NLCS: Game 1 @ Arizona

[riverside sluggers]

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20071010/capt.4beefcf7edb341489e030ac5dc2b1265.nlcs_rockies_diamondbacks_baseball_azeg109.jpg

Jeff Francis

 

Vs

 

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20071010/capt.sge.ids56.101007131039.photo01.photo.default-512x341.jpg

Brandon Webb

 

Colorado (90-73) at Arizona (90-72)

 

The Colorado Rockies' late-season surge nearly allowed them to catch the Arizona Diamondbacks for the NL West division crown. Now the teams will meet for a bigger prize.

The streaking Rockies make their first appearance in the NL Championship Series on Thursday night when they meet the Diamondbacks in Game 1 at Chase Field.

 

Colorado has won 17 of its last 18 games entering this series. The lone loss was to Arizona and ace Brandon Webb on Sept. 28, a defeat that allowed the Diamondbacks to clinch the NL West crown at Coors Field. The Rockies recovered to win the final two games of that series, and defeated San Diego in a one-game playoff for the NL wild card to earn the franchise's second-ever postseason berth. They followed that with a three-game sweep of Philadelphia to advance for the first time in team history.

 

"It's been worth the wait," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "Because you don't ever know if you're going to get there. But you gotta keep following the course. You gotta have faith. You gotta have faith that sometimes is blind and you just keep holding on and you keep moving forward and maybe there's only a small group of you still doing it." The opponent will be a familiar one. Both teams hold spring training in Tucson, met to open the season and split their first 16 meetings before Colorado won the last two games of the season-ending series after Arizona secured the division.

 

"The two teams do know each other," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "Eighteen times during the season, spring training. So it's going to be about executing."

 

The Diamondbacks, who won only 76 games last year, defied expectations by finishing with the best record in the league. They finished with the worst batting average in the NL at .250, but have used solid pitching, timely hitting and a team-oriented approach all season, including the recent sweep of the Chicago Cubs. "You have 25 guys pulling for each other," said Diamondbacks outfielder Eric Byrnes, whose total of just 83 RBIs led the club. "I've never heard one guy complain all year. We have guys who are ready to win. We've already exceeded expectation so far and we're going to continue to do so."

 

Both clubs are loaded with young talent. Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, a leading Rookie of the Year candidate, drove in 99 runs and hit 24 homers -- an NL record by a shortstop. Arizona's key players include second-year shortstop Stephen Drew, who went 7-for-14 against the Cubs, and leadoff hitter Chris Young -- a rookie who hit a team-high 32 homers. The Diamondbacks also start two other rookies, third baseman Mark Reynolds and right fielder Justin Upton.

 

"With this team, everybody calls us young, but I think it's the most exciting team I've been on," said Drew, the younger brother of Boston's J.D. Drew. Colorado possesses the stronger lineup, and Matt Holliday and Todd Helton are big reasons why. Holliday won the NL batting title with a .340 average while Helton batted .320 -- reaching that plateau for the eighth time in his last nine years -- en route to the first playoff appearance of his 11-year career.

 

That lineup should be tested when it gets another shot at Webb (1-0, 1.29 ERA), who allowed two runs over seven innings to top Colorado starter Jeff Francis in a 4-2 victory Sept. 28. "We had a couple of opportunities against Brandon, didn't get it done, which is very difficult to swallow against a guy his caliber," Hurdle said. " And it was by far and away I think the nastiest stuff we'd seen from him in some time. He got better as the game went on. He kept rolling the sinkers we kept rolling the ball on the ground."

 

It was the only win for Webb, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, against the Rockies this year after going 0-3 with a 6.47 ERA in five prior starts. The right-hander had problems with numerous Colorado hitters, particularly Brad Hawpe, who went 9-for-15 with three homers and 11 RBIs against him in 2007. Holliday was 6-for-19 (.316). Webb also had trouble with Kaz Matsui, who went 8-for-17 this year to improve to 11-for-26 (.423) lifetime against the Arizona ace.

 

"He's a great hitter," Webb said. "He's one of those guys, he's a left-hand hitter, low ball hitter. He has power to pull to the side and be very selective in his pitch selection, too, that he swings at, and he goes the other way well." Webb showed few nerves in his first postseason start, yielding one run and four hits over seven innings in a 3-1 win over Chicago last Wednesday. Matsui, meanwhile, was a key contributor in Colorado's sweep of Philadelphia, going 5-for-12 with a grand slam and six RBIs. Catcher Yorvit Torrealba went 5-for-10 in the series.

