MEDIA CLIPS – September 16, 2017

Rox top Padres, keep footing in Wild Card race By Owen Perkins and Manny Randhawa / MLB.com | 1:07 AM ET

DENVER -- In his third start since returning to the Rockies' rotation from the bullpen, Tyler Chatwood tossed 5 2/3 strong innings and helped himself with a two-run single as Colorado defeated the Padres, 6-1, at Coors Field on Friday night.

With the victory, the Rockies' lead for the second National League Wild Card spot got a little stronger. The Cardinals, who lost to the Cubs Friday, fell to 3 1/2 games back. The Brewers, however, kept pace at 2 1/2 games back by riding an eight-run eighth inning to a 10-2 win over the Marlins in Miami.

Chatwood escaped jams in the first and second innings with plays, starting the twin killing in the first on a comebacker by Wil Myers. With two on and one out in the second, he got Jabari Blash to ground into a 4-6- 3 double play. Chatwood was chased with two outs in the sixth after Myers homered.

"That's been a trademark the last number of outings for Tyler, even the Giants game, where he got some key double plays," Rockies Bud Black said. "I remember he struck out [Hunter] Pence with the bases loaded in that start. There's been some at-bats where he's been stressed, but he got the out. And that's the reason why he's put up a lot of zeros."

Padres starter Clayton Richard retired the first five Rockies he faced, but gave up a single and a double before an intentional walk that brought Chatwood to the plate. Chatwood's two-run single was followed by a two-run by DJ LeMahieu. Colorado tacked on two more in the eighth, on Nolan Arenado's 34th homer, a Trevor Story triple and an Ian Desmond sacrifice fly.

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"It's a frustrating outing because he's literally one cheap ground ball away from six scoreless innings," Padres manager said of Richard's performance. "In the second inning there, he was cruising the first two batters, got a really weak ground ball from CarGo [Carlos Gonzalez]. If he doesn't put a glove on it, it's going to be picked up by [third baseman Yangervis] Solarte, be a third out and he's out of that inning. Instead he nicks it with his glove, turns into a base , and he misses with an 0-2 pitch to Mark Reynolds, which is probably his biggest mistake of the day. Turns into a double off the wall, and then we can't get the out. That inning kind of spiraled."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Help yourself, Tyler: With two outs and nobody on in the Rockies' second inning, Gonzalez legged out an infield single, followed by a Mark Reynolds double. The Padres intentionally walked Jonathan Lucroy to get to Chatwood, who lined a two-run single to right field. Chatwood's seventh hit in 37 at-bats this season (.189) not only put Colorado up, 2-0, it extended the inning for LeMahieu, who doubled the lead with a two-run triple.

"It got us going," Chatwood said of his single. "Those runs right there were nice, and it was nice to be able to contribute on offense."

Added Green: "He wasn't exactly hitting his spots, but his stuff was alive. As many balls as strikes, nothing finely located, but there's life to the ball, and he made big pitches when he had to."

Rox 'pen steps up: Following Myers' homer with two outs in the sixth, reliever Mike Dunn got Yangervis Solarte to hit a routine ground ball to third, where Arenado made a rare error, allowing the ball to go between his legs. Cory Spangenbergfollowed with a walk, but Scott Oberg induced another ground ball to third, this one from Erick Aybar, that was scooped up by Arenado for the forceout to escape the threat.

QUOTABLE "It's nice. Starting is what I'm used to doing. I've been a starter most of my career, and that's what I feel best doing. And I feel that's the best way I can help us win games." -- Chatwood, on being back in the rotation after a stint in the bullpen

"Get out of the way or make the play. What I did was probably the worst thing I could have done. I really had no doubt I could get to it. I don't know if it was spin on it or what, but it was just out of my reach and I slowed it down just enough that we couldn't make the play. … That's baseball. Being so close. But those are the little things you have to do that separate winning teams from losing teams." -- Richard, on his nicking the grounder from Gonzalez in the second inning

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SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS The Padres have lost six in a row to the Rockies this season, including four straight at Coors Field. They've also lost four straight overall while scoring a total of four runs.

"In the last four or five games, we haven't squared up enough ," Green said. "You're not going to win baseball games at Coors Field putting up a solo . It doesn't matter what your pitcher does, you won't win many baseball games like that."

WHAT'S NEXT Padres: Jordan Lyles makes his third start for the Padres since coming over after the Rockies designated him for assignment on July 29. He is 7-6 with a 5.48 ERA in 56 career games (19 starts) at Coors Field. First pitch Saturday is set for 5:10 p.m. PT.

Rockies: Tyler Anderson makes his first start and second appearance for the Rockies since being injured on June 25, as Colorado takes on San Diego at 6:10 p.m. MT. The left-hander tossed four strong innings against the D-backs last Monday in Arizona, striking out four after starter Kyle Freeland was injured in the fourth.

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Rockies honor historic 2007 squad By Thomas Harding / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | September 15th, 2017

DENVER -- Todd Helton was shocked a decade had passed since the Rockies' miracle march to the World Series. But when he saw his old teammates during Friday's 10-year reunion at Coors Field, the years melted away.

