The No. 2 Rockies survived a roller coaster ride with the No. 5
Giants, winning 11-10 Friday night to advance to the championship
against the No. 1 A’s.
By Greg Chapman Staff Writer
The No. 2 Rockies survived a roller coaster ride with the No. 5 Giants, winning 11-10 Friday night to advance to the championship against the No. 1 A’s.
The Rockies, who took an early lead, had to come back from a 10-2 deficit to win.
The victory moves them into the championship, where they look to de-throne the two-time defending champion A’s at 11am today.
The Rockies got on the board first with two runs in the bottom of the second inning.
The Giants scored two runs in the top of the third to tie the game.
The Giants used a balanced hitting attack to string together key several hits with runners on base.
Rockies manager Dave Lijan said, “They used everything in the book,” even the squeeze play.
In the top of the sixth with bases loaded the perfect bunt was laid down scoring a run, giving the Giants an 8-2 lead.
Two base hits brought two more runs in and the Rockies were down 10-2.
Going into the bottom of the sixth, Lijan said the players were told it was about heart for the final two innings.
Lijan credited rookies, Steven Hernandez and Tanner Zazueta, for getting things started.
The Rockies scored six runs in the inning on a combination of hits, walks, passed balls and players hit by pitches to close the gap.
In the top of the seventh, the Giants went down in order, and the Rockies came up in the bottom of the seventh with their number three, four and five batters leading off the inning.
The Rockies scored three unearned runs in the inning to win the game.
“It wasn’t a pretty one,” Lijan said.
