Phoenix – For the second time this season, the Rockies endured a 14-inning stretch.
And for the second time, they suffered a stinging extra-long, extra-inning defeat at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The end finally arrived in the 16th inning when Arizona pinch hitter Chris Snyder hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Jeff Baker, scoring Chris Young from third for a 7-6 victory at nearly deserted Chase Field. Baker made a strong throw home, but Snyder hit the ball too deep for Baker to have a chance.
The loss was the Rockies’ 19th in their last 22 road games, and certainly one of their most painful.
The losing pitcher was reliever Jeremy Affeldt. Young singled off Affeldt to open the 16th, moved to second on Chad Tracy’s sacrifice bunt, then stole third without drawing a throw.
The game tied a 16-inning affair between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks on April 13, 1999 as the longest game in the ballpark’s history.
The 5-hour, 7-minute marathon came a month and a day after the Rockies and Diamondbacks played 18 innings at Coors Field. On Aug. 15, the Diamondbacks won 2-1 in 5 hours, 21 minutes, the longest game in Rockies history.
The Rockies were not without their heroic moments. In the bottom of the 14th, with the bases loaded and one out, the Diamondbacks seemed on the edge of victory. But Affeldt gobbled up catcher Johnny Estrada’s chopper in front of the mound and flipped the ball to catcher Chris Iannetta for the force at home. Iannetta then fired the ball to substitute first baseman Vinny Castilla for the crucial double play.
It was thanks to a pair of rookies that the Rockies were able to enter extra innings. Baker rescued the Rockies in the ninth, driving in Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki with a one-out triple. After Kaz Matsui popped out to second, Baker raced home on reliever Jose Valverde’s wild pitch, tying the game 6-6 and sending it into extra innings.
In the top of the 10th, Tulowitzki’s took a diving stab at Conor Jackson’s hot shot up the middle and turned it into a game-saving double play.
While the Rockies’ rookies excelled, veteran starter Josh Fogg stumbled. He’s about the only one experiencing a worse September than Dan Hawkins and the Colorado Buffaloes. With his status for 2007 uncertain, Fogg is crashing head-on into a late-season wall.
Lacking velocity on his fastball and command of his changeup, Fogg surrendered six runs on seven hits and was gone after just 3.2 innings. In his last eight starts, Fogg’s ERA is 10.19. Saturday marked the sixth straight start in which he didn’t make it through six innings.
Foggs’ future with the Rockies is hazy because he’s arbitration-eligible and would likely command more than the Rockies want to spend. If the Rockies want Fogg back, their only realistic avenue would be to non-tender him and re-sign him as a free agent at a smaller salary.
Fogg is not the only Rockies pitcher struggling. Heading into Saturday, the staff’s 6.34 ERA was the highest in the majors for September, and opposing batters were hitting .310, also the highest in baseball.
Coming into the game, Fogg had been a perfect 8-0 when receiving four or more runs of support. He got decent backup again Saturday, but this time it wasn’t enough. Handed a 3-0 lead after two innings, Fogg gave it back in a hurry when Chad Tracy blasted a three-run homer to right in the third.
The Rockies scrambled to a claim a 4-3 lead in the fourth when Matsui drove in Tulowitzki with an RBI single. It didn’t last long. Carlos Quentin smashed a one-out triple off Fogg in bottom of the fourth and scored on Alberto Callaspo’s single. A sacrifice bunt, a wild pitch by Fogg and a run-scoring single by Eric Byrnes gave the Diamondbacks a 6-4 lead.
If September baseball is an audition for next season, Matsui did himself some good Saturday. He opened the game with a 350-foot blast to right field, the first leadoff home run of the season for Colorado. His sacrifice fly drove home Tulowitzki in the second and his single in fourth gave him three RBIs for the night.
Staff Writer Patrick Saunderscan be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
