Called out by fabric. Pittsburgh Pirates rookie speedster Keon Broxton slid himself through the dirt trying to steal second Tuesday at Coors Field.
DJ LeMahieu fielded catcher Dustin Garneau’s throw and tagged out Broxton by the threads on his skinny-skin-skin black-and-gold jersey — and only after a video replay, which was surely enlarged with digital zoom like an episode of “CSI: MLB” at baseball headquarters in New York to see the tip of the glove nipped his shirt just so.
The Pirates, though, are 23 games ahead of the Rockies in the Natinal League standings. There’s nothing close about it.
Needing only a victory over the Rockies and a loss by the San Francisco Giants to earn a playoff berth, the Pirates cruised by last-place Colorado 6-3.
Pittsburgh knocked around starter Chris Rusin, scoring all the runs they’d need in the first four innings, with eight hits off the left-hander. All of Rusin’s runs came with two outs.
“I’m an early-action guy,” Rusin said. “But I was falling behind hitters, not making pitches when I needed to. And when I got behind in a count, I forced myself to throw strikes. And they either got hits or bleed it through.”
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The Pirates stocked the visiting clubhouse at Coors Field with champagne early Tuesday — but the Giants made them wait. San Francisco led Padres 4-2 at San Diego late Tuesday night.
“They’re a dynamic club,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said of the Pirates. “It’s a pretty complete team they have.”
In the first two games of a four-game series in Denver, the Pirates have scored in nine innings. They also dominated the Rockies for a 9-3 win Monday.
Aramis Ramirez’s line drive triple to center field in the fourth, and his jog-in run off Starling Marte’s subsequent single, pushed the Pirates to a three-run lead in the fourth.
“It was frustrating,” Rusin said. “I hurt myself.”
After Pittsburgh chipped away at Rusin for a run in the first and two in the second, including an RBI double from Josh Harrison, the Rockies rebounded.
Wilin Rosario pushed a solo home run to right field in the second off Pittsburgh starter J.A. Happ. And Charlie Blackmon singled in Brandon Barnes in the third, stole second base, then scored on Nolan Arenado’s single in the third to cut Colorado’s deficit to 4-3.
But after back-to-back singles from Rosario and LeMahieu in the fourth, the Rockies sent just one more than the minimum to bat the rest of the way, including nine strike outs.
“I believe most of the time, you make your own breaks,” Weiss said.
Nick Groke: ngroke@denverpost.com or @nickgroke
