Recap: Phillies 6, Rockies 5
Turning point: Jimmy Rollins led off the ninth with a single against closer Huston Street and ultimately scored the winning run. Shane Victorino sacrificed Rollins to second, and he moved to third when Chase Utley topped a ball in front of the plate, and Street’s high throw pulled first baseman Todd Helton off the bag. Ryan Howard followed with a game-winning sacrifice fly.
At the plate: Carlos Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, a walk, a stolen base and three runs scored. He singled in the first and scored on a fielder’s choice, homered off Joe Blanton with two out in the fourth and led off the seventh with a double and scored on Troy Tulowitzki’s sacrifice fly that tied the game at 5. Gonzalez walked with one out in the ninth off Brad Lidge and stole second but was stranded there, representing the tying run. After Gonzalez’s walk, pinch hitter Jason Giambi fouled out to third baseman Pedro Feliz and after Helton walked and was replaced by pinch runner Eric Young Jr., Tulowitzki flied to left. …Garrett Atkins singled home the second run in the first and hit a run-scoring, two-out double off the base of the center field wall in the third to give the Rockies a 3-1 lead. …Yorvit Torrealba, moved into the fifth spot in the lineup for the first time this season, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. …Utley went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a walk, hitting a homer in the first, singled and scored in a three-run fourth and paved the way to Howard’s game-winning sacrifice fly with his one-out single in the ninth. …Carlos Ruiz went 2-for-4, driving in runs with two-out singles in the fourth and sixth.
On the mound: Jason Hammel retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced, the exception being Utley’s homer, but was knocked out after 3 2/3 innings. After throwing 43 pitches in the first three innings, Hammel threw 33, and just 16 strikes, while giving up three hits and three walks, one with the bases loaded, in the fourth. …Six Rockies relievers combined to allow four hits and two runs in 5 1/3 innings. In addition to Street, Jose Contreras gave up a run. Working the sixth, Contreras issued consecutive one-out walks to Raul Ibanez and Pedro Feliz and a run-scoring single to Ruiz. ….Phillies starter J.A. Happ gave up five hits and three runs in three innings. Five relievers combined to work six innings and allow five hits and two runs with Ryan Madson, Chad Durbin and Lidge, the Phillies final three pitchers, each working a scoreless inning.
Numbers game: 8 walks issued by the Rockies pitchers, who walked five in 17 innings in the first two games of the NLDS.
He said it:
“When you have a guy that retires nine out of the first 10 hitters, one of the last things you think is that you’d be removing him from the game after 3 2/3 innings. But that’s exactly what we had to do in order to stay in the game.”
Manager Jim Tracy on Hammel’s outing going so bad, so soon
Someone tell me if I’m out of line here because I very might well be…
But right now Clint Barmes batting 8th is like having back-to-back pitchers in the lineup.
I’m to the point where I say go ahead and let Stewart start at 2nd tomorrow. I know he hasn’t played there in awhile, but we’re missing his bat (even against lefties). You definitely lose a lot defensively so maybe I’m just impatient and totally off on this one but it’s getting frustrating watching #12 go up there with just no chance at delivering a hit.
Ubaldo needs to put the team on his shoulders in Game 4. Come on Rocks.
Food for thought: 1.Why don’t Rockies pitchers pitch inside to left handed hitters? 2. Why when a Rockies pitcher misses with a fastball does Torrealba on the very next pitch call for an off-speed pitch?(he has done it all year) 3. Why does Hawpe as well as Tulo (with Lidge who has struggled all year) swing at the second-third pitch they see? 4. Why is it lately that the Rockies starting pitchers seem to loose focus in the middle of game (ie:4th-5th inning?
I’m sure glad that’s over.
I don’t really enjoy getting the other team(s) to where we need to get them.
I mean in spring training we lost like, what, the first seven games?
Then, of course, we give the other teams a fifteen game lead…quite sporting of us.
Now does anyone really think Ubaldo is going to lose to the Phillies two straight games?
Of course not.
Do you really think Aaron Cook is going to lose a game five?
No way.
Of course, if we went with Marquis last night we wouldn’t be in this mess.
But it’s the Rocky way.
Bring on the Dodgers!
