Rockies score three off Hoffman in the 13th to advance to Philly <h3>COLORADO 9, SAN DIEGO 8 (13 INNINGS)</h3>DENVER (Ticker) -- The Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padresput the "wild" in the wild card. Matt Holliday and JameyCarroll allowed the Rockies to continue their wild ride. Holliday tripled in the tying run and Carroll hit a sacrificefly against Trevor Hoffman as the Rockies rallied for three runsin the bottom of the 13th inning to win for the 14th time in 15games, 9-8 over the Padres in the National League wild cardtiebreaker on Monday. "One thing this team doesn't do is quit and we didn't tonight,"said Tulowitzki, who had two doubles, a triple and single. "Weeasily could have laid down, but we didn't. Some guys puttogether some nice at-bats against probably the best closer everin baseball." Colorado's reward is a trip to Philadelphia where they will openthe best-of-five NL Division Series on Wednesday. "We're just going to enjoy it tonight and we'll focus on thePhillies tomorrow," Holliday said. "We're just excited." This is what it's all about right here," first baseman ToddHelton said. "You've got to enjoy this and refocus tomorrow." After Scott Hairston delivered a two-run homer off Jorge Julioin the top half of the frame to give San Diego an 8-6 lead, KazMatsui and Tulowitzki led off the bottom half with consecutivedoubles. Holliday then blasted the first pitch from Hoffman (4-5) deepoff the right field wall, scoring Tulowitzki with the tying run. After Helton was intentionally walked, Carroll lined the firstpitch to right field. Holliday tagged up and just beat thethrow home from Brian Giles, although replays indicated thatHolliday did not touch the plate. "I wasn't sure," Carroll said. "I know he was in. It was apretty good throw, but I wasn't sure until I saw him safe." The Rockies mobbed Holliday at home plate, but the All-Starslugger was injured from his collision with Padres catcherMichael Barrett. He stayed on the ground for a few momentsafter landing on his face and catching his hand in Barrett'scleats. Five minutes after the game, Holliday seemed fine as Todd Heltonjumped on him on the field just outside the dugout. "I feel fine. I got my hand stepped on and banged my head,"Holliday said. "I'm OK now." Holliday's heroics helped make up for his misplay in the eighthinning that allowed San Diego to tie the game at 6-6. Giles hita fly ball to left, and Holliday took a step in beforeretreating, but the ball went over his head for a double. "It would have been a long offseason," Holliday said if theRockies had lost. "I took one bad step forward." Holliday also ended innings by striking out with runners inscoring position in the sixth and eighth innings. It likely will be a long offseason for Hoffman, who blew hissecond straight save. He was one-pitch away from getting SanDiego into the postseason Saturday, but couldn't hold a one-runlead in a 4-3, 11-inning loss. "It's not that I don't want to try and express it, but to be apart of that game the way I was and the way everybodyanticipated me being in and for it to turn out the way it did,it's hard to deal with," Hoffman said. "You can't really pointto any other factor than my performance tonight. And that's aburden I'm going to have to deal with." Ramon Ortiz (5-4) relieved Julio to get the win with a scorelessinning. "This is my pitching staff, I take care of this pitching staffand they didn't let me down and we finally made it to theplayoffs," Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba said. It was only fitting that the seventh one-game playoff in majorleague history - and first since 1999 - go extra innings. SanDiego overcame 3-0 and 6-5 deficits to get the game into extrainnings. This game was billed as the hottest team in the league againstits hottest pitcher. Colorado entered winning 13 of their final 14 games to force aplayoff. Peavy, the likely NL Cy Young winner, entered thestart leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts and was10-1 with a 2.24 ERA in his last 14 starts, but yielded six runsand 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings. "Tonight, the way things have been going for us, I knew we had areal good chance," Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins