PHILADELPHIA—Clint Hurdle watched the replays to figure out the call himself.
Did Matt Holliday really touch the plate and score the winning won in Colorado’s 13-inning thriller over San Diego in the wild-card playoff? Darn if that pesky score ticker at the bottom of his TV screen didn’t block his view.
“I’m not so sure he got the plate, but I’m not so sure he didn’t,” Hurdle said Tuesday, just hours after the win.
The Rockies manager was all smiles only hours after the Rockies arrived in Philadelphia and about 10 hours after Colorado needed extra innings in a 9-8 win over the Padres in baseball’s longest one-game tiebreaker.
The extra innings and the late hours were worth it for the Rockies. They arrived in Philadelphia around 8:30 a.m. EDT and canceled their scheduled workout. Hurdle, general manager Dan O’Dowd and Game 1 starter Jeff Francis were the only Rockies available at the ballpark, and they met the media in street clothes.
“Our team has been challenged numerous times throughout the season from an energy standpoint,” Hurdle said. “I don’t have any doubt they’re going to show up very well.”
Colorado survived a couple of wild calls to get there.
The first came when Garrett Atkins hit what the Rockies argued was a line-drive homer in the seventh inning Monday night. Umpires Fieldin Culbreth and Tim Tschida quickly ruled the ball hit the yellow railing on the left-field wall and bounced back into play, leaving Atkins with a double and the Rockies with a 6-5 lead.
Then the Rockies caught a break in the 13th after Holliday never appeared to touch home plate before catcher Michael Barrett retrieved Brian Giles’ throw and tagged the slugger.
“I’m still wondering about the ball we hit for the double, about how it bounced back sideways and the other way with the padding,” Hurdle said. “That’s the part of the game you can’t figure out. You go, ‘What if?'”
Holliday busted his chin open and banged his head, leaving him dazed from the headfirst dive on the winning run. He rested Tuesday and Hurdle said he didn’t anticipate any problems—or any more controversy.
“Bottom line is, we were the ones that were fortunate enough to be jumping around at the end of the game,” Hurdle said.
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CLUTCH ROMERO: J.C. Romero would love for his scoreless September to spill into October.
Not much more than a line in the transactions column when the Phillies signed the lefty reliever in June, Romero (1-2, 1.54 in 51 games with Phillies) finished with a flourish.
Romero, designated for assignment by Boston in June, didn’t allow a run and gave up only four hits in 20 September appearances spanning 15 2-3 innings.
“I knew from the beginning they were in need of pitching,” he said. “When I came over here I wanted to make a difference. It didn’t matter how big of an impact I was going to have.”
Romero had no idea how big of an impact he would make in the back end of the bullpen. Philadelphia’s relief trio of closer Brett Myers, Tom Gordon and Romero was 4-2 with eight saves and a 2.40 ERA in September. When all three appeared in the final month, Phillies were 12-3.
“This feels more like 2002 when I was in Minnesota,” Romero said. “There were a lot of injuries and a lot of doubt. The people outside of the clubhouse doubted the team. Sometimes we lost games we felt we should have won, but the next day we’d come back to the field ready to kick some you know what.”
After being threatened with contraction before the 2002 season and wondering if they were even going to play together, the Twins won the AL Central that year to make the playoffs for the first time since 1992. Romero was one of several young players who enjoyed breakout seasons.
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GEARY OUT: Right-handed reliever Geoff Geary was left off Philadelphia’s postseason roster with a strained right elbow. Geary (3-2, 4.41 ERA) said he was hurt on the first pitch he threw in Saturday’s game against Washington. He stayed in the game, but told trainers he was injured.
“My hand didn’t want me to hold on to the ball anymore,” Geary said. “It wasn’t something that hurt. It’s kind of like it hit your funnybone.”
Geary said he couldn’t decide if he should tell the team or not, but felt he could hurt the Phillies more in the postseason if he pitched with a bum elbow. Geary said he hoped to throw again on Friday and wanted to pitch if the Phillies reach the NLCS.
General manager Pat Gillick said injured reliever Ryan Madson (shoulder) also might be available if the Phillies reached the NLCS.
Madson (2-2, 3.05 ERA) hasn’t pitched since July 29, but was hopeful of pitching in three simulated games in Florida and could be ready to go for a possible league championship series.
“There’s a chance, depending on what he does the next three or four times,” Gillick said. “He might be available.”
The Phillies also bumped starter Adam Eaton off the postseason roster, leaving them 10 pitchers available against the Rockies. Gillick said the Phillies would consider adding a pitcher if they reached a seven-game series.
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SARGE SAYS: No one in Philadelphia calls broadcaster Gary Matthews anything but “Sarge.” In California, he goes by a different name: Dad.
Matthews said he has some mixed feelings about who to root for in the playoffs. Matthews will be on the air for pregame and postgame radio shows in Philadelphia while his son, Gary Matthews Jr., plays for the Los Angeles Angels. A possible World Series matchup between the two teams has the oldest Matthews excited to see his son play against the team he calls games for.
“Oh man, that would be awesome,” Matthews said. “You almost have to pull for the team you work for and hope that he has an MVP-type of World Series.”
Matthews said he has fond memories of his son tagging along with him to the ballpark. The family got their first taste of the postseason together in 1984 when Matthews played for the NL East champion Cubs.
“He was there in ’84. He knows all about it,” Matthews said. “He knows that look when you’re winning.”
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BAD CALL: When the Phillies traded outfielder Bobby Abreu to the Yankees last year, general manager Pat Gillick said he didn’t expect Philadelphia to contend again until 2008.
Whoops.
“You guys are going to call me a liar for one game?” Gillick said, getting huge laughs. “If we lost that game Sunday, you might not be sitting here right now and it might be 2008.”
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BUNNING REMEMBERS: Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., is ready to veto the idea that the 1964 Phillies had the biggest collapse of all time. His new vote for the 2007 Mets.
“You know what that did to me? That took me off about a 45-year hook that I was stuck on from 1964 to 2007,” Bunning said during his weekly teleconference. “The Mets’ collapse outdid the Phillies’ in ’64.”
The Phillies held a 6 1/2-game lead with 12 to play in 1964, only to blow the National League pennant by losing 10 straight.
The Mets became the first major league team that failed to finish in first place after owning a lead of seven games or more with 17 remaining.
“I’m sorry for the Mets, because they will never forget it,” Bunning said. “No matter how many times they say, ‘Well, let’s go on with next year,’ you can’t believe that you blew seven games with 17 to go. It’s hard to imagine.”
Bunning said he hoped to attend a World Series game in Philadelphia.
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THEY SAID IT: “They waited for 14 years. Hopefully now they’ll quit talking about the ’93 team, which was a great team. Hopefully we can finish what they started.”—Phillies closer Brett Myers on the Phillies fans.
