Incredible Comeback lifts Rockies 12-9 over Cardinals
Up six runs in the bottom of the ninth innings on Tuesday night, it was all but in the books: the St-Louis Cardinals were going to take the first game of their away series in Denver. But the Colorado Rockies had a different plan, and pulled off an incredible comeback, hammering in nine runs in one innings to take the game handily 12-9.
"Never, ever in my career have I been associated with a better comeback than that," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said after the game.
Until the sixth innings, it looked to be all St-Louis. Felipe Lopez opened up the scoring with a two-run home run in the third, with Albert Pujols doubling in an RBI as well. After they scored three more runs over the next two innings, Matt Holliday hit a three-run home run in the sixth to put the Cardinals in a commanding 9-2 lead. The Cardinals grinded out a run in the seventh to make it 9-3 but were held scoreless in the eighth, setting the stage for Dennis Reyes to close out the game.
But he couldn’t get the job done and showed control issues, walking a batter and letting another score on a passed ball to make it 9-4. He was pulled with two of his runners on base, leaving Ryan Franklin to begin what would be a nightmarish outing. He promptly let in a three-run home run to make it 9-7, then amazingly let in two more runs off of single to tie the game. Finally Seth Smith put the nail in the coffin with a three-run home run, sending the fans who’d hadn’t left after the eighth into a frenzy.
Smith in disbelief after the game
After the game, Smith could hardly believe what his team had accomplished.
"I don't even know what just happened," Smith said. "I'll have a chance to watch it later tonight, catch some highlights and enjoy it. You go from, 'Let's not give any at-bats away,' to 'Good try,' to 'Oh, wait, we can do this.'”
For Franklin, it was a disappointing finish to a game in which he couldn’t find a way to get the outs he needed to end the innings. He ended the evening having recorded only one out, allowing six hits against seven batters faced, two home runs and six total earned runs.
"I thought I could get out of it with one pitch," Franklin said. "I was confident the whole time. That's my game, make them hit the ball. They just hit it kind of hard."
Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa said the loss was everybody on the Cardinals’ fault, and not just Franklin’s. Throughout the game the Rockies had their chances, and had stranded an incredible 13 runners before the ninth innings explosion.
"There's no way you can not get three outs with a six-run lead," LaRussa said. "It's just one of those games. There's no way to explain it, no excuses you make, it's just a really difficult loss. It's just brutal."
An important result
With the Rockies’ victory, the teams now boast the exact same record of 45-38, and the Rockies currently sit four games back in the NL West division, behind the San Diego Padres and one game behind the L.A Dodgers. Taking another game against at home against a good team like the Cardinals, whom they could potentially be competing with for a wild-card spot would be a good boost to their play-off chances heading towards the All-Star break.
For St-Louis, they’re just two games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central division, which is one of the weakest divisions in the league. They should have a easier schedule from here on out, but will need to improve their composure and bullpen in the future if they want to catch the Reds.
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