said."That's the way the last two weeks have been. It's been amazing,improbable I guess you could say. That's the way we like it." "It's baseball, that's why we play," Padres manager Bud Blacksaid. "If it wasn't for (Peavy and Hoffman), we wouldn't be inthis position, without a doubt." But Colorado jumped on Peavy with two quick runs in the firstinning. Matsui led off with a double to right field, Tulowitzkiadvanced Matsui to third with an infield single and Hollidaywalked to load the bases. Helton followed with a sacrifice fly to deep center field andAtkins lined a single to left-center, plating Tulowitzki for a2-0 edge. Peavy retired the next two batters to escape, butTorrealba led off the second by drilling a 2-1 slider into theleft field stands for his eighth homer and a 3-0 edge. But San Diego scored five times in the third off Coloradostarter Josh Fogg to take a 5-3 lead. Adrian Gonzalez hit afirst-pitch sinker over the right field fence for a grand slamand his 30th home run of the season. San Diego then loaded the bases and took a 5-3 lead when BradyClark hit into an RBI fielder's choice. Helton halved the deficit in the bottom half with his 17th homerun and the Rockies tied it at 5-5 in the fifth. Tulowitzki ledoff with a double and Holliday followed with a line single toleft-center, plating the tying run. In just the eighth at-bat of his major league career, Smithdelivered a one-out triple in the sixth off Peavy that hit offthe center field wall for his fifth hit - all pinch hits - ofthe season. Matsui followed with a fly ball to shallow center.Smith tagged and center fielder Brady Clark's poor throw homewas well up the first base line. Clark followed the poor throw by misplaying a long drive byTulowitzki into a triple, but Peavy struck out Holliday toescape. Peavy caught a break in the seventh when Atkins lined the firstpitch to deep left field. The drive appeared to clear thefence, possibly striking a chair and bouncing back onto thefield, but Atkins was held to a double despite the protests ofColorado manager Clint Hurdle. "I thought it was a home run," Atkins said. "Maybe we win thatgame in nine innings, but either way we won the game, so itdoesn't really matter at this point." Peavy departed after intentionally walking Brad Hawpe and HeathBell struck out the next two batters. Bell fanned five over aseason-high 2 2/3 innings. Fogg lasted four-plus frames, getting tagged for five runs andeight hits.
NL: SAN DIEGO at COLORADO <div class="pre">SAN DIEGO (8) VS COLORADO (9) - FINAL IN 13 INNINGS SAN DIEGO ab r h rbi bb so lob avgB Giles rf 5 2 1 1 2 0 3 .271S Hairston lf 7 2 2 2 0 3 2 .243K Kouzmanoff 3b 5 0 1 0 0 1 3 .275 J Thatcher p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 d-C Headley ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .222 T Hoffman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000A Gonzalez 1b 6 1 3 4 1 2 2 .282K Greene ss 7 1 1 0 0 2 5 .254J Bard c 4 0 2 0 0 0 2 .285 H Bell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 a-O Robles ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .231 D Brocail p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 M Ensberg 3b 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .230G Blum 2b 4 1 1 0 1 1 2 .252B Clark cf 4 0 1 1 0 0 3 .262 b-T Sledge ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .210 M Cameron pr-cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .242 c-B Myrow ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .100 J Lane cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .175J Peavy p 3 1 1 0 0 0 3 .233 M Barrett c 3 0 1 0 0 1 2 .244Totals 52 8 15 8 6 11 29a-grounded to second for H Bell in the 10th; b-walked for B Clark in the 10th; c-struck out swinging for M Cameron in the 12th; d-singled to right center for J Thatcher in the 13th.BATTING: 2B - J Bard (27, J Fogg); A Gonzalez (46, J Fogg); B Giles (27, B Fuentes). HR - A Gonzalez (30, 3rd inning off J Fogg 3 on, 1 Out), S Hairston (11, 13th inning off J Julio 1 on, 0 Out). S - G Blum , K Kouzmanoff. RBI - A Gonzalez 4 (100), B Clark (11), B Giles (51), S Hairston 2 (36). 2-out RBI - B Giles. