Memories: The Rockies Stretch Runs to The Post-Season
This is the fifth time in the Rockies 26-year history that the franchise has gone into the final two weeks of the season looking to advance to the post-season.
The final days of a regular season haven’t been overly kind to the Rockies.
In 1995, the Rockies claimed the NL Wild-Card, the first year that the wild-card was a part of the post-season. It was not, however, easy. The Rockies went 5-7 in the final two weeks, and were actually in first place with four games remaining. They, however, lost three of the final four games, and then had to beat the Giants in the final game of the regular-season to edge the Astros by one game for the trip to the post-season.
First Time for Everything
| 1995 | Opp | W/L | R | RA | W-L | Rank | GB | Win | Loss | Save | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, Sep 18 | @ | SDP | W | 5 | 1 | 71-60 | 1 | up 1.5 | Ritz | Hamilton | Ruffin |
| Tuesday, Sep 19 | @ | SDP | L | 4 | 15 | 71-61 | 1 | up 1.5 | Blair | Reynoso | |
| Wednesday, Sep 20 | @ | SDP | W | 10 | 2 | 72-61 | 1 | up 1.5 | Swift | Dishman | |
| Thursday, Sep 21 | @ | SFG | L | 3 | 5 | 72-62 | 1 | up 1.5 | Valdez | Grahe | Beck |
| Friday, Sep 22 | @ | SFG | W | 6 | 1 | 73-62 | 1 | up 1.5 | Ritz | Estes | |
| Saturday, Sep 23 | @ | SFG | L | 0 | 2 | 73-63 | 1 | up 0.5 | Brewington | Rekar | Beck |
| Sunday, Sep 24 | @ | SFG | W | 3 | 1 | 74-63 | 1 | up 0.5 | Reynoso | Leiter | Leskanic |
| Monday, Sep 25 | @ | LAD | L | 3 | 4 | 74-64 | 2 | 0.5 | Martinez | Swift | Worrell |
| Tuesday, Sep 26 | @ | LAD | W | 7 | 3 | 75-64 | 1 | up 0.5 | Saberhagen | Candiotti | |
| Wednesday, Sep 27 | @ | LAD | L | 4 | 7 | 75-65 | 2 | 0.5 | Tapani | Ritz | Worrell |
| Thursday, Sep 28 | SFG | L | 4 | 12 | 75-66 | 2 | 1 | Brewington | Rekar | ||
| Friday, Sep 29 | SFG | L | 7 | 10 | 75-67 | 2 | 1 | Service | Leskanic | Beck | |
| Saturday, Sep 30 | SFG | W | 9 | 3 | 76-67 | 2 | 1 | Swift | Mulholland | ||
| 5-7 | 65 | 66 |
The Rockies did not return to the post-season until 2007, and it was quite the push down the stretch. The Rockies won 14 of their final 15 games, rallying for a win against the Marlins and then winning 13 of the next 14, including a 9-8, 13-inning victory against the Padres in a Game 163 to break the tie for the NL wild-card.
And even that was challenging. The Padres took an 8-6 lead in the top of the 13th when Jorge Julio got the call from the bullpen for the Rockies, and walked Brian Giles before giving up a two-run home run to Scott Hairston. Ramon Ortiz relieved Julio, retired the three batters he faced, and then came the Rockies heroics.
They rallied for three runs in the bottom of the 13th against Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman, Matt Holliday scoring the game-deciding run on Jamey Carroll’s shallow sacrifice fly to right field, and to this day, Rockies manager Bud Black, who managed the Padres back then, smiles and proclaims Holliday was out.
The Rockies went on to sweep the Phillies in the best-of-five NL Division Series, and the Diamondbacks in the best-of-seven NLCS, but were swept in the only World Series appearance by the Red Sox.
A Trip into Deep October
| 2007 | Opp | W/L | R | RA | Inn | W-L | Rank | GB | Win | Loss | Save | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, Sep 18 (1) | LAD | W | 3 | 1 | 78-72 | 3 | 5.5 | Francis | Billingsley | Corpas | ||
| Tuesday, Sep 18 (2) | LAD | W-wo | 9 | 8 | 79-72 | 3 | 5.5 | Speier | Saito | |||
| Wednesday, Sep 19 | LAD | W | 6 | 5 | 80-72 | 3 | 5.5 | Fuentes | Broxton | Corpas | ||
| Thursday, Sep 20 | LAD | W | 9 | 4 | 81-72 | 3 | 5 | Jimenez | Lowe | |||
| Friday, Sep 21 | @ | SDP | W | 2 | 1 | 14 | 82-72 | 3 | 5 | Herges | Thatcher | |
| Saturday, Sep 22 | @ | SDP | W | 6 | 2 | 83-72 | 3 | 5 | Speier | Cassel | ||
| Sunday, Sep 23 | @ | SDP | W | 7 | 3 | 84-72 | 3 | 4 | Francis | Maddux | ||
| Tuesday, Sep 25 | @ | LAD | W | 9 | 7 | 85-72 | 3 | 3 | Speier | Hendrickson | Corpas | |
| Wednesday, Sep 26 | @ | LAD | W | 2 | 0 | 86-72 | 3 | 2 | Fogg | Lowe | Corpas | |
| Thursday, Sep 27 | @ | LAD | W | 10 | 4 | 87-72 | 3 | 2 | Morales | Loaiza | ||
| Friday, Sep 28 | ARI | L | 2 | 4 | 87-73 | 3 | 3 | Webb | Francis | Valverde | ||
| Saturday, Sep 29 | ARI | W | 11 | 1 | 88-73 | 3 | 2 | Redman | Gonzalez | |||
| Sunday, Sep 30 | ARI | W | 4 | 3 | 89-73 | 2 (tie) | 1 | Fuentes | Nippert | Corpas | ||
| Monday, Oct. 1 | SDP | W | 9 | 8 | 13 | 90-73 | 2 | 1 | Ortiz | Hoffman | ||
| 13-1 | 89 | 51 |
In 2009, the Rockies moved into second place on Aug. 7, and spent the rest of the season trailing the Dodgers. It did, however, get interesting on the final weekend of the regular season. The Rockies won the opening game of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium, and pulled to within one game of Los Angeles. The Dodgers, however, answered by winning the final two games of the regular season.
