The Colorado Rockies advanced to the World Series on Monday night by virtue of a victory that proved historic in more ways than one.
Matt Holliday capped a six-run fourth inning with a three-run home run as the Rockies trimmed the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series in front of 50,213 frenzied fans at Coors Field.
Matt Holliday homers in the fourth inning of Monday's 6-4 Rockies win.
(Eric Gay/Associated Press)
The Rockies not only clinched their first pennant in franchise history, but became the first wild-card team in playoff annals to sweep both the NL Division Series and Championship Series.
"This club has had a great focus all season long," said Holliday, voted the most valuable player in the series.
"It is unbelievable. I never dreamed I would have this opportunity.
"With this group of guys, I'm so excited to be a part of it. This MVP award goes 24 other directions."
Rookie Seth Smith plated two runs with a pinch-hit double and Kazuo Matsui had the other run batted in for Colorado, which is an astonishing 21-1 in its last 22 games.
"Baseball is about confidence and we have a lot right now," Rockies outfielder Brad Hawpe said.
"It is really a remarkable run that these guys have made," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin noted. "They haven't lost a post-season game.
"It feels like they haven't lost in a month. They are on quite a confidence roll."
Matt Herges (1-0) earned the win with two spotless innings in relief of rookie starter Franklin Morales, who was charged with one run on five hits and a walk with two strikeouts over four innings pitched.
Rookie closer Manny Corpas recorded the final four outs for his second save of the series.
"I don't think there is anybody that hasn't contributed, from top to bottom," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said.
Colorado will wait at least eight days to open the World Series versus the winner of the American League Championship Series, which the Cleveland Indians lead 2-1 over the Boston Red Sox.
"We are not done yet," Rockies first baseman Todd Helton said. "We are going to keep it going."
Chris Snyder crushed a three-run home run off reliever Brian Fuentes in the eighth inning and Conor Jackson had the other RBI for the Diamondbacks.
"Once the sting subsides, we will be able to reflect that we did have a great year," Melvin said.
Owings starts, scores
Arizona rookie starter Micah Owings (0-1) was tagged with the loss, yielding six runs — four unearned — and six hits with two walks and two strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings.
"I gave every ounce that I had, I left everything out there," he said. "Just a couple of things didn't go our way."
Owings, the first pitcher since the late Whitey Ford in 1953 with two four-hit games in the same season, lived up to his .333 batting average with a leadoff single in the top of the third inning and scoring on Jackson's RBI single to put Arizona ahead
1-0.
Colorado replied with six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, an outburst ignited by consecutive walks to Hawpe and Troy Tulowitzki.
Both runners advanced on Yorvit Torrealba's groundout, and Smith blooped a pinch-hit, two-run double to put the Rockies ahead 2-1.
"In the boxscore, it will look like it rattled the wall," Smith quipped.
"When Smith hit that blooper and scored two runs, Micah made a great pitch and jammed him," Diamondbacks rookie third baseman Mark Reynolds said. "They found a hole.
"If we hit a blooper like that, their right-fielder or left-fielder was standing right there to catch it. We couldn't get the big hits."
When Willy Taveras reached on a fielding error by Jackson, Smith scampered to third and scored on Matsui's RBI single.
That brought Holliday to the plate and he hammered a towering, three-run home run to straightaway centre field off Owings for a 6-1 advantage.
"The only ball they hit hard off him before Holliday was the Matsui hit," Melvin said. "He made his pitches all inning so, in my opinion, he earned the right to face Holliday there."
With files from the Associated Press
