Part of September’s appeal is the bold, almost reckless play of contenders. Everything reeks of self-importance, failure devastating, success exhilarating.
On a warm Tuesday night, the outcome turned on a single errant pitch that left two San Francisco Giants ejected and the Rockies owners of a 6-5 white-knuckle victory.
When Brad Hawpe singled home the winning run in the ninth, it reinforced his team’s resiliency. With each victory, particularly those games in which they appear to have no business winning, the Rockies look more like a dangerous threat than the National League’s flavor of the month.
They sit four games behind the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks in both the NL West and wild-card standings after Hawpe’s line drive to right field off Giants closer Brad Hennessey.
“You always want to be in that position,” said Hawpe, his Rockies a season-high six games over .500. “If you don’t, then you probably aren’t going to be on a winning team. This is what we have all wanted for the last few years.”
While the Rockies calmly discussed their latest biggest victory, the Giants seethed down the hall, baffled at an umpire’s call they felt worked against them. Setup man Brian Wilson entered in the eighth inning, protecting a 5-4 lead. What had transpired in the previous two hours was ugly, if not a bit chippy.
Three batters had already been hit by pitches and the teams did exchange words on two separate occasions earlier this season in incidents involving Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba and Giants reliever Steve Kline.
It was against this backdrop that Wilson plunked Torrealba in the left shoulder Tuesday, advancing the tying run to second base. Torrealba didn’t believe Wilson hit him on purpose. However, plate umpire Jerry Meals immediately tossed Wilson, infuriating manager Bruce Bochy, who was ejected after an animated argument.
To listen to the Giants, Meals did nothing short of insult reason. For the Rockies, it was a fortunate break, casting Hennessey into the game an inning earlier than expected. Not surprisingly his 14-consecutive save streak dissolved.
“Come on, we’ve got to have common sense here. I was shocked,” Bochy said. “I am still shocked.”
Crew chief Gary Darling said past history played into the decision.
“We were on alert. It was an obvious situation,” he said.
That the Rockies were in position for one pitch to matter seemed implausible early in the game. They fell behind 5-1, left eight runners on base through three innings and watched starter Franklin Morales last just 44 pitches. But Colorado chipped away and muzzled the Giants, Matt Herges inducing a bases-loaded double-play ball in the sixth for the most significant outs.
It left Hennessey with an amazingly thin margin for error. Kazuo Matsui smoked a single to tie the game in the eighth before Hawpe’s hit emptied the Rockies’ bench in celebration.
“We are a good team and have a lot of talent,” closer Manny Corpas said. “That’s why we think we are going to make it to the playoffs.”
Staff writer Patrick Saunders contributed to this report.
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
