Adapting to the sudden Colorado transition from summer to winter, Willy Taveras was wearing a Rockies’ stocking cap in the dugout before the Saturday afternoon workout at Coors Field. Weather permitting, when he patrols center field tonight in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against Arizona, the downturn in temperatures could provide one more trial for a previously troublesome quadriceps muscle that kept him out of the lineup more than a month.
But judging from the memorable diving catch he made in the seventh inning of Game 2 Friday, and from the tone he has set at the top of the order against the Diamondbacks, he has vindicated manager Clint Hurdle’s decision to return him to the lineup.
Apparently Hurdle didn’t foul up the karma as the Rockies attempt to keep their remarkable run going. The manager, and the center fielder, may have enhanced it.
Taveras sprinting to his left and making an inning-ending and run-saving catch on Tony Clark’s line drive in Game 2 was further confirmation.
“It was a big moment in a big game, definitely, in a tied game,” said Taveras, who also drew a bases-loaded walk to produce the game-winning run in the 11th inning. “It hurt a little bit when you land, when you hit the ground, but I’m OK.”
In two games at Phoenix, Taveras was 2-for-9 with a double and two runs scored. It’s not so much that he has looked like the second coming of Lou Brock, but he has provided speed and spark. Plus, his previous experience in the postseason – he hit .349 for Houston in the Astros’ 2005 run to the World Series against the White Sox – was impressive.
“I just try to play my game,” he said. “But the one thing I know is that the postseason, when close games mean a lot, you need speed. … That’s how we’ve been winning games lately, pitching and speed.”
All that said, there were many furrowed brows when Hurdle announced his decision to put the recovered Taveras back in the lineup. Even Taveras recognized the potential for second-guessing if the Rockies lost.
“That’s over right now,” he said. “We’re playing great baseball. I was nervous to go out there. … I just want to be part of the team. I was pulling for them when I was in the Instructional League (on a rehab assignment) and when I was here, and now I get to be a part of it.”
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
