Ubaldo Jimenez arrived in the Coors Field clubhouse at 11:24 a.m., casually walking to his locker in blue jeans, a polo shirt and his trusty headphones.
Too hurt earlier in his career, too amped in his last start against the Dodgers, the rookie took the ball in the biggest game in franchise history.
With a state watching and crowd erupting, all Jimenez did was deliver the performance of his life. Behind his masterful performance and a three-run eighth inning, the Rockies topped the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3, setting up a one-game tiebreaker Monday at Coors Field against the San Diego Padres at 5:37 p.m. on TBS.
It ended after a wobbly ninth at 4:04 p.m. Closer Manny Corpas fielded a swinging bunt by Stephen Drew, firing to Todd Helton for the final out. Helton jumped up and down across the infield, hugging shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.
Tickets for the one-game play-in went on sale immediately after the game. Ticket offices will open at 7 a.m. All tickets are available at Coors Field, all King Soopers, Rockies’ dugout stores and on the team’s website. Rockpile tickets also became available immediately after the game.
Jimenez, whose Rockies won 13 of their final 14 games, allowed just one run in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out 13 batters, making a split-squad Diamondbacks’ lineup appear clumsy and overmatched. The sellout crowd continued pockets of eruptions watching the Padres’ score post on the out-of-town scoreboard. At 3:36 p.m., the final was listed: Brewers 11, Padres 6.
All the Rockies had to do was finish off the Diamondbacks to create Monday’s play-in game. The winner will face the National League East champion Phillies Wednesday in Philadelphia.
With the score tied at 1-all, Tulowitzki reached on a throwing error by third baseman Mark Reynolds. Matt Holliday followed with a hard one-hop shot off first baseman Robby Hammock, one of several Diamondbacks playing out of position as starters rested. Bill Murphy entered and walked Helton on five pitches.
Garrett Atkins followed with a first pitch single to right, shoving the Rockies ahead 2-1. Brad Hawpe, who knocked in the Rockies’ first run, followed with a two-RBI double. Setupman Brian Fuentes kept the game tied with four strikeouts – two in the seventh, two in the eighth to pick up the victory.
That left it up to Manny Corpas to issue the punctuation mark. He provided accompanying drama with his most wobbly performance as a closer. Miguel Montero reached on a hard single that Todd Helton couldn’t handle and Carlo Quentin doubled. After a sacrifice fly by Augie Ojeda and a RBI single by Alberto Callaspo, Corpas ended the game with an off-balance throw to first, sending the near sellout crowd into delirium.
