Rockies 10 Best Moments: The Sandblaster is born

Baseball is a game of fine execution. It is a contest of strategy and skill. Very rarely can a single, overwhelming performance swing the outcome of a game and etch itself into the minds of those who saw it. These types of moments can often get lost in the forest of a 162-game season. But not these two.

Just a few days apart in early September, left-handed-super-reliever Chris Rusin and team captain Nolan Arenado both managed to do something special enough that no fan requires video to recall them with extreme clarity. These individual efforts were breathtaking to witness in their own right but their magnificence is magnified in their timing.

Both moments coming during a stretch when the Colorado Rockies won six straight games on the road inside their division—against the two teams ahead of them—we continue our countdown of Top 10 Rockies moments of 2017 with an honorable mention that nearly made the list and our sixth entry:

Chris Rusin Freezes Justin Turner, September 8

I wanted this to make the list. I really did. Ultimately, in a season packed full of memorable moments, it was tough to give a slot to three pitches in a game that also saw heroics from Raimel Tapia and Charlie Blackmon. But they were three glorious pitches.

What you may not remember as vividly as the quick-pitch majesty is how it arrived in the middle of a typical Rusin appearance. He came into the game with his club down by three and surrendered a lead-off single that turned into a lead-off RISP situation following a throwing error. After recording two quick outs, though, Rusin was just one hitter away from escaping the jam. But that hitter was Justin Turner, one of the best in MLB.

The Dodger star was in the midst of an insane 5.5 fWAR season, had been near the top of every offensive category all season, and had just swatted his 19th homer of the season earlier in the game.

Rockies manager Bud Black looked at his most reliable reliever, with first base open, and pointed to his head, indicating without words to be smart… and to be careful.

Rusin’s first two pitches fired wildly outside the zone, an apparent unintentional-intentional walk in order. And then, like a strike of lightning, the crafty lefty employed his special ability as though he were a video game character grabbing a powerup.

As he had done plenty of other times in the season—though to nowhere near the same dramatic effect—Rusin went to a quick pitch, a tactic whereby the pitcher speeds up the rhythm of his delivery to throw off the timing of the batter.

Visibly disturbed throughout the encounter, one of the best hitters in baseball stood by in utter bemusement, watching all three pitches cut, dive and dart into the strike zone for the backward K.

Rusin stayed on to work another clean inning, proving exactly why he is one of the most valuable relievers in the game.

No. 6: Sandblasting the Snakes

This is what individual excellence in a team sport looks like.

Arenado ties the game. Arenado saves the game. Arenado wins the game. In three consecutive innings.

If we are getting overly technical, this is actually three moments. But they were three glorious moments. In a tight contest between the division rivals who would square off in the Wild Card game, Arenado smashed his 42nd double of the season to tie the game in the sixth, coming just a few feet short of the go-ahead home run.

The third baseman’s clutch credentials had become widely known by this point. A few other moments that will appear on this list had seen to that. But this one included one of the best defensive plays he made all year. And that is not a short list.

Arizona’s first batter since Nolan had tied the game was Rockie-killer A.J. Pollock who ripped a screaming, sinking line drive down the third base line. As it turned out, that was the wrong place to hit it:

Reflejos felinos en la antesala de #LosRockies…Señoras y señores: Nolan Arenado.

Jugada x Jugada ? https://t.co/mhrNWeWC4G pic.twitter.com/ESQ6Nic4wy

— Rockies de Colorado (@LosRockies) September 12, 2017

Artistry in motion.

Then in the eighth, after jawing a bit with a first-row fan—a moment almost as famous as what followed—Arenado crushed a three-run shot over the wall in left, his 33rd home run of the year. In the span of three innings, he had put four runs on the board for Colorado and taken likely at least one off for Arizona.

As it turned out, some shaky bullpen work meant that the Rockies would need every single bit of Arenado’s brilliance in order to secure the 5-4 victory.

This was like an NBA player hitting a game-tying jumper, then blocking a shot on a well-executed play and coming back down the court to sink the game-winning three. Except it’s statistically less likely because RBI doubles and three-run homers are a lot rarer than made jump shots.

The combined efforts of his glove and bat were so phenomenal that an organic nickname was created during the course of the actual game. It’s not like Arenado was previously undeserving of a quality nickname, but this performance was the straw that broke the camel’s back. “The Sandblaster” was born.

Fans clamored to anoint one of the best third basemen the game has seen in a long time with a new moniker and we will see if it sticks. What’s not in doubt is that this was the kind of game that makes people search for new ways to describe excellence.

Baseball is a game of patience and luck. The wise will tell you that if you are patient enough, you create your own luck. Chris Rusin and Nolan Arenado are players who have discovered in the past few years with the Rockies how to be patient with themselves. So when that moment arrives where the luck of the draw requires them to do something extraordinary, they don’t just rise to the occasion; they live in it.