CHICAGO — Hours before Kyle Freeland stepped onto center stage on three days’ rest and with the Colorado Rockies’ season hanging in the balance, his manager, Bud Black, was reminded that the 25-year-old left-hander was making his first postseason start against one of baseball’s most notorious big-game pitchers.
“Right. Isn’t that great?” Black deadpanned.
Standing between Freeland, the Rockies and a spot in the National League division series was the Chicago Cubs ace, Jon Lester, whose start in Tuesday night’s N.L. wild-card game at Wrigley Field marked his 22nd career playoff start.
Freeland, a Denver native, remained unfazed through six and two-thirds scoreless innings, desperately protecting a one-run lead the Rockies established in the first inning. But that proved to be only half the battle after the Cubs tied it in the eighth, and it was Tony Wolters — a backup catcher who entered the game as part of a double switch in the 12th inning — who delivered the winning hit in the bottom of the 13th and sent the Rockies to an N.L. division series.
“That’s probably the biggest hit I’ve ever had,” Wolters said. “That’s for sure.”
Wolters was an unlikely hero, as he had come into the game in a terrible slump, with no hits since Sept. 10.
“This game can kick your butt sometimes,” he said. “There’s a lot of adversity, but I’m not ever going to let that take me down.”
It was a heartbreaking end to the season for the Cubs, whose offensive woes continued into a second consecutive day. The loss resulted in them falling short of the N.L. Championship Series for the first time since 2014. They had been forced into this winner-take-all wild-card game after falling to the Milwaukee Brewers in Monday’s N.L. Central tiebreaker.
The Rockies had also lost on Monday and had faced a much more grueling schedule: After beating the Nationals in Denver on Sunday, they headed to California the next day, then had to fly back across the country to Chicago following a 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the N.L. West tiebreaker. But they proved resilient right from the start on Tuesday, handing Freeland an early lead by getting to Lester early.
A walk to leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon and a ground-rule double that lodged into the ivy that covers the left-field wall gave the Rockies runners on second and third with nobody out. Nolan Arenado scored Blackmon with a sacrifice fly.Freeland carried Colorado much of the way from there. He scattered four hits and struck out six against the Cubs, departing in the seventh inning after 82 pitches.He was replaced by reliever Adam Ottavino, who immediately found himself in trouble when Willson Contreras walked and pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella reached on a catcher’s interference call, loading the bases.
But with a sold-out crowd on its feet, energized by the potential of a Cubs run, Ottavino struck out pinch-hitter Jason Heyward to preserve the narrow lead.
Ottavino could not escape danger in the next inning. With the tension building, Anthony Rizzo delivered a two-out single and then gave way to the pinch-runner Terrance Gore, who proceeded to steal second. Javier Baez, the Cubs’ All-Star shortstop, drove a double into center field that brought Gore home and drew a roar from the crowd.
A parade of relievers preserved the deadlock, with the two teams combining to use 15 pitchers in a game that lasted nearly five hours.
As midnight approached, Trevor Story started the winning rally by lashing the first pitch he saw from Kyle Hendricks for a two-out single to left-center. Story advanced to third on Gerardo Parra’s line drive, and then stepped up Wolters, a 26-year-old who batted .170 this season. He drove in Story for what would prove to be the winning run, sending the Rockies dugout to cautious celebrations and silencing the stunned stadium. Three Cubs batters later the game was over.
“The guys that play every day — I want to do something for them because they’re out there grinding every day,” Wolters said in trying to sum up his emotions after the game.
He added, “It’s a feeling I’m not going to forget.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment