Rockies Outlast Cubs In Marathon To Advance to NLDS
The MLB postseason gives every player who has an opportunity to step on the field a chance to be a hero.
An unlikely one emerged for the Colorado Rockies in the form of Tony Wolters.
The Colorado Rockies defeated the Chicago Cubs 2-1 in 13 innings on Tuesday at Wrigley Field in the NL Wildcard game to advance to the NLDS.
Not known for their pitching, it’s what got the Colorado Rockies over the hump in a NL Wildcard game do-over from a season ago where pitching was their downfall in the game.
What everyone will remember about the 2018 NL Wildcard game, however, is a backup catcher in Tony Wolters delivering the game-winning RBI in the 13th inning to help send the Rockies to the NLDS for the first time since 2009.
Wolters, who coming in had less than 200 ABs in his MLB career, recorded a RBI single off Chicago Cubs’ starter Kyle Hendricks with two outs.
Just a .170 hitter in 2018, Wolters hit in the 13th was symbolic for a team fighting the odds having to play in a third different time zone for a third consecutive day.
The Colorado Rockies went 1-for-10 with RISP and throughout the night could not hit with runners on, at one point going 0-for-17 with runners on.
None of that will matter moving forward for the Rockies as they are playing on while the Chicago Cubs season ended in heartbreak.
The Colorado Rockies got off to a strong start vs veteran left-hander Jon Lester.
After a lead-off walk by center fielder Charlie Blackmon and a double by second baseman DJ Lemahieu, the Rockies would jump out 1-0 lead after a RBI sacrifice fly by third baseman Nolan Arenado.
Kyle Freeland, making his first career playoff start, would put a runner on to begin the first and second innings but would escape with the Rockies still nursing their lead.
Jon Lester would settle in vs the high-scoring Colorado Rockies after giving up a run in the first inning, retiring 14 out the next 16 batters to face him.
Making his 22nd career playoff series, Lester would finish a start that started shaky with one of his best postseason starts of his 13-year career.
The durable left-hander would finish the game allowing one run on four hits while walking one and striking out nine over six innings of work.
Lester’s gritty and determined performance fired up a Chicago Cubs crowd that had improbably found themselves cheering for their team in a win or go home NL Wildcard game.
A sellout crowd at Wrigley Field was left to be restless by a Cubs offense that in the month of September fell off the pace they had set throughout most of the regular-season.
Kyle Freeland had a lot to do with the unrest at the ballpark on the Northside of Chicago on Monday night.
Freeland, despite Lester’s best efforts to stymie the Rockies offense, would cruise against a Chicago Cubs offense that was pressing in a pressure filled game where each out brings a team closer to the end of their season.
The Cubs, with only two hits through the first five innings, would have an opportunity gift wrapped to them in the sixth inning after right fielder David Dahl horribly misplayed a ball running towards the right-field line.
Dahl would lose his balance running after a one-out Kris Bryant flyball and allow the ball to fall in fair play. The umpires would make a questionable ruling giving Bryant a hit on a play that briefly gave the Cubs momentum with two men on base after pinch-hitter Ian Hall opened the inning with a walk.
That momentum would end quickly after a first pitch swinging ground ball double play by first baseman Anthony Rizzo which would end the inning, preserving Colorado’s slim 1-0 lead.
Following a sensational one-out diving grab by Colorado Rockies’ shortstop Trevor Story to rob second baseman Daniel Murphy of a hit, Freeland would depart the game after six and two-thirds innings of work. Freeland would hold the Cubs to four hits and a walk while striking out six.
He would leave a drama filled inning in which he would be replaced by right-handed reliever Adam Ottavino.
With a man already on after a lead off hit by center fielder Albert Almora Jr. off Kyle Freeland to begin the inning, Ottavino got himself into a major jam after walking catcher Wilson Contreras and then having his own catcher, Drew Butera, interfere on a 2-1 chopper by pinch-hitter Tommy LaStella that would result in the bases being loaded on a error.
Facing off against pinch-hitter Jason Heyward with the bases loaded, Ottavino would get Heyward swinging on a 2-2 fastball down and away to end a frantic inning as the Rockies dodged a bullet.
