The one blemish on the Rockies’ near-spotless run into the playoffs came at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks and the arm of Brandon Webb.
Webb, the reigning Cy Young Award winner as the National League’s top pitcher, bested Colorado’s Jeff Francis on Sept. 28 as Arizona clinched the National League West crown. It marked Colorado’s only loss in its last 18 games heading into tonight’s NL Championship Series.
The Rockies won their next two contests with Arizona, and then rallied to beat San Diego in a 13-inning, one-game playoff, clinching a postseason berth. They then swept the Phillies in a first-round playoff series, while the Diamondbacks made equally quick work of the Chicago Cubs.
Webb will again oppose Francis tonight as the two teams start the best-of-seven series at Chase Field in Phoenix.
“It was one of the biggest games I’ve ever pitched,” Webb said at a televised news conference about the win over Colorado. “They haven’t lost since I’ve pitched against them, so it gives me a little bit of confidence to know that was me that beat them.” Webb, who was 18-10 during the regular season, gave up two earned runs in seven innings in a 4-2 win over the Rockies, while Francis (17-9) allowed four runs in six innings.
“It was one of those games where mistakes get magnified,” Francis said at a news conference. “It felt like, at the time, that was the game that knocked us out.” NL West Matchup The team responded with six straight victories, leading to the first championship-series matchup of NL West franchises since divisional realignment in 1994, and questions of a budding rivalry between the teams.
“Healthy rivalry? Well see,” Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said at a news conference. “We’ll see how it develops, but I think it’s very encouraging that the NL West had the success it had this year.” Both the Diamondbacks and Rockies each won 90 regular- season games, while Colorado won 10 of the 18 matchups between the teams, including five at both Coors Field in Denver and at Chase Field.
Colorado led the NL with a .280 team batting average during the regular season, while Arizona’s was last at .250. The Diamondbacks held the pitching advantage, posting a 4.13 earned run average, compared with 4.32 for the Rockies, while Colorado’s fielding percentage (.989) was best in the league and Arizona’s (.983) eighth.
Holliday’s Batting Title Matt Holliday was the Rockies’ best hitter this season, winning the NL batting title with a .340 average, 36 home runs and 137 runs batted in. Brad Hawpe (29), Garrett Atkins (25), and Troy Tulowitzki (24) all topped the 20-homer mark as well.
Chris Young (32) and Eric Byrnes (21) were the only Diamondbacks with more than 20 homers, while none of their regular players batted over .300.
Josh Fogg (10-9) was the only pitcher other than Francis with 10 wins for Colorado. Webb was joined by Livan Hernandez (11-11) and Doug Davis (13-12) in accomplishing the feat for Arizona.
Each team rolled through the divisional playoffs, with Arizona outscoring Chicago 16-6 during its three-game sweep, and the Rockies besting Philadelphia 16-8.
The winner of the NL Championship will face either Boston or Cleveland in the World Series. The Red Sox and Indians begin their series tomorrow.
“The Rockies aren’t just an offensive club. We’re not just a pitching club,” Arizona manager Bob Melvin said at a news conference. “It doesn’t have the kind of theme that it’s going to be all pitching and defense or all offense. It could go back and forth from day to day.”
