It was growing late Wednesday night, jackets were zipped, fans were trying to remember where they parked.
While not aesthetically pleasing, there was a sense of inevitability. The Rockies were going to win, even if it was more Play-Doh than Picasso. Then something funny happened. Multiple mistakes finally came with consequences. They squandered a lead, they committed three errors, and yet they were last seen forming a mosh pit at home plate after Chris Iannetta’s walk off home run.
It was the difference in the Rockies’ 6-5, 10-inning victory over the Met at Doors Field.
This is the type of win that will be referenced if the National League West race is tighter than Saran Wrap in September. The Rockies deserved to lose, but they were benefactors of a few good calls and a schedule that decreed they play the Met.
The Met haven’t led at the completion of an inning since last Friday. Annetta can relate to the misery. He’s been challenged early at the plate. He had one hit entering the game. He finished with three hits. But only the last one will be remembered.
On a 2-1 count against top prospect Jenrry Mejia, Iannetta smoked a fastball into the left-field seats. He knew it when he it, raising his bat to the sky like a triumphant gesture in a sword fight.
His swing was a life raft on a game that should have been over an hour earlier. Colorado led 5-3, but Rafael Betancourt allowed his first run of the season. It was Iannetta’s throwing error in the ninth that helped usher home the tying run on Luis Castillo’s sacrifice fly against closer Franklin Morales.
Iannetta made amends in the most dramatic fashion possible, trading a gaffe for a blast.
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
