Los Angeles – At 3:35 p.m., a visiting clubhouse attendant called across the hall to reveal the Rockies’ lineup. What he heard in return amounted to finding a bike under the tree on Christmas morning.
While the Rockies, with the playoffs within sight, are having fun like it’s a day at the beach, the Dodgers trotted out a lineup more suited to Vero Beach.
Six of the eight position players spent time in Triple-A Las Vegas and five were September call-ups. While the Dodgers took a glimpse at their future, the Rockies continued distancing themselves from their past, posting a 2-0 victory Wednesday night.
“We thought if we ran the table we could get in,” starter Josh Fogg said. “It’s getting ridiculous.”
It was their 10th consecutive victory, the longest streak in franchise history and in the major leagues this season. Extending their magical run toward their first playoff berth since 1995, however, only kept them from losing ground as both the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies won.
The Rockies sit one game behind the Padres, tied with the Phillies. And in a scenario that seemed implausible as recently as last weekend, Colorado trails the Arizona Diamondbacks by two games in the NL West. If the Rockies were to advance as the wild card, they’d likely play at the New York Mets next Wednesday, though that’s hardly scribbled in stone, given the Mets’ slump.
Crashing the party is the goal, regardless of how the Rockies get behind the velvet rope.
On a cool evening, Josh Fogg toyed with the Dodgers’ kiddie corps, working 6 2/3 shutout innings, part of a rotation that has posted a 3.10 ERA during the streak. His biggest pitch came in the sixth, when it appeared he was about to flinch.
He walked three consecutive hitters, fighting command issues. Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton and pitching coach Bob Apodaca all took turns calming his nerves. Apodaca told Fogg that he could set up Andre Ethier soft away and retire him with heat above the hands. Three changeups and a high cut fastball later, Fogg produced the biggest strikeout of his career. He reacted with a fist pump typically seen when Tiger Woods sinks a 20-foot putt.
“Oh, man. I am not taking anything away from him, but it looked easy to hit,” Dodgers third baseman Andy LaRoche said. “But the guy really knows how to pitch.”
Assuming more burden with the Dodgers’ stars on the bench, Derek Lowe nearly matched Fogg’s excellence. He allowed just two runs in seven innings, and it should have been one, had rookie shortstop Chin-Lung Hu handled Matt Holliday’s RBI single. The hopper ricocheted off his glove, scoring the Rockies’ second run.
The first came moments earlier after Yorvit Torrealba doubled, and scored on Kazuo Matsui’s groundball to right field.
Fogg has appeared re-energized since getting two extra days’ rest between starts this month. Still, manager Clint Hurdle continued to guide with urgency. After a two-out, seventh-inning single by Mark Sweeney, Fogg was gone at 97 pitches. He hasn’t thrown more than 100 since Aug. 17.
And going to the bullpen has long since stopped feeling like a slot-lever pull. The predictability of performance has been startling, if not comforting, as the relievers own a 2.68 ERA over the past 10 games. Jeremy Affeldt, Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas gobbled up the final seven outs.
Four games remain. Dream on.
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
A string of pearly gems
A look at the Rockies’ franchise-record winning streak:
1. Marlins, 13-0, Helton belts 300th homer.
2. Dodgers, 3-1, Francis dazzles with 10 K’s.
3. Dodgers, 9-8, Helton hits walkoff HR.
4. Dodgers, 6-5, Hawpe’s two-run dinger wins it.
5. Dodgers, 9-4, Holliday leads way for sweep.
6. Padres, 2-1, Hawpe’s HR wins it in 14th.
7. Padres, 6-2, Redman and Speier handcuff Padres.
8. Padres 7-3, Francis wins No. 17.
9. Dodgers 9-7, Tulo rides to the rescue … again.
10. Dodgers, 2-0, Fogg, three relievers brilliant.
Breaking it down
THREE-TEAM TIE
In case of a three-way tie for the wild card among Colorado, San Diego and Philadelphia, the head-to-head records among the three teams would be used to designate each Club as A, B or C. The club with the best such record would have the first choice and the club with the second-best record would have the second choice. The records are as follows:
The Phillies went 4-3 vs. the Padres and 3-4 vs. the Rockies (7-7 overall).
The Rockies went 10-8 vs. the Padres and 4-3 vs. the Phillies (14-11 overall).
The Padres went 8-10 vs. the Rockies and 3-4 vs. the Phillies (11-14 overall).
Thus, the Rockies would have the first choice to be designated as Club A, B or C. The Phillies would have the second choice. The Padres would get the remaining option.
The games would then be played as follows:
Club A hosts Club B on Monday. The winner of the A vs. B game would then host Club C on Tuesday.
TWO-TEAM TIE
Sites for potential one-game playoff games Monday:
NL East
N.Y. Mets at Philadelphia
NL Central
Milwaukee at Chicago
NL West
San Diego at Arizona
Colorado at Arizona
Colorado at San Diego
NL wild card
Philadelphia at San Diego
San Diego at Colorado
Philadelphia at Colorado
LOOKING AHEAD
If the Rockies are the NL wild-card team, they will most likely play the Mets in the best-of-five NL divisional series.
Game 1: Wednesday, at New York
Game 2: Thursday, Oct. 4, at New York
Game 3: Saturday, Oct. 6 at Colorado
Game 4: Sunday, Oct. 7 at Colorado
Game 5: Tuesday, Oct. 9 at New York
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Down the stretch they come …
NATIONAL LEAGUE: With four days left in the season, all three division races and the wild card are tightly contested. The leaders hold one-game leads in three races, with the other race (the Central) a two-game margin:
Pirates 5, Diamondbacks 1: Arizona was looking to clinch the West on this Pittsburgh trip. Now, it clings to a one-game lead over San Diego and two over Colorado.
Padres 11, Giants 3: A six-run fifth inning gave Jake Peavy all the support he needed as San Diego maintained a one-game wild-card lead over the Rockies and Phillies.
Phillies 5, Braves 2: Kyle Lohse provided a solid start for Phila- delphia, which moved one game behind New York in the East and remained one back in the wild card.
ON TAP
NL: Arizona plays a day game against Pittsburgh, and games involving Philadelphia (5:05 p.m.) and San Diego (6:05 p.m.) will be over or nearly so before the 8:10 p.m. first pitch of the Rockies’ game at Los Angeles. San Diego begins a four-game series at Central contender Milwaukee.
