Two teams with just 14 hours to digest a crazy finish the night before will take the field for an afternoon game Saturday when the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants continue their four-game series in California.
In a marathon ninth inning that lasted almost an hour, began with the bases loaded, ended with the bases loaded and featured an unusual ruling following a call reversal, the Rockies rallied, survived a scare, then staggered back to their hotel rooms with a 4-3 victory that evened the series at a game apiece.
The play that had both players and coaches scratching their heads began as a line drive to center field after the Giants, trailing 4-2, had put the potential tying runs aboard with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
Cole Carrigg made a diving attempt at the liner and was ruled to have caught the ball by first base umpire Lance Barksdale, sending the runners scampering back to their original bases.
Knowing the ball had been trapped, the Rockies tagged both base runners, which could have ended the game. And when, upon review, the ball had indeed not been caught, it appeared their forward thinking might be rewarded.
But Barksdale, the crew chief, ruled that his mistake had prevented the runners from advancing and moved them up 90 feet, loading the bases.
The Giants wound up scoring once and reloading the bases with two outs, setting the stage for rookie Bryce Eldridge, who launched a walk-off grand slam exactly one month earlier against Washington. But before the remaining fans could get their phone cameras pointed, Eldridge grounded Juan Mejia’s first pitch to second base, sending both teams to a much-needed shower.
“Death by a thousand cuts, unfortunately,” Giants manager Tony Vitello insisted to reporters afterward. “Plenty of drama. Plenty of ups and downs.”
It was fitting that Carrigg was in the middle of the late action in San Francisco, after having had to answer to a similar game — albeit a loss — in Los Angeles earlier in the week.
He promised failure wouldn’t prompt him to back down. And sure enough, he put the game on the line with his diving attempt, because if the ball had gotten past him, almost surely Schmitt would have rounded the bases for a walk-off, inside-the-park home run.
“The edge to win … I will never lose — it will never leave,” he assured reporters in LA. “That’s just how I’m wired.”
In a game that featured 23 position players and 12 pitchers, two of the best rested of the Rockies and Giants are slated to form the pitching matchup in the encore.
Colorado left-hander Kyle Freeland (2-7, 7.46 ERA) will be making his 29th career start against the Giants, his most against any opponent. Despite not facing San Francisco in either of its earlier visits to Colorado, he’s gone 8-9 with a 4.35 ERA against them.
He is scheduled to be opposed by fellow veteran Tyler Mahle (1-8, 5.70), who didn’t get a decision in a 7-6 loss in Colorado last Sunday in which he allowed four runs (three earned) in 4 1/3 innings. The no-decision extended his winless streak to nine starts dating back to April 22.
The right-hander has gone 2-1 with a 5.21 ERA in seven lifetime starts against the Rockies.
–Field Level Media
