PHILADELPHIA -- Getting down 1-0 in a best-of-five series really set off the panic buttons in the Rockies clubhouse."It's unbelievable," Jason Giambi told FanHouse on Thursday after Colorado's taut 5-4 defeat of Philadelphia in Game 2 of the team's NL Division Series. "They don't get rattled. They don't start going, 'Oh my God.' They don't feel pressure. They have a good time together. It's all fun. Today they were goofing off like it was a frat house."
Apparently, when you've been 12 games under .500 and 15 1/2 games out in the regular season, a 1-0 postseason hole doesn't seem very deep.
"We've been down and out before," Todd Helton said before the game. "A quarter way through the season, everybody kicked us to the curb and thought we were done. But nobody in that locker room ever thought that. We always knew that we had the talent. It's a long season. We knew we had a chance to turn it around. And we did that."
The game itself Thursday was the opposite, with the Rockies -- shut down in Game 1 by Cliff Lee -- playing from ahead. They scored four runs off 2008 postseason hero Cole Hamels, who bolted soon after being removed for a pinch-hitter as his wife, Heidi, went into labor."They know once they get going, they're going to score some runs," Giambi said of his teammates. "They're definitely a huge team when they score first. They get the ball rolling."
Yorvit Torrealba did that with a two-run homer in the fourth that made the score 3-0.
Torrealba has caught all 116 innings of Rockies postseason games since 2007, but why? He was awful throwing out runners this year (4-of-53) and hadn't homered since May 6.
"I don't even believe it myself, I'm telling you," he said of his shot off a Hamels hanging curve. "I'm being honest, I forgot when was the last time I hit one.
"I didn't even know how to run the bases. I didn't know whether to run hard or slow down."
"They don't get rattled. They don't start going, 'Oh my God.' They don't feel pressure. They have a good time together. It's all fun."
-- Jason Giambi But even though the Phillies have come back from three runs or more down to win just once after the All-Star break -- on the final day of the season -- Colorado labored to hang on. There was some, uh, interesting managing by Jim Tracy and Philadelphia's seven hits over the final four innings.
The victory didn't feel anywhere close to safe until, with two on and two out in the ninth, second baseman Clint Barmes caught Shane Victorino's soft liner. That allowed the Rockies to go home with a split.
"It's going to make the flight a lot easier when we hit our turbulence in Colorado," Ryan Spilborghs said.
"It's going to make it hard on Philly to come in there. They're going to be hoping to get a split."
Since baseball went to the 2-2-1 Division Series format in 1998, teams that managed a split on the road in the first two games have won 12 of 19 series.
And the Rockies went 51-30 at home this year -- 44-17 since May 29.
"We feel really confident," Spilborghs said. "It's our turf. We enjoy the cold. We enjoy our fans. We enjoy everything about it."
With their bullpen so shaky, the Phillies used starters Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ in relief Thursday, and Happ lasted just a batter after Seth Smith lined a ball off his left leg (x-rays were negative).
So Pedro Martinez is the likely Game 3 starter for Philly. And because of a sore neck, Martinez will go into that game having thrown four innings and 84 pitches in the past three weeks.
Phillies vs. Rockies
PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 08: Pitcher Joe Blanton #56 of the Philadelphia Phillies rubs his head as he talks with catcher Carlos Ruiz #51 (L) and Chase Utley #26 against the Colorado Rockies in Game Two of the NLDS during the 2009 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park on October 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Joe Blanton;Carlos Ruiz;Chase Utley
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PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 08: Ryan Madson #46 of the Philadelphia Phillies throws a pitch against the Colorado Rockies in Game Two of the NLDS during the 2009 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park on October 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ryan Madson
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PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 08: Manager Charlie Manuel #41 of the Philadelphia Phillies walks back to the dugout with his head down against the Colorado Rockies in Game Two of the NLDS during the 2009 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park on October 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Rockies won 5-4. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Charlie Manuel
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PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 08: Dexter Fowler #24 of the Colorado Rockies hits a sacrifice fly to drive in Ryan Spilborghs #19 in the top of the seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game Two of the NLDS during the 2009 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park on October 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Dexter Fowler
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PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 08: Troy Tulowitzki #2 of the Colorado Rockies walks towards first base flanked by manager Jim Tracy and trainer Keith Dugger (R) after Tulowitzki was hit by a pitch from Brett Myers #39 of the Philadelphia Phillies in Game Two of the NLDS during the 2009 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park on October 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Troy Tulowitzki;Jim Tracy;Keith Dugger
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PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 08: (L-R) Miguel Cairo #9 and Jimmy Rollins #11 of the Philadelphia Phillies look on during a pitching change against the Colorado Rockies in Game Two of the NLDS during the 2009 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park on October 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Miguel Cairo;Jimmy Rollins
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PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 08: Antonio Bastardo #58 of the Philadelphia Phillies throws a pitch against the Colorado Rockies in Game Two of the NLDS during the 2009 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park on October 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The ROckies won 5-4. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Antonio Bastardo
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PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 08: Jayson Werth #28 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Colorado Rockies in Game Two of the NLDS during the 2009 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park on October 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Rockies won 5-4. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jayson Werth
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PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 08: Jayson Werth #28 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Colorado Rockies in Game Two of the NLDS during the 2009 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park on October 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Rockies won 5-4. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jayson Werth
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PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 08: J.A. Happ #43 of the Philadelphia Phillies takes some warm up tosses off of the mound under the watchful eyes of home plate umpire Bob Davidson, Phillies trainer Scott Sheridan and manager Charlie Manuel #41 after Happ was struck on the leg by a ball hit by Seth Smith #7 of the Colorado Rockies in Game Two of the NLDS during the 2009 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park on October 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** J.A. Happ;Scott Sheridan;Charlie Manuel;Bob Davidson
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Carlos Gonzalez, 5-for-9 so far in the series, was asked if he has ever faced Pedro.
"I faced him," Gonzalez said, "in PlayStation."
Game 3 will be the real thing, and the Rockies resiliency is still alive.
There were times late this season, as Colorado was winning just enough to off San Francisco, then Atlanta, for the NL wild card, that Barmes would ask Helton, "Is that what it's like to play in playoff baseball?"
And Helton would tell him, "That's exactly what it's like."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-09-2009 @ 10:29AM
celtsic said...
LETS GO PHILLIES...LETS GO!!
Reply
10-09-2009 @ 10:56AM
capistrana7 said...
Rocktober belongs to the Rockies!