In the ninth, Javier Lopez was yanked after a oneout infield single. Off George Kontos, now with the Pirates, the Rockies sandwiched singles around a Corey Dickerson game-tying homer. Kontos and Cody Hall allowed three runs apiece. Yusmeiro Petit secured the last two outs.

Bochy secured a record for most pitchers in a nine-inning game.

Game play also is altered by roster expansion. Over the past decade, offense accelerated in August, bringing the highest run-scoring and homer totals of any month in the season, yet production crashed Sept. 1. Offense declined from 4.429 runs per game in August to 4.338 in September and October, with homers dropping from 1.040 per game to .982. The strikeout rate (7.60) spiked to a season-high after Sept. 1, and the walk rate (3.16) was higher only in April.

Hurdle has long supported the notion of a “taxi squad,” as he called it, allowing up to 40 players to reside in the clubhouse but making teams pick a 30-man roster prior to each game. Sure, they’d just kick their four starting pitchers to the curb, he noted, but at least it’s a start. Others have recommended a similar solution, but cutting the number of active players to 25.

In the latest round of collective-bargaining negotiations, the players’ union backed away from a deal, according to The Associated Press, which would have expanded active rosters from 25 to 26 and lowered the Sept. 1 limit to 28. Union chief Tony Clark said they “lived to talk about it another day.” Commissioner Rob Manfred felt they were close but said, “Nothing’s done until it’s done.”

Manfred acknowledged there were mixed opinions on both sides. It’s an old rule.

“Maybe we were going too far, too fast,” he said.

Post-Gazette