The Rockies were the wild-card, once again, and this time were eliminated in the NL Division Series by the Phillies in four games.
Singing the Blues on Final Weekend
| 2009 | Opp | W/L | R | RA | Inn | W-L | Rank | GB | Win | Loss | Save | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, Sep 22 | SDP | W | 11 | 10 | 86-65 | 2 | 5 | Belisle | Ramos | Morales | ||
| Wednesday, Sep 23 | SDP | L | 3 | 6 | 86-66 | 2 | 5 | Webb | Marquis | Bell | ||
| Thursday, Sep 24 | SDP | L | 4 | 5 | 86-67 | 2 | 6 | Russell | Beimel | Gregerson | ||
| Friday, Sep 25 | STL | W-wo | 2 | 1 | 87-67 | 2 | 5 | Street | Miller | |||
| Saturday, Sep 26 | STL | L | 3 | 6 | 87-68 | 2 | 6 | Wainwright | Jimenez | Franklin | ||
| Sunday, Sep 27 | STL | W | 4 | 3 | 88-68 | 2 | 5 | De La Rosa | Lohse | Street | ||
| Tuesday, Sep 29 | MIL | W-wo | 7 | 5 | 11 | 89-68 | 2 | 3.5 | Belisle | Weathers | ||
| Wednesday, Sep 30 | MIL | W | 10 | 6 | 90-68 | 2 | 2.5 | Hammel | Suppan | |||
| Thursday, Oct 1 | MIL | W | 9 | 2 | 91-68 | 2 | 2 | Cook | Parra | |||
| Friday, Oct 2 | @ | LAD | W | 4 | 3 | 92-68 | 2 | 1 | Jimenez | Wolf | Street | |
| Saturday, Oct 3 | @ | LAD | L | 0 | 5 | 92-69 | 2 | 2 | Kuo | Morales | ||
| Sunday, Oct 4 | @ | LAD | L | 3 | 5 | 92-70 | 2 | 3 | Padilla | Marquis | Troncoso | |
| 7-5 | 60 | 57 |
The Rockies returned to the post-season a year ago, earning the second NL wild-card spot, and losing the wild-card game at Arizona. But then the push for the post-season was more about survival than anything. The Rockies had to run off a five-game winning streak heading into the final two games of the regular season to hold off the Brewers, who lost to the Cardinals on the afternoon of Sept. 30, clinching the wild-card for the Rockies, who proceeded to lose Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, and then to the D-Backs.
Short and Not So Sweet
| 2017 | Opp | W/L | R | RA | W-L | Rank | GB | Win | Loss | Save | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, Sep 17 | SDP | L | 3 | 4 | 82-68 | 3 | 14.5 | Yates | Holland | Hand | |
| Tuesday, Sep 19 | @ | SFG | L-wo | 3 | 4 | 82-69 | 3 | 14 | Dyson | Rusin | |
| Wednesday, Sep 20 | @ | SFG | L | 0 | 4 | 82-70 | 3 | 14 | Moore | Chatwood | |
| Thursday, Sep 21 | @ | SDP | L | 0 | 3 | 82-71 | 3 | 15 | Richard | Anderson | Hand |
| Friday, Sep 22 | @ | SDP | W | 4 | 1 | 83-71 | 3 | 15 | Gray | Lyles | Holland |
| Saturday, Sep 23 | @ | SDP | L | 0 | 5 | 83-72 | 3 | 15 | Chacin | Bettis | |
| Sunday, Sep 24 | @ | SDP | W | 8 | 4 | 84-72 | 3 | 15 | Marquez | Perdomo | |
| Monday, Sep 25 | MIA | L | 4 | 5 | 84-73 | 3 | 16 | Despaigne | Chatwood | Barraclough | |
| Tuesday, Sep 26 | MIA | W | 6 | 0 | 85-73 | 3 | 16 | Anderson | Urena | ||
| Wednesday, Sep 27 | MIA | W | 15 | 9 | 86-73 | 3 | 16 | Gray | Conley | ||
| Friday, Sep 29 | LAD | W | 9 | 1 | 87-73 | 3 | 15 | Bettis | Ryu | ||
| Saturday, Sep 30 | LAD | L | 3 | 5 | 87-74 | 3 | 16 | Morrow | Chatwood | Jansen | |
| Sunday, Oct 1 | LAD | L | 3 | 6 | 87-75 | 3 | 17 | Maeda | Freeland | Fields |