When Arizona left fielder Eric Byrnes lined the ball right up the middle in the top of the first inning with two Diamondbacks on base Sunday night, it’s not as if Rockies starter Josh Fogg had time to think. Fogg reacted, and reacted so quickly, even a little over three hours later he couldn’t guarantee he even had seen the ball.
But he caught it, then whirled and threw to Kazuo Matsui at second base to double up Stephen Drew. One pitch, one crack of the bat, and Fogg – after giving up game-opening singles to Chris Young and Drew – had staved off a horrible start with one instinctive catch.
“It was one of those kind of reaction things,” Fogg said after the Rockies’ 4-1 victory over the Diamondbacks in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. “It just hit me in the glove, and I turned around and saw the guy off second, so I flipped it over there. There was a chance for a triple play, and I was hoping for that. We didn’t get it, so …”
So he wasn’t out of the inning. But Tony Clark flied out to center for the third out. Arizona also got one-out, back-to-back singles from Jeff Salazar and Miguel Montero in the second, but Augie Ojeda grounded into the inning-ending double play.
Fogg said at that point, he was thinking: “‘I gotta get a groundball here eventually.’ I knew I was going to get a ball hit to Tulo (Troy Tulowitzki) somewhere. That’s the goal – let ’em hit it to Tulo and let him work his magic.”
Actually, Fogg’s memory was a little foggy on that one, since it was a 4-6-3 double play, with the grounder going to Matsui. Regardless, with the two double plays behind him, Fogg persevered from there, ultimately going six innings, allowing only seven hits and one run.
The Diamondbacks’ only run came on Mark Reynolds’ two-out homer in the top of the fourth inning, a curveball Fogg said he “left in the middle of the plate, and he put a good swing on it.”
After Yorvit Torrealba’s game-turning homer in the sixth, Ryan Spilborghs pinch hit for Fogg, who ended up getting credit for the victory. He is 2-0 in the postseason after his two innings of relief work in Game 2 of the NL division series against Philadelphia.
“If you can keep it close for as long as you can, someone’s going to come through with a big hit, and Yorvit did it for us tonight,” Fogg said.
Fogg ultimately threw 76 pitches Sunday – every one in the rain.
“It was cold,” Fogg said. “But it wasn’t too wet out there. The mound was in good shape. The grounds crew did a great job all night of keeping it playable for us. I was hoping it would stop raining eventually, but it kind of continued all night.”
Fogg may have to go back to his old nickname, “Dragon Slayer,” after this latest performance, beating one of the best postseason pitchers ever, Livan Hernandez.
Fogg earned the Dragon Slayer moniker for besting ace pitchers earlier this season. He has since opted for “The Vulture” after his easy pickings win in Game 2 of the division series. When he walked into the clubhouse Saturday, he was greeted by a huge sign at his locker drawn by a fan honoring his Dragon Slayer heritage.
Asked if he received any motivation from the sign, Fogg said Monday, “No, but that was a nice little surprise.”
If the Rockies had restored Aaron Cook to the NLCS roster, chances were strong Cook would have gotten the Game 3 nod. But Fogg – 10-9 in the regular season – got it, and came through.
“I think I’ve earned this spot in the rotation,” Fogg said. “I don’t think (manager Clint Hurdle) has handed me anything. I think I’ve pitched well enough this year to go out there and prove that I’m one of the guys they can lean on.
“I’ve been throwing the ball well down the stretch, and fortunately, I was able to go out there and do it again tonight.”
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
