April 18, 2008 7:25 AM
Rockies play all night, win in the morning: 22 innings, 2-1
All right, show of hands for everybody who stayed up to the end of the Rockies' historic 2-1 triumph in 22 innings over the San Diego Padres.
Of course if you did you'd still be sleeping in.
Tracy Ringolsby was our man on the all-night scene and reports that even better than the victory was the performance of starting pitcher Jeff Francis:
Not only did the Rockies pull out a record-setting 2-1, 22-inning victory against the Padres as Thursday night turned into Friday morning at Petco Park, but they also rediscovered the ace for their rotation.The game ended at 2:21 a.m. Denver time. There were 15 pitchers and 683 pitches.
Troy Tulowitzki (above, smacking the game-winning hit) made the early-morning flight to Houston, where the Rockies start a three-game series tonight, with a two-out double into left-center field that scored Willy Taveras with the go-ahead run.
With two out in the inning, Taveras reached on shortstop Khalil Greene's throwing error, stole second and continued to third on an errant throw by catcher Josh Bard, then came on the double by Tulowitzki, who initially fell behind 0-2 against Padres left-hander Glendon Rusch. Tulowitzki had not driven in a run this season until he had a two-run double in the ninth inning of the Rockies' 10-2 victory Wednesday.
"You never know when it's going to start. It's gotta start somewhere," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said of the struggling Tulowitzki. "So that's a good a place as any for him. And he just squared up on that last ball up. That was what we've seen a lot of in the past. And we haven't seen a lot of so far this season. So he's got to feel good."
Kip Wells, who worked the final four innings for the Rockies, earned the victory, the Rockies' third in their past four games.
As big as the victory was, the seven shutout innings of starting pitcher Jeff Francis might have been bigger. The left-hander returned to the form that allowed him to equal a franchise-record with 17 wins last year, matching 2007 National League Cy Young winner Jake Peavy for seven innings.
April 18, 2008
8:38 AM
Forest writes:
I knew the Rockies pitching was as good or better than it ever has been, but last night showed not only how good (very good) but how deep. I'm going to be real good and ask Santa for an early present. "Santa, Francis is a very good starter but I would like a real number 1 starter for the Rockies." OK, so I'm greedy, but if we don't have another top notch starter we will end up third in division which means no play offs.
April 18, 2008
8:41 AM
Forest Cooper writes:
I knew the Rockies pitching was as good or better than it ever has been, but last night showed not only how good (very good) but how deep. I'm going to be real good and ask Santa for an early present. "Santa, Francis is a very good starter but I would like a real number 1 starter for the Rockies." OK, so I'm greedy, but if we don't have another top notch starter we will end up third in division which means no play offs.
April 18, 2008
9:14 AM
Laura writes:
I stayed up through the 16th inning (about 12:30 a.m.) but had to give it up and go to bed at that time. It was a phenomenal game. Wasn't it against the Padres that they had the long game near the end of last season? Anyway, it was really great and the anticipation of who was going to ultimately win was a nail biter. Way to go Rockies!!!
April 18, 2008
9:31 AM
R8R_H8R writes:
I had the Avs on the big t.v., and the Rockies on the small one. The Avs game was non-stop excitement. The relentless effort of the hockey players is simply astounding. The borish laziness of a baseball game was useful in taking me from an adrenaline high from the hockey game, down to a long drawn out yawn to sleep well. Thank you baseball!
April 18, 2008
9:32 AM
R8R_H8R writes:
I had the Avs on the big t.v., and the Rockies on the small one. The Avs game was non-stop excitement. The relentless effort of the hockey players is simply astounding. The borish laziness of a baseball game was useful in taking me from an adrenaline high from the hockey game, down to a long drawn out yawn to sleep well. Thank you baseball!
April 18, 2008
10:19 AM
jcn7vc writes:
I stayed up through the whole thing, despite not watching the game. It wasn't on TV where I am, but I kept track online. I am two hours behind Mountain Time though, so I guess I kind of cheated.
April 18, 2008
12:59 PM
Matt Skier writes:
Not the whole game, it was on the one tv at the bar here in utah though! Rockies fever has even gripped a little further west, and that really surprised me, yes it was against the padres last october, it went to 13 innings and was the tiebreaker to get into the playoff, best baseball game i can say i've ever been at! only problem is no beer past the 7th or 8th inning? I agree we need a real #1 starter, but our management is way to cheap for anything like that! This is great for the rockies, i think they really are getting an edge over the padres, which helps for later in the season!
April 18, 2008
3:40 PM
Captain America writes:
The Rockies are, and I hope always will be, all about heart. Go Rocks!
April 19, 2008
10:20 AM
Jason writes:
I'm from South Dakota and was up till after 3am watching an internet stream of the game since we get 0 Rockies coverage in the midwest. Getting that marathon win and then coming back with a win at Houston I think shows that this team is back on track. Watch out Dbacks!