Taking the ball again to begin the bottom of the eighth inning with a clean slate, Ottavino would retire the first two batters of the inning before giving up a line drive single to Anthony Rizzo with two-outs.
That would prove costly as the Chicago Cubs would tie the game at 1-1 on a RBI double by second baseman Javier Baez, scoring pinch-runner Terence Gore after Gore stoke second base during the at-bat.
A euphoric Wrigley Field exploded after the huge game-tying hit by the Cubs RBI leader this season.
The Cubs would be unable to capitalize further as closer Wade Davis, relieving Ottavino, would strike out Albert Almora Jr. to end the inning.
The game would move into extra innings after the Cubs and Rockies stranding runners in the ninth inning.
Joe Maddon would turn to starter Cole Hamels in extra innings as Hamels cruised through the 10th inning before finding trouble in the 11th inning after loading the bases.
He would get David Dahl to ground out to first to end the inning, extending Colorado’s woes with runners on base.
The Chicago Cubs would open the bottom of the 11th with a walk by Javier Baez followed by a bunt by Albert Almora Jr. to advance him. After walking Daniel Murphy, Wilson Contreras would face reliever Seunghwan Oh, who came in to start the 10th inning.
Chicago would squander their opportunity to end the game with a runner on second as they Contreras would hit into a groundball to third and pinch-hitter Victor Caranti grounded out to first to end the inning vs reliever Chris Rusin.
Joe Maddon continued to go to his very best resources as he went with reliever Justin Wilson for one out before going to starter Kyle Hendricks out of the bullpen in the 12th inning where Hendricks would record the final two outs.
Bud Black would continue to match wits with Maddon as he would get strong relief efforts by Chris Rusin and Scott Oberg, who struck out Kris Bryant to end the inning, to extend the game to a 13th inning.
An unexpected hero would emerge for the Colorado Rockies in the 13th inning.
After a Gerardo Parra single got Trevor Story to third base with two outs, catcher Tony Wolters — who batted only .170 this season — would give the Rockies a 2-1 lead on a two-out single to center-field to silence a stunned Wrigley Field.
The bottom of the 13th would begin with drama as Bud Black would challenge that center fielder Terrence Gore was hit with a 2-2 pitch that ended up hitting the home plate umpire Chris Guccione.
The play would be reversed and Gore would be retired by reliever Scott Oberg via strikeout as the at-bat resumed. Oberg would go strikeout Javier Baez on a high fastball to get down to the final out where he would strikeout Albert Almora Jr. for the final out to give the underdog Rockies a colossal victory.
The Chicago Cubs held a five game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers to begin the month of September.
Inconsistent play and a red-hot Brewers team that rides a 8-game winning streak into the postseason would be the Cubs undoing.
The Brewers didn’t end the Cubs season on Monday afternoon at Wrigley but they might’ve taken a piece of the Chicago Cubs psych heading into an unprecedented 10th consecutive game without a day off.
The Cubs looked lethargic at times and their inability to score runs for a second consecutive game of monumental importance, this a do-or-die affair, showed the team had no business moving on to the NLDS in 2018.
The Chicago Cubs went 1-for-6 with RISP while leaving 10 men on base. The Cubs went 6-for-43 as a team, getting zero production from the bottom of the order.
In a tough spot to be certain, Kyle Hendrick’s nightmare 13th inning cannot be chalked up anymore than him simply dropping the ball for the Cubs as he allowed three straight two-out hits to allow the Rockies to take a 2-1 lead.
It’ll be a long offseason ahead for Joe Maddon’s Chicago Cubs, who coming into the season were pegged by many sports analyst as a World Series favorite.
Meanwhile, a resilient but road wary Colorado Rockies will be going up against a Milwaukee Brewers team in the NLDS that has gone 24-8 over their last 32 games of the regular-season and have won eight consecutive games.
The Colorado Rockies went 2-5 vs the Milwaukee Brewers this season with Craig Counsell’s team taking both series during the regular-season.
Whether Bud Black’s team can translate a stunning NL Wildcard win into further postseason success will be answered in the NLDS vs another NL Central power in what should be an exciting series.
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