Rockies Walk Off in 11, Wild Card Lead at 3

With the Braves breathing down their necks, the Rockies responded with a bang.

Pinch-hitter Chris Iannetta blasted a two-run walk-off homer off David Weathers of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 11th inning on Tuesday night to give the Rockies a 7-5 win over the Brew Crew. Iannetta is a backup catcher who lost his starting job last month to Yorvit Torrealba, who got hot at the plate.

The Rockies were already in a celebratory mood when the news broke in the middle of the sixth that the Braves had just lost to the Florida Marlins, stretching their Wild Card lead to 2.5 games. Then their prospects got even brighter, as they worked their way to a 5-2 lead heading into the ninth, looking like they were cruising to a three game lead with five to play.

Then, Jason Kendall knocked a three-run shot out of the park to tie the game in the ninth inning, and the Rockies were headed to extra innings. Kendall has hit one other home run in 433 at bats this season.

Luckily, Iannetta delivered his 16th home run of the season right when it counted. With five games to play, it would take a meteoric, Mets-ian collapse for the Rockies to miss the playoffs at this point.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 5:56 pm by bryan

Rockies Stumble With 10 Games to Play

The Colorado Rockies feel two teams breathing down their necks for the NL Wild Card spot, but it isn’t time to panic in the Rocky Mountains yet.

With ten games to play, the Rockies maintain a four game lead over the San Francisco Giants and the Atlanta Braves, despite slipping in a game against the San Diego Padres last night.

The Rockies’ All-Star pitcher, Jason Marquis, has seemingly suddenly lost control of his deadly slider, with barely two weeks separating the Rockies from the playoffs. With only two more starts to get his pitching under control, Marquis appears unfazed.

“Oh, plenty of time,” Marquis said. “I’ll work hard in between starts, try to get the feel back. I might lighten up my throwing a little bit, we’re so deep into the season. I’ll watch some film, throw a nice light ‘pen and try to get my feel back for the bottom of the strike zone.”

Matt Holliday makes his first return to Coors Field in an opposing uniform this weekend as the Rockies welcome the St. Louis Cardinals; if the Cards beat the Chicago Cubs tonight, they clinch a playoff spot and could make the Rockies’ road to the playoffs that much easier.

Friday, September 25, 2009 at 7:22 am by bryan

Rockies’ Wild Card Lead Stays at 4 Games

The Colorado Rockies continue to be frontrunners for the NL Wild Card race, as they lead division rival San Francisco by four games with only 15 games to play.

After losing two of three to the Giants in a series at San Francisco last week, the Rockies rebounded over the weekend by taking two of three games from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

They open a series against the lowly San Diego Padres tonight.

With the division championship all but out of the question (the Dodgers lead by six games), the Rockies simply must focus on the Wild Card race and managing their lead over their division rivals. The Giants and the Rockies do not play each other for the rest of the season.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 9:16 pm by bryan

Rockies holding onto wild card

The Colorado Rockies still appear to be the favorite to land the wild card in the National League playoffs.

After closing in on first place in the N.L. West, the Rockies have now dropped four games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

However, they have been able to increase their lead for a wild card berth to four games over the San Francisco Giants.

It was just a couple of years ago that the Rockies made an incredible late season run and ended up in the World Series. Maybe they have a similar type of run in them for this year.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009 at 6:46 pm by steve

Tulowitzki strains back

The Colorado Rockies may have won yet another pivotal game, but they may have lost a very important part of their team.

Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who has rebounded with a big season, strained his back after hitting a game-tying single.

Tulowitzki said he was unsure of what exactly happened, but that he felt his back lock up after swinging through the pitch.

He is being listed by the club as day-to-day and the shortstop is hopeful that he will be back in the lineup within the next couple of days.

Back injuries are hard to predict as we’ve seen recently with Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, so this is definitely a situation worth monitoring.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 5:19 pm by steve

Rockies pushing Dodgers in West

The Colorado Rockies looked like one of baseball’s worst teams in the first two months, making their current situation that much more surprising.

Not only did the team rally back to eventually climb into and then take the lead of the wild card race, but they are now breathing down the neck of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the N.L. West.

The Dodgers, who once had a commanding lead of the division, now sit just six games ahead of the Rockies and San Francisco Giants.

The Rockies have slipped a little bit over the past two weeks, allowing the gap to increase between themselves and first place.

It also has allowed the Giants to pull into a tie for the wild card spot and other potential contenders to make up ground.

Saturday, September 5, 2009 at 8:45 am by steve