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - M Barrett 1, G Blum 1, B Giles 1, J Peavy 1, S Hairston 2. GIDP - K Greene. Team LOB - 13. COLORADO ab r h rbi bb so lob avgK Matsui 2b 6 2 2 1 0 0 0 .288T Tulowitzki ss 7 3 4 1 0 1 1 .291M Holliday lf 6 1 2 2 1 3 2 .340T Helton 1b 4 1 1 2 2 1 0 .320G Atkins 3b 3 0 2 1 1 1 1 .301 J Carroll pr-3b 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 .225B Hawpe rf 3 0 0 0 3 2 5 .291R Spilborghs cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 7 .299 B Fuentes p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 M Corpas p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 b-J Koshansky ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .083 M Herges p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 c-J Baker ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .222 J Julio p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 R Ortiz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000Y Torrealba c 6 1 1 1 0 1 2 .255J Fogg p 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .132 T Buchholz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .130 J Affeldt p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 R Speier p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 a-S Smith ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .625 L Hawkins p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 C Sullivan cf 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 .286Totals 48 9 14 9 8 15 20a-tripled to deep center for R Speier in the 6th; b-struck out swinging for M Corpas in the 9th; c-struck out swinging for M Herges in the 12th.BATTING: 2B - K Matsui 2 (24, T Hoffman, J Peavy); T Tulowitzki 2 (33, J Peavy, T Hoffman); G Atkins (35, J Peavy). 3B - S Smith (1, J Peavy); T Tulowitzki (5, J Peavy); M Holliday (6, T Hoffman). HR - Y Torrealba (8, 2nd inning off J Peavy 0 on, 0 Out), T Helton (17, 3rd inning off J Peavy 0 on, 1 Out). SF - J Carroll , T Helton , K Matsui. RBI - T Helton 2 (91), G Atkins (111), Y Torrealba (47), M Holliday 2 (137), K Matsui (37), T Tulowitzki (99), J Carroll (22). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Y Torrealba 1, B Hawpe 1, M Holliday 2, R Spilborghs 2. Team LOB - 13. FIELDING: E - J Carroll (4, throw). DP: 1 (J Carroll-T Helton). ---------------------------------------------------- SAN DIEGO - 005 000 010 000 2 -- 8 COLORADO - 211 011 000 000 3 -- 9One out when winning run scored.----------------------------------------------------SAN DIEGO ip h r er bb so hr eraJ Peavy 6 1/3 10 6 6 4 6 2 2.54H Bell 2 2/3 0 0 0 2 5 0 2.02D Brocail 1 2/3 1 0 0 1 1 0 3.05J Thatcher 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 3 0 1.29T Hoffman (L, 4-5; B, 7) 1/3 3 3 3 1 0 0 2.98COLORADO ip h r er bb so hr eraJ Fogg 4 8 5 5 2 5 1 4.94T Buchholz 1 1/3 1 0 0 0 1 0 4.23J Affeldt 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.51R Speier 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 4.00L Hawkins (H, 17) 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.42B Fuentes (B, 7) 1 2 1 1 0 1 0 3.08M Corpas 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.08M Herges 3 1 0 0 3 1 0 2.96J Julio 0 2 2 2 1 0 1 5.23R Ortiz (W, 1-0) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 7.62J Fogg pitched to 1 batter in the 5th.J Julio pitched to 3 batters in the 13th.WP - J Affeldt, B Fuentes. IBB - G Blum (by J Fogg), B Hawpe 2 (by J Peavy), A Gonzalez (by M Herges), T Helton (by T Hoffman). Pitches-strikes: J Peavy 118-68; H Bell 42-26; D Brocail 24-14; J Thatcher 20-12; T Hoffman 19-10; J Fogg 75-49; T Buchholz 13-12; J Affeldt 7-4; R Speier 6-3; L Hawkins 15-9; B Fuentes 14-12; M Corpas 6-5; M Herges 47-23; J Julio 10-4; R Ortiz 10-6. Ground balls-fly balls: J Peavy 7-6; H Bell 2-1; D Brocail 2-2; J Thatcher 0-1; T Hoffman 0-1; J Fogg 4-3; T Buchholz 0-3; J Affeldt 0-1; R Speier 0-0; L Hawkins 2-0; B Fuentes 1-1; M Corpas 2-1; M Herges 7-1; J Julio 0-0; R Ortiz 0-2. Batters faced: J Peavy 33; H Bell 10; D Brocail 7; J Thatcher 4; T Hoffman 5; J Fogg 22; T Buchholz 5; J Affeldt 1; R Speier 1; L Hawkins 4; B Fuentes 5; M Corpas 3; M Herges 13; J Julio 3; R Ortiz 3. UMPIRES: HP--Tim Mcclelland. 1B--Ed Montague. 2B--Tim Tschida. 3B--Chuck Meriwether. LF--Fieldin Culbreth. RF--Jim Wolf. T--4:40. Att--48,404. Weather: 75 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 3 mph, out to center.</div>
