Goodness gracious. In a seesaw battle, the Colorado Rockies won their 14th game in their last 15, defeating the San Diego Padres 9-8 tonight in 13 innings.
The game ended in bizarre fashion. After the Padres went ahead 8-6 in the top of the 13th, they brought in all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman to close the game in the bottom of the inning. He couldn't do it. The first hitter doubled to right-center, the next doubled to left-center to score the first guy, and then Matt Holliday tripled off the wall in right to score the second guy. With the game now tied at 8, the next batter hit a fly ball to medium right field, and Holliday tagged up after the catch and tried to score. The ball came in to the catcher on the fly, and it looked like he blocked the plate as Holliday tried to slide headfirst around/under him. Replays showed the catcher never really had control of the ball, but the replays also seemed to show that Holliday never touched the plate. The catcher recovered the ball and tried to tag him, but the umpire made a delayed safe call and that was the game. If there was instant replay in baseball using the same rules the NFL does, the call could not have been overturned because the evidence that Holliday had or had not touched the plate was inconclusive.
That was one of the most exciting baseball games I've seen in quite a while; fortunately I had no real vested rooting interest in it or I'd have suffered several heart attacks as the game went back and forth.
The Rockies move on to play the Phillies on Wednesday.
Posted by Linkmeister at October 1, 2007 07:40 PM | TrackBackIt really was a heck of a ballgame.
Posted by: DXMachina at October 2, 2007 04:03 AMToo bad it didn't go another half-dozen innings (or more). Speaking as a Phan, I wanted those Rockies to be so tired on Wednesday that they couldn't even stand up.
Too bad the umps were so much a part of the result. Not just the final play (I agree, it looked like Holliday never touched the plate ... and McClellan's very delayed safe call was really, really confusing), but the was-it-a-homer earlier in the game as well. You want the umps to be invisible, but they certainly weren't last night.
Posted by: N in Seattle at October 2, 2007 06:36 AMLink, it's games like this that make alllllll the madness of the regular season worth it, no?
Posted by: das411 at October 2, 2007 09:03 AMMy ideal season would entail all series played out to their five or seven-game max. I hate it when baseball season ends.
Posted by: Linkmeister at October 2, 2007 03:15 PMI detect a subtle fall-off in Phillies fever the past two nights.
Just spent four days visiting friends in Boston. I walked past Fenway the day before the Red Sox-Angels opener and saw a tour group being taken through the park. Man, with Camden Yards and all the sanitized faux-urban ballparks that followed, a real urban ballpark, with frontage right on real city streets, is precious.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
I'd love to see Fenway, but from what I've heard, the casual fan may be getting priced out of the experience. I do agree that the authentic old parks have a different feel than that of the new ones, but I'll bet the newer ones have better amenities!
Posted by: Linkmeister at October 5, 2007 08:03 AMWell, even at Fenway, I hear that the old troughs have been replaced by modern urinals.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/