Road-weary Rockies face streaking Brewers
Colorado will have to recover from stressful 13-inning wild-card win
One day after the Brewers celebrated their National League Central Division title with champagne and beer showers in the tiny visiting clubhouse at Wrigley Field in Chicago, the Rockies took their turn spraying away there as well.
They had to work much harder to knock off the Cubs than the Brewers did, however.
The Rockies scored once in the first inning and not again until the 13th, when Tony Wolters singled in Trevor Story with the go-ahead run in a 2-1 wild-card victory that propelled them into the NL Division Series.
Although the travel won’t be bad — a bus ride to Milwaukee is obviously better than having to hop on a plane and pass through time zones — the four extra innings the Rockies had to play could have an effect on them when they take the field for Game 1 at Miller Park late Thursday afternoon in Milwaukee.
It took 4 hours, 55 minutes to beat the Cubs, and manager Bud Black used his best pitchers to get the team to the finish line. Starter Kyle Freeland went 6 2⁄3 innings before five relievers, including closer Wade Davis and setup man Adam Ottavino, each pitched at least one high-stress inning.
The Brewers, meanwhile, should be in much better shape by virtue of their Game 163 victory over the Cubs on Monday.
They’ll have gotten two crucial rest days for reliever Josh Hader, who’s coming off a two-inning save, not to mention the remainder of a squad that finished out the regular season on an eight-game winning streak.
“Rest is nice,” center fielder Lorenzo Cain said after Monday’s game. “We’re all banged up in some way. Every team is banged up right now. To get a few days to recover is huge.
“We have to continue to stay focused and understand that our main goal now is to get to the World Series, and when we do play again bring our A game and be ready to go.”
Milwaukee has had good success against Colorado this season, going 5-2 overall and winning both series.
Colorado, meanwhile, has gone 51-28 since July 2 and finished September on a surge similar to what the Brewers did to force the NL Central tiebreaker game with the Cubs.
The Rockies are an extremely dangerous offensive team with the All-Star trio of center fielder and leadoff man Charlie Blackmon, third baseman Nolan Arenado and shortstop Story leading the way.
Story in particular has been a thorn in the Brewers’ side this season, lighting them up with a .333 average, 7 home runs and 18 RBI. The latter two figures are season highs for Story against any team.
Colorado has other dangerous hitters as well, including outfielders Carlos González and Gerardo Parra (the former Brewer), second baseman D.J. LeMahieu (a former batting champion) and first baseman Ian Desmond.
Led by Freeland — a likely top-five finisher in the Cy Young Award balloting in the NL — and Germán Marquez, the Rockies’ starting rotation was surprisingly solid. The bullpen has bounced back as well after some early-season struggles.