Background: After two NLCS games in sunny Phoenix, the Rockies and Diamondbacks were greeted Sunday with an all-day drizzle and a game-time temperature of 43 degrees at Coors Field. Most of the pregame chatter centered on how the game would be played in weather more suited for the Broncos and how it would favor pitchers because of the difficulty of hitting in cold weather.
“It’ll be a different game than if it is warm and no rain,” the Rockies’ Matt Holliday said. “It probably favors the pitchers. I don’t know if the wind is going to blow, but anytime it’s cold, hitters’ hands are cold. It’s not a good feeling (hitting the ball).”
Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said he would monitor second baseman Kazuo Matsui and center fielder Willy Taveras. Both missed games near season’s end with leg injuries. With the wet grass, Hurdle wanted to make sure they didn’t aggravate old injuries if they slipped.
Bottom line: Hitting conditions were brutal as both teams struggled to stay warm and fight off the drizzle. But it didn’t seem to bother Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba, who hit a three-run homer in the sixth and a double off the center-field wall in the third.
