BESTS
Slam is just grand
Blast. The first grand slam of Kazuo Matsui’s major-league career blew away anything he accomplished in his seven all-star seasons in Japan. “It’s not a comparison. I mean, today was like the best, so exciting. I was so glad to hit it.”
Fever. Rocky Mountain-style. Wednesday’s Game 1 on TBS drew 3.17 million viewers. The average audience for that game exceeded that of the first game from last year’s Day 1 coverage on ESPN by 78 percent (Oakland and Minnesota, with 1.77 million viewers).
Rocky Mountain pie. OK, so it was tacky, but it also was funny when the Phillies dressed someone to look like the late John Denver and had him lip-synch “Rocky Mountain High” to a chorus of boos. Then the Philly Phanatic creamed the John Denver stand-in with a pie.
WORSTS
Manuel overdrive
Managing blunder. With two out and the bases loaded in the fourth inning, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel gave a quick hook to starter Kyle Kendrick, replacing him with No. 4 starter Kyle Lohse. Kaz Matsui promptly launched his slam to right field.
Relief effort. The Phillies fans booed former Rockies reliever Jose Mesa off the field after he walked two, allowed one hit and gave up three runs in the sixth. Mesa left after recording just one out.
Baserunning. Philly slugger Ryan Howard was picked off first base in the third inning on a smooth move by Rockies starter Franklin Morales. Howard was still two feet from the bag when Todd Helton slapped the tag on him.
ROCKIES REPLAY
THE HERO
Kaz Matsui
His grand slam was the ninth in NLDS history. There have been seven in ALDS history. He was a single short of the cycle.
THE GOAT
Phillies manager Manuel
The skipper failed to show faith in one of his best starters, Kyle Kendrick, and his bullpen blew up on him, leaving Philly in a 2-0 hole to the hottest team in baseball.
KEY MOMENT
Morales near implosion
Rockies manager Clint Hurdle, sensing that Franklin Morales was on the brink of melting down, replaced him with starter Josh Fogg in the fourth. Fogg shut down the Phillies for two innings. Same strategy as Manuel’s, with far different results.