 

Holliday, Tulowitzki and Helton were just a combined 6-for-37 (.162) in the division series. Helton, however, hit .375 against the Diamondbacks this year while Holliday batted .361. Francis (1-0, 3.00) will get another chance to face Webb after yielding four runs and seven hits over six innings in the Sept. 28 loss. The left-hander is 4-0 with a 3.24 ERA in seven lifetime starts at Chase Field and scattered five hits in seven innings of a 2-0 victory there May 23.

 

"I had a good changeup working that day," Francis said. "If tomorrow comes around, and it's just not as effective as I need it to be, I need to go to something else. "I can't just go out and try to recreate what I did five months ago. It's gotta be in the moment." Francis has limited Byrnes to four hits in 21 at-bats (.190) in his career, but Reynolds went 4-for-6 against him.

 

The Colorado ace won Game 1 of the Philadelphia series by allowing two runs and striking out eight over six innings in a 4-2 victory last Wednesday. Arizona closer Jose Valverde had seven of his major league-leading 47 saves against Colorado this season. Valverde closed out each victory of the division series with a scoreless inning, conceding just one hit overall. Game 2 is set for Friday at Phoenix.

[riverside sluggers]

Jeff Francis (**15 games vs Arizona, 8-2 with a 3.39 ERA---**Career at Chase Field in 8 games, 5-0 with a 2.99 ERA)

Chris Young, 1 for 10 (.100 avg) Walk, K, SB

Stephen Drew, 4 for 12 (.333 avg) RBI, Walk, 2 Ks

Eric Byrnes, 6 for 24 (.250 avg) 3 Doubles, 2 RBIs, 5 Ks

Conor Jackson, 7 for 26 (.269 avg) Double, 4 HRs, 7 RBIs, 3 Walks, 3 Ks

Mark Reynolds, 4 for 8 (.500 avg) Double

Chris Snyder, 6 for 24 (.250 avg) Double, HR, 4 RBIs, 5 Walks, 5 Ks

Justin Upton, 1 for 5 (.200 avg) 2 Ks

Augie Ojeda, 1 for 4 (.250 avg) RBI, Walk

Brandon Webb, 1 for 7 (.143 avg) 4 Ks

///

Alberto Callapso, 0 for 3, K

Jeff Cirillo, 1 for 2 (.500 avg) 2 Walks, SB

Tony Clark, 1 for 9 (.111 avg) RBI, Walk, K

Robby Hammock, 3 for 7 (.429 avg) Double, HR, 2 RBIs, 2 Ks

 

Brandon Webb (**22 games vs Colorado, 8-8 with a 3.99 ERA---**Career at Chase Field in 81 games, 35-26 with a 3.21 ERA)

Willy Tavares, 8 for 20 (.400 avg) RBI, Walk, 2 Ks, 4 SBs

Kazuo Matsui, 12 for 29 (.414 avg) 4 Doubles, 5 RBIs, 3 Walks, 3 Ks, SB

Matt Holiday, 11 for 44 (.250 avg) Double, HR, 6 RBIs, 2 Walks, 8 Ks

Todd Helton, 16 for 52 (.302 avg) 4 Doubles, Triple, 2 HRs, 8 RBIs, 16 Walks, 5 Ks, SB

Garrett Atkins, 6 for 31 (.194 avg) Double, RBI, 2 Walks, 7 Ks

Brad Hawpe, 15 for 40 (.375 avg) 2 Doubles, Triple, 4 HRs, 14 RBIs, 6 Walks, 10 Ks

Troy Tulowitzki, 3 for 18 (.167 avg) Double, 3 Walks, 3 Ks

Yorvit Torrealba, 4 for 23 (.174 avg) Double, RBI, 6 Ks

Jeff Francis, 1 for 5 (.200 avg)

///

Jeff Baker, 0 for 1

Jamey Carroll, 4 for 13 (.308 avg) 2 Doubles, RBI, Walk, K

Chris Ianetta, 4 for 12 (.333 avg) 2 RBIs, 3 Ks

Ryan Spilborghs, 1 for 8 (.125 avg) HR, RBI, 3 Ks

Cory Sullivan, 3 for 11 (.273 avg) Double, RBI, 3 Walks, 5 Ks, SB

 

**Francis this season vs Arizona in 4 games, 2-1 with a 2.50 ERA. **At Chase Field in 2 games, 2-0 with an 0.68 ERA. **On the road in 18 games, 11-4 with a 4.01 ERA

 

**Webb this season vs Colorado in 7 games, 1-4 with a 5.80 ERA. **At home in 18 games, 9-6 with a 3.20 ERA

[VA Sox Fan]

What a bad 2nd for Webb, so far. Bases loaded and not outs.

