Rockies deliver wake-up call in 14th inning
| August 25, 2009 | 9:26 AM
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The lesson from Monday night: Don’t go to sleep, even if it is the 14th inning.
The Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants battled through a 1-1 pitchers duel for 13 innnings before the Giants opened things up in the top of the 14th. Adam Eaton, the Rockies’ seventh pitcher of the night, allowed a pair of triples and three walks to give the Giants a 4-1 lead.
But the bottom of the 14th was one of the strangest innings the Rockies have ever played.
- Dexter Fowler led off the inning and with a 3-2 count, fouled a ball off his knee so hard he could barely walk. But he stood back in the box, took ball four and limped around the bases thereafter. The Denver Post reports he will likely miss some time with the injury.
- Clint Barmes popped out.
- Chris Iannetta, the last player on the bench, had to pinch-hit for Carlos Gonzalez. Gonzalez had come into the game in the 12th inning as a pinch-hitter but he could only bunt because of the cut on his left hand. In the 14th, a bunt would do the Rockies no good so Iannetta pinch-hit and singled to center.
- Troy Tulowitzki walked to load the bases. That changed the inning because it allowed the next hitter to do absolutely nothing.
- Eaton had to hit because the Rockies had no more position players left on the bench. Eaton was under instructions from Jim Tracy to not swing at a pitch, no matter how good it looked. With one out, a strikeout would still leave the tying run at first base, and Tracy didn’t want to take the chance that Eaton would ground into a double play. Eaton followed his instructions well and managed to draw a walk on five pitches. The walk scored a run and made the game 4-2.
- Ryan Spilborghs, who had missed several oppotunities to win the game previously and misplayed one of the Giants’ 14th inning triples, redeemed himself with a grand slam to left-center.
Normally, this was the kind of game for which we would inventory the Rockies’ missed opportunities. The team left 14 runners on base and botched a golden opportunity in the 10th inning when Troy Tulowitzki singled with Carlos Gonzalez at second. The Rockies would have had runners at the corners and no one out, but Tulowitzki was got between first and second. The Rockies also had chances in the sixth, ninth and 11th innings.
But the missed chances mean nothing compared to what the Rockies’ come-from-behind win accomplished. The Rockies managed to take three of four from the Giants, climbed to within three games of the Dodgers and extended their wild-card lead to four games. They sent the Giants home extremely late with a battered and tired bullpen and a long plane ride to relive the loss rather than prepare to face the Diamondbacks and Dan Haren on Tuesday. And you have to wonder how many Dodgers players, who arrived in town Monday, were out on the town or watching the game in their hotel rooms when the game ended. Maybe it will mean nothing, but seeing your upcoming opponent win a game like that — not in the abstract of TV highlights or the out-of-town scoreboard but right where it happened, then see it in the newspaper and hear it on the radio wherever you go the next day — it has to give you a moment of pause. At the very least the Dodgers must know that this Rockies team is one they haven’t yet seen this season.
Journals, Sports, Steve Foster
adam eaton, carlos gonzalez, chris iannetta, clint barmes, colorado rockies, dan haren, dexter fowler, jim tracy, los angeles dodgers, ryan spilborghs, san francisco giants, troy tulowitzki