That game came down to one thing… walks. I can’t believe that a playoff caliber pitching staff walked that many hitters in one night and were still in position to win the game. EIGHT WALKS! That is way too many for any team let alone the Phillies. There is absolutely no excuse for it. The rockies must have no confidence in themselves to walk that many hitters. That is something that a High School team would be very disappointed about and this is a playoff Major League team. Walks always turn into runs and that is how they scored most of their runs last night. Inexcusable! Don’t blame Yorvit, Barmes, Tulo, or Hawpe. Blame the walks.
I thought that was a really good game. The Rockies were a hit away from tying it, and would have won if Tulo’s deep fly had gone out, which it sure looked like when it left his bat. If not for the 6000 walks issued by Rockies pitchers, and Hammel’s complete melt-down in the 4th (what was that all about?), I kind of felt this could have been a laugher. Give the Phils credit for timely hitting when Col spotted them a couple of free baserunners.
Today Ubaldo will be rock solid and the Rockies will win, that is, if Baldy does not melt down in the middle innings as our pitchers have been doing a lot of lately. And I like our chances with Cook in Game 5. GET LOUD!!!
Umps admit to blowing the Utley foul ball call in the 9th. Could have been a game changing turn of events there. Is it time MLB implemented a challenge system like in the NFL that allows a manager to challenge a couple times during the game or something? At least during in the post season? Now in the NFL a team that loses the challenge loses a time out so there’ a penalty of sorts…not sure how that’d work in baseball though.
No replay in baseball. The Rockies deserved to loose that game. After going to the Broncos game yesterday and watching the painful replay process it has cemented in my mind that it is a terrible idea. Every time there is a challenge there will have to be a TV timeout. This means that no matter how quickly the ump is able to decide on the call there will still be a 2 minute pause in the game. This kills the natural flow of the game. A pitcher would have to keep his arm loose and throw a few warmup pitches. It is easy to blame the umps for a missed call but what about the Rockies pitching and approaches at the plate in the last two innings? Bottom line is that in baseball the team that should win usually does and last night it was the Phillies. One call against the Rockies did not cost them the game. Just like one call against the Twins did not cost them the series… Bad baseball looses games not bad umpiring.
N Wagner, you nailed it: the walks killed us. Hammel was bad enough, but then Contreras joined the party.
Contreras has the weirdest aging pattern I’ve ever seen. He’s listed at 37, but probably a bit older — I don’t agree with the people who think he’s well into his 40s, but 39 or 40 seems most likely based on when he emerged on the Cuba baseball scene.
So what do we expect to see out of a guy that age? The Pedro pattern: declining velocity, mixing in more types of offspeed stuff, sometimes an elevated walk rate as they try to paint the corners, but generally good fastball command even though velocity is down. Contreras, on the other hand, is like a raw rookie — think Ubaldo a couple years ago. Throwing 95, hard slider, and … wild. Even with the fastball. Weird.
Belisle stepped up as usual. Betancourt was Betancourt, the live fastball saving the day again. Street wasn’t particularly sharp, but he actually got away with his hangers, but got burned on a ball drilled into the mound and a swinging bunt/foul that was called a base hit.
Clearly Happ was nothing to fear, and the right-handed heavy lineup (Atkins/Spilly) produced. Atkins, for one, is in the groove he’s been searching for all season long. But Torrealba batting 5th? He killed a couple rallies. Barmes did give one ball a ride if I remember correctly; I agree that you’d love to not give pitchers a break with the Barmes-pitcher 8-9 arrangement, but there’s really no good option at 2B — I just don’t trust starting EY defensively.
Oh, and it was cold. I’ll admit it, I bailed in the 7th — I would’ve gutted it out, but my family couldn’t take it anymore. The 8:00 starting time was ridiculous. It didn’t get really cold until about 9:00, when a light breeze kicked in. Even with a 5:30 starting time this games would’ve been November Broncos Sunday tolerable. The weather didn’t seem to impact the players much, but the crowd really thinned out by the time I left. And that’s a shame.
I’d rather have the right call determined than worry about a couple more minutes tacked on to the game time…especially in important games. The game was over 4 hours long, what’s another two minutes? The next morning it’s not right having to read that the umps admit they blew the call after they saw the replay.
Granted Utley could have hit a homer after that “non-foul”, but as the game stood the missed call did impact the outcome.
I agree the Rox missed their chances and had too many walks and all that, but just looking at the big picture here.
Why is it Giambi is always called up in the clutch? He might be great in the clubhouse but Seth Smith has been the most consistent left handed clutch hitter.I trust his skills over Giambi’s experience. He should be hitting in those late game oppuntunites.
