DENVER – If you think the Colorado Rockies are trying to replay the 2018 NLDS this weekend agains the Milwaukee Brewers, it would be hard point to argue.
In one of the best all-around games of the season, your pals in purple won a second straight game against the crew that brews through late inning heroics from Sam Hilliard and Trevor Story on Saturday night before a sell out crowd of 47,381.
Down 2-1, Hilliard stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the ninth with two outs against closer Josh Hader. Almost improbably, the rookie defeated the All-Star in the left-on-left matchup, smashing a game-tying solo shot to left field to push the game into extras.
Leading off the tenth and closing out the affair was Trevor Story and his own opposite field home run, a 390 ft shot that carried just inside the right field foul pole for the walk-off winner, his second of the season and third of his career.
The back-and-forth affair had a sense that it was Milwaukee’s game to win, especially on a single play in the seventh inning, just as the St. Louis Cardinals were looking suspect to win their matchup.
In the seventh, Lorenzo Cain ran back towards the wall on a deep fly by Garrett Hampson, and it wasn’t just the baseball that hung in the air, but the chances of the Milwaukee Brewers winning the NL Central.
Trailing 2-0, the Rockies dispatched with a series of pinch hitters: Raimel Tapia, Friday night’s hero, couldn’t recapture the magic; and Daniel Murphy, who singled in place of the pitcher to bring arguably the hottest Colorado hitter to the plate.
Hampson hammered a first pitch fastball from Junior Guerra to center that traveled an estimated 404 ft. Unfortunately, it needed an extra few inches as Cain’s leap secured the ball in his mitt to prevent the game-tying home run.
From here the game got only more interesting. And Cain would be at the heart of the next momentum shifting play, too.
After Ian Desmond homered in the eighth to give Colorado it’s first run of the game, Milwaukee aimed to get one back in top half of the ninth.
Cain singled with two outs against DJ Johnson before Ben Gamel popped one into shallow center. Yonathan Daza, playing deep in the right-center gap looking to prevent a run-scoring double, ran a long ways to make a play, falling short in a diving attempt. His throw home cut down the runner at the plate as Cain came crashing into Tony Wolters for the final out of the frame.
In the ninth, Hilliard extended the game and Story ended it.
Through the early parts of the game, the biggest story focused upon both starting pitchers in command of their best pitches, inducing weak contact and continuing their September success.
Rockies’ Chi Chi González entered the game with a 1.69 ERA including three of four outings against playoff teams; Brewers’ Gio Gonzalez worked a 2.25 ERA in his three outings, all wins for his surging club.
Against the October hopefuls, it was more of the same for Chi Chi thanks to excellent pitch location and effective use of his cutter. Outside of a walk to Cain in the second inning, González was damn near perfect.
It wasn’t until the fifth inning that Milwaukee touched second base or even recorded a base hit. Unfortunately, Eric Thames did all of that and more, launching his 25th home run of the season on a 3-2 cutter down-and-in. The 402 ft moon shot landed in the second deck and erased the no-hitter and shutout simultaneously.
Hampson received a final plate appearance in a ninth, lashing a single to right to extend his hitting streak to nine games.
With Sunday’s season finale, Milwaukee will need a win and a loss by St. Louis for a chance at winning the NL Central. Such a combination would issue a tie for first and cause another Game 163; a loss or Cardinals win means a Wild Card matchup against the Nationals in Washington, D.C.