[Rodney Harrison]

What a bad game for Webb. 6 IP and 4 runs.

[Cityofchampions33]

New York paper reporting tehre were some 16 thousand tix left for this game (thats just plain disgusting), hows it look on TV?

[See Red]

Looks about full on TV. Rockies continue to roll, so far. 5-1 in the bottom of the 7th, D-Backs were threatening but Upton got called for interfering with Matsui trying to turn the double play and now the fans are throwing stuff and Hurdle's gotten the Rockies off the field.

[Thumper]

5-1 going into the 9th, threw me off guard I just tuned in. I now think Colorado will take it in 5-6.

[See Red]

Fascinating end to the ball game. Out at second oversliding the bag... 1-0 Rockies after a 5-1 victory... this team is absolutely rolling right now. Brandon Webb can't do it... so what's it going to take to stop this team?

[schillingouttheks]

Fascinating end to the ball game. Out at second oversliding the bag... 1-0 Rockies after a 5-1 victory... this team is absolutely rolling right now. Brandon Webb can't do it... so what's it going to take to stop this team?

 

CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona or Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling/Daisuke Matsuzaka?

[yankeessuck013]

CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona or Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling/Daisuke Matsuzaka?

 

The latter sounds good to me.

[schillingouttheks]

The latter sounds good to me.

 

I was only going to put the latter but then I thought better of myself.

[See Red]

CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona or Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling/Daisuke Matsuzaka?

 

I'm not so sure... :dunno:

 

Remember what they did to Beckett in Fenway?

 

Whatever kind of mojo this team has going (black uniform mojo?), they've obviously been absolutely incredible and are just on cruise control.

[schillingouttheks]

No, not specifically. I do remember what they did to Schilling though, seeing as I was actually at that abomination of a game. We got blown the f*** out.

[See Red]

No' date=' not specifically. I do remember what they did to Schilling though, seeing as I was actually at that abomination of a game. We got blown the f*** out.[/quote']

 

That may be the Beckett start you're thinking of. 5 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, and they batted at a .400 clip. Actually, Schilling had a near identical stat line... just one less hit.

[riverside sluggers]

At the same time Schilling wasnt at 100% for that start, it was the second to last game before he'd go on the disabled list

 

Anyways, this Rockies team has been crazy good... winning 18 out of their last 19 games? I only see that happen in my video game

 

New York paper reporting tehre were some 16 thousand tix left for this game (thats just plain disgusting)' date=' hows it look on TV?[/quote']

 

http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/sp/getty/f1/fullj.getty-77206335cc059_nlcs_colorado.jpg

 

Yuck

[jacksonianmarch]

2 places where baseball fervor should be rampant, the fans just dont show. If I were Selig, I'd take the AZ team and both FLA teams and move them to a place where they care. This is inexcuseable.

[Mr Crunchy]

its sad but this is cause and effect of baseball no longer being the national pasttime

its day is over and we in the east can take responsibility for football now being daddy of the tv generation...too many fans nationally just cant bear to see the yanks mets and sox fatten up while the rest of the league starves.

fla and zona will never be a hot bed for baseball

these 2 teams on paper had no shot in april and the fans responded accordingly

you dont remember when the orioles went to 4-5 world series in the late60s early 70s and didnt sell out a game

atlanta wins 14 straight and dont sell out their playoff games either

 

an alabama-furman football game will get more viewers than the baseball games will down south

[jacksonianmarch]

dats becuz dem dar helmutts and sholdamapads smackin down der on dat feld look mighty purdy on da small screen at JimBobs house. And dem dar baseball game uz too darn cofuzzlin to folla ya hear I reckon.

[Thumper]

2 places where baseball fervor should be rampant' date=' the fans just dont show. If I were Selig, I'd take the AZ team and both FLA teams and move them to a place where they care. This is inexcuseable.[/quote']

 

Shoot they'd do a killing in New Orleans if a pro-team actually came in. Of course all the money would go into people's pockets and before you know it the stadium would go to s*** and people would eventually stop caring because New Orleans sucks like that.

 

But actually it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and turn the Superdome into a football/baseball field.

[Cocos Disciples]

I was listening on XM in the 8th when the Upton slide happened, very interesting stuff. Also in the pregame intros on TBS, the announcers said BJ Upton was the best all around player in the AL. (when introducing Justin).