing the regular season with the NL’s best record and sweeping the Cubs in the NLDS, the Diamondbacks put up only eight runs in four games against Colorado. Arizona could have a lethal lineup in a couple of years – manager Bob Melvin acknowledged yesterday that, “I think it’s the start of something very big for us” – but the Rockies will be playing on.
Last night, the Rockies were down 1-0 going into the fourth inning, but with runners on second and third and two outs, pinch-hitter Seth Smith came up for pitcher Franklin Morales. Smith hardly roped a shot off the wall, but he came through.
Smith blooped a ball down the left-field line, two runs scoring as Coors immersed itself in what had to be towel-waving ecstasy. On the scoreboard, it read NOT IN OUR PARK.
The Rockies then got a break as Arizona first baseman Conor Jackson mishandled Willy Taveras’ grounder for an error. Kazuo Matsui knocked an RBI single for a 3-1 lead, and Holliday then came up and blasted the Diamondbacks into the offseason.
Holliday cracked a three-run homer to center, fireworks going off afterward, the crowd chanting “MVP” and the scoreboard showing ROCKTOBER. The 452-foot shot made it 6-1.
Jackson had delivered an RBI single for the D’backs in the third inning, putting them up 1-0. But Colorado came back with towels, brooms, runs and eventually the trophy.
