PHOENIX (AP) -Todd Helton’s sacrifice fly gave the Colorado Rockies a 2-1 lead after six innings in Game 2 of the NL championship series Friday night.
Willy Taveras’ speed helped produce the tiebreaking run. Taveras led off the fifth by drawing a four-pitch walk from Doug Davis, went to second on Kaz Matsui’s single and raced to third on Matt Holliday’s fly to left field, barely beating Eric Byrnes’ throw.
Taveras scored on Helton’s sacrifice fly to left.
Left off the first-round playoff roster, Taveras was added for the NLCS after missing 24 games with leg injuries.
Having defeated Arizona ace Brandon Webb in the opener, the streaking Rockies were looking to take a 2-0 lead back to Denver, where the best-of-seven series will resume Sunday. They had won 18 of 19 coming in.
The Diamondbacks broke out their black jerseys, forcing the Rockies to wear gray with pinstripes instead of the black tops they wore in the opener.
But the change in colors didn’t help Arizona’s slumping bats. The Diamondbacks’ biggest hit came from the weak-hitting Davis, who led off the third with a double to right field off Colorado starter Ubaldo Jimenez. Davis scored on Chris Young’s single through the right side of the infield, tying the score 1-all.
Davis hit .069 with four singles in 58 at-bats during the regular season. It was his first extra-base hit since 2005, when he had three doubles for Milwaukee.
Davis turned in a typical outing, allowing two runs – one earned – in five innings. He allowed five hits, walked four and struck out five.
Jimenez was also lifted after five. He gave up a run and five hits, walking four and striking out six.
Jimenez worked out of a jam in the fifth. He walked the bases loaded with two outs before striking out Mark Reynolds on three pitches.
Colorado took a 1-0 lead in the second on Yorvit Torrealba’s bloop single. That made Torrealba 6-for-14 in the playoffs.
The Rockies took the lead after Reynolds let Helton’s grounder to third go through his legs for an error to open the inning.
After Davis struck out Garrett Atkins and Troy Tulowitzki, Brad Hawpe singled to center, sending Helton to third. It was Hawpe’s sixth hit in 15 playoff at-bats this year.
Torrealba, the No. 8 hitter, followed with a soft liner that hit the right-field line, scoring Helton and sending Hawpe to third.
Davis struck out Jimenez to end the inning.
Add A Comment