Before the game against the Padres, the Rockies honored the club that won 21 of 22 before being swept by the Red Sox in the 2007 World Series. Seventeen players, plus three members of the coaching staff, were on hand for the celebration.

"Time flies … looking back, it was a great time in all our lives," said Helton, now player development director for the University of Tennessee's baseball program. "It's always good to see the guys. It's such a tight-knit group. We see them and don't skip a beat."

Jeff Francis, a left-handed pitcher who earned 17 regular-season wins and two in the postseason, summed it up in one word.

"I think of the word 'Rocktober,' how much fun we had here doing it, and how much fun the people in this city would have doing it again," Francis said.

The 2007 Rockies handed out rally towels at the entry gates and participated in an on-field ceremony before the game and took part in between-innings promotions throughout the contest. Players dressed in replicas of 2007 white home pinstripes (actually, they wore black sleeveless jerseys for most of the run and went to the whites only for Game 4 of the World Series), and all the classic moments came back.

There was Helton's home run on Sept. 17, 2007, against Dodgers reliever Takashi Saito -- previously unhittable for the Rockies -- ending a doubleheader sweep. The usually reserved Helton tossed his helmet, and the celebration seemed to jolt the Rockies into believing.

"I never knew that showing emotion was such a big deal," Helton said. "I would have done it before."7 Rockies

Golden moments were aplenty that year.

• Brad Hawpe delivered a 14th-inning, two-run homer for a 2-1 victory over the Padres on Sept. 21.

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• Garrett Atkins, generously described as a plodding runner, had a Sept. 23 inside-the-park homer when Padres outfielders Milton Bradley and Mike Cameron collided.

• Matt Holliday had the mad dash to the plate on Jamey Carroll's sac fly for the winning run in the Oct. 1 Game 163 tiebreaker against the Padres.

• Yorvit Torrealba, whose contributions led to postseason appearances in '07 and '09, knocked a three-run homer off the D-backs' Livan Hernandez in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.

"It was a special year in '07, with a great group of guys," said righty reliever LaTroy Hawkins, now a special assistant with the Twins' front office and a broadcaster of the team's games on FOX Sports North. "We didn't start off the season that well, but we came together midway through that season and went on a pretty impressive run."

Of course, moments are too numerous to list. Many were pulled off by players who are still active. The Yankees' Holliday, the Orioles' Ubaldo Jimenez and Seth Smithand the D-backs' were among those who delivered well-wishes during a video played on the Rockies' scoreboard. So did Pirates manager , who led the Rockies on the fateful run.

Part of the reason the run was unexpected was injuries to , Rodrigo Lopez and Jason Hirsh (all of whom were at the reunion) before the end of August. Yet callups such as Jimenez and left-hander (a free agent who pitched for the Blue Jays last year and was sporting a brace Friday after rotator cuff surgery) pitched in.

"We were guys that understood what we had to do to contribute to that ballclub -- even me, a guy on the disabled list, I was doing things like shagging out in the outfield, doing the bucket [for the baseballs during batting practice] or doing things around the clubhouse and on the field or off the field," said Hirsh, now involved in arm care for young athletes.

Even those who played small parts walk forever with the '07 Rockies club. For example, they invited Zach McClellan, a right-handed pitcher who appeared in the only 12 games of his Major League career -- none after May 13. He would co-star in one of 15 unassisted triple plays in baseball history on April 29. He threw the pitch that the Braves' Chipper Jones lined to then-rookie Troy Tulowitzki, who completed the .

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"Even today, Todd Helton walks in," said McClellan, whose career was shortened by injury before he became a leader of an engineering company. "I re-introduce myself thinking I needed to. He said, 'I know who you are, Zach.' The thing about this group is we take care of each other and remember each other."

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Chatwood continues hot streak vs. Padres By Manny Randhawa / MLB.com | 1:25 AM ET

DENVER -- Tyler Chatwood held the Padres to one run over 5 2/3 innings in the Rockies' 6-1 victory over the Padres at Coors Field on Friday night. In his three starts since returning to Colorado's starting rotation, Chatwood has posted a 0.66 ERA (one run in 13 2/3 innings).

This comes on the heels of an erratic 20-start stretch that saw Chatwood demoted to the bullpen on Aug. 1. During that time, the righty had 11 starts in which he gave up four or more runs but also seven starts in which he allowed two runs or fewer.

The primary factor behind Chatwood's newfound consistency? His left foot.

Between his start against the Giants at Coors Field on Sept. 5 and his start against the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Sunday, Chatwood identified a problem in his delivery.

"My two-seam 's always been my pitch, and I've always been able to get it down and away to a lefty, and for most of the year, it's been running off the plate; it's been flat," Chatwood said. "And it was just because I was fighting myself and not being able to get over my front side, firing across my body."od induces DP,

Chatwood had been planting his lead foot during his delivery toward the third-base side of the mound, rather than square in line toward the plate. The result was an inability to locate his fastball, falling behind in counts, and opponents racking up walks and run-scoring hits.