I agree with Wagner that the Rockies did not deserve to win that game. But I would not go so far as to say the Phils deserved to win either. If not for walks and blown calls, Philly would have been held to 1 or maybe 2 runs. And Philadelphia’s pitching was atrocious. I also agree that the Rockies have been over-anxious at the plate in key situations. Give the Rockie pitchers better control, their hitters more patience in key at-bats (such as Atkins’ excellent AB in the 1st inning), and the umps eyeglasses, and they can win this thing! It’s not a lot to ask for, is it?
Everybody is making some really good points. But that is baseball. I was wondering why there was not more of an argument by Tracy over the Utley at bat.
The real joy for me though is watching CarGo play baseball. He is something truly special and we are watching the growth of a Larry Walker 5 tool player right before our eyes. Just an absolute joy to watch in all aspects of the game.
Ubaldo is lights out today and Cook shuts the door. We should get Lee figured out and Hamels has had 2 bad outings against us this year. Hopefully it all works out this way.
What, though, is with the 4:00 start. They are the only game and TBS has a choice of anytime they want, why 4:00. Is it just to appease the East coast fans?
Go Rox
I’m still cold.
TBS is not making Rockies fans happy and you would think they would at least want some ratings for today’s game. Shoot with East Coast traffic a lot of their fans won’t get home either and see the first pitch.
I know it’s just venting but hiring the Rockies and Phillies announcers for these games would have been better than their crew trying to fumble through explaining these games.
The umpiring this postseason has sure been magnified, but in the end this game I agree with you guys that it came down to the walks given up by the Rockies. That was atrocious.
It was darn cold last night, here is my take, 8 walks lead or particitpated in direcly to probably 4-5 runs. Otherwise we win comfortably. Our youth was on stage in the last 2 innings, swinging at early count pitches with a pitcher who is iffy at best lately especially Lidge. Can’t believe the umps have blown so many calls in the playoffs already and we aren’t even to the Division Championships yet, shocking, something must be done to get the calls correct!
Rock on Rocktoberfest!!!
4:00 starting time is for the East Coast. We’re luck it’s Columbus Day (a much bigger deal in the Northeast) … it it were an ordinary Monday, we’d probably be looking at a 6:00 start to get this into prime time in the NE.
Still, 4:00 is nothing compared to last night. I can’t help but think TBS really blew it here. How big was the TV audience in the Philly area (one of the nation’s biggest markets) at 2:00 am, when the game was finally wrapped up? Are all those lost viewers made up for by the Californians watching the Rockies-Phillies? I doubt it.
Yesterday ’s 8 walks and night of the living cold is history.
Today will be a Fall classic.
Go Rockies
Go Carlos GONEzalez
Atkins AB ’s last night were the best he had all year.
U ball doe !
Yeah, it’s been a horrible series for tv times for both fanbases.
“I was wondering why there was not more of an argument by Tracy over the Utley at bat.”
According to the post-game, it’s because Tracy didn’t know. He went out to talk about the call at first, but he said he didn’t know the ball hit Utley. The FSN guys noted that none of the guys on the field (Street, Torrealba, the left side of the infield) indicated it was an issue, so Tracy didn’t pick up on it.
It was an exciting game, it’s too bad that a blown call (or two) had some much effect on the game. However that one play didn’t lose it. Street had already given up a hit to Rollins and then gave up the long sac fly by Howard and the pitchers walked too many Phils although if anybody could figure out the strike zone let me know. And the Rocks had plenty of chances to score more runs but they were all too anxious to be a hero, except for Cargo who is playing out of this world.
MLB has to do something about the umpiring. It’s been horrific in all the 4 of the series. If I’m not mistaken the agreement with the umpires union is that basically all umpires are major leaguers and thus assignments are not based on merit but on who’s turn it is. During the 2nd round they will have different umps and then during the World Series six different umps. I believe the NFL and perhaps the NBA and NHL have the best refs during the regular season work the first rounds, and then the best refs during the 1st round, work the 2nd round etc. If somebody knows different about MLB let me know, but these guys can’t be the best.
I still think as long as Jim Tracy keeps starting Garrett Atkins over Ian Stewart the results just aren’t good……. GA is a downer and just doesn’t try!
Leave your response!
Recent Comments
More at Inside The Rockies
More around the Web
Newsroom
Reference Room
Blogroll
Archives