The Rockies finally had a chance to make up some ground in the National League Wild Card standings.
Despite winning five straight games, the Rox hadn’t gained a single game on the San Diego Padres, who owned a seven game winning streak of their own.
The Rockies entered the three game series trailing the Padres by 4.5 games for the final N.L. playoff spot. When they left San Diego the Rockies were only down 1.5 games, and it all started with a marathon game.
Franklin Morales battled hard against the eventual National League Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy. Morales pitched six innings of shutout baseball while Peavy game up just one run through seven. The Rockies almost escaped with a 1-0 win buy Manny Corpas blew the save in the 9th. The Two teams had lots of baseball left to play.
The 1-1 stalemate lasted until the 14th inning when Brad Hawpe broke it. Hawpe, who drove in the only other Rockies run in the game, hit his 27th home run of the year, giving the Rockies a 2-1 win. Matt Herges pitched two shutout innings to earn the victory for the Rockies, their sixth straight at that point.
PLAYER REFLECTIONS 10 YEARS LATER
Brad Hawpe- “That was probably my most special homer in a Rockies uniform, just because of what it signifies at the time. Looking back now that’s a game we had to win right? It was off of a tough left handed pitcher, it was almost midnight, in a ballpark that you don’t hit an opposite field homer. It was a moment where my team needed me and I came through and it felt good.”