Entering September, Chatwood had issued three or more walks in 14 of his 21 starts, including eight against the Dodgers on June 24 alone. In three starts since rejoining the rotation, Chatwood has reduced his walk total from three in three innings on Sept. 5, to two in five innings on Sunday, to one in 5 2/3 frames against the Padres Friday night.

"Right now, I feel like I'm staying through everything, and I have a good angle and good depth on the ball," Chatwood said. "I think I'm getting weak contact on ground balls, and [the two-seamer] is staying on the plate more, so it's nice."

By not fighting himself in his delivery, Chatwood has also added significant velocity to the two-seam fastball. Against the Giants and Dodgers, the two-seamer velocity was up from an average of 94.3 mph before Sept. 5 to 94.9 mph since.

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On Friday, Chatwood's two-seamer averaged 94.2 mph, and he hit a maximum velocity of 96.1.

Chatwood has had struggles over the past two seasons while pitching at Coors Field, but in 2013 -- his first season as a member of the Rockies, before his '14 campaign was cut short for Tommy John surgery -- he turned in a 3.50 ERA in the high altitude of Denver.

Opponents' weighted on-base average was an above-average .335, and Chatwood did have a 1.51 WHIP, but much like it's been for him in one relief appearance and three starts this month, he's lived dangerously with traffic on the bases, but escaped trouble when he's been at his best. In 14 1/3 September innings, 20 runners have reached base against Chatwood, with only one run scoring -- on Wil Myers' homer Friday night.

"I thought what was critical, that even though the ball-strike ratio wasn't that great, when he needed to throw a strike, he did," manager Bud Black said. "When he needed to get an out, like the key double plays in the first two innings, he got them. And that's pitching. So that was really good to see."

With the Rockies battling for their first postseason berth in eight years, and a rotation that has been in flux much of the year due to injuries and varying performances from young hurlers, Chatwood hopes to pitch his way into a starting role under the bright lights of October.

"I've always known I've been able to [have success]," Chatwood said. "I was able to make this adjustment, and I feel good going forward."

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Black has special perspective on '07 tiebreaker By Manny Randhawa / MLB.com | @harding_at_mlb | 12:13 AM ET

DENVER -- "It's very serendipitous the Padres are here for this weekend."

Rockies manager Bud Black's pregame media session was a little different before Colorado's series opener with San Diego at Coors Field on Friday night. Prior to the contest, the club honored its 2007 National League championship team 10 years after it began a furious run to the postseason that culminated in the franchise's first World Series appearance.

As he addressed the media, Black looked out at the field and saw members of that team greeting each other and current Rockies players.

Black was the manager of the Padres when they squared off against the Rockies on Oct. 1, 2007, in a tiebreaking Game 163 to determine which club would be the NL Wild Card winner. In one of the most memorable games in baseball history, Colorado won with a walk-off sacrifice fly by Jamey Carroll off San Diego closer , scoring Matt Holliday and sending the Rockies to the postseason with a 9-8 victory in 13 innings.

"They deserved everything they got that season, because they played good baseball," Black said. "They deserved to get into the playoffs, and I think the way they played -- they beat the Diamondbacks, they beat the Phillies, and the Red Sox had a great year, too. Something has to give, but what a great run for the Rockies."

The Rockies entered the bottom of the 13th down, 8-6, and Troy Tulowitzki's RBI double was followed by an RBI triple from Holliday to tie it up. Holliday's head-first slide into the plate on the sac fly sent Colorado into the NL Division Series against the Phillies, whom they swept. In the NL Championship Series, the Rockies swept the D-backs, and in the World Series, they were swept by the Red Sox.

Even 10 years later, there was plenty of playful banter about Game 163's much-discussed winning run scored by Holliday, who appeared to miss the plate but the safe call was final, as MLB didn't install its replay rules until the next season. Black sparred with the Rockies' broadcast booth during a between-innings interview, and Padres manager Andy Green had a lighthearted jab before the game.

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"I saw it. Remember it well," said Green, who was watching the tiebreaker from Japan, "Still didn't touch home, right? Still waiting for that. Holliday didn't come for this reunion; he's still gainfully employed, so he's not here. Maybe one of them touched home in his honor."

Colorado's incredible run of 14 victories over the final 15 games of the regular season, plus its undefeated run to the World Series, made 2007 the most significant season in the franchise's 25-year history. But Game 163 is the first memory from that year for many.

"Mixed emotions," Black said. "The older I get, the more I appreciate that game, as far as being a great game. … And I don't think it gets the credit it deserves, partially because of the two teams; a little bit under-the- market-type teams. What a great game."

As the Padres and Rockies headed down the stretch neck-and-neck in the NL Wild Card race, Black recalls following Colorado's sprint to the finish.

"It was one of those things when the Rockies were going through September," Black said. "You ever see the movie 'Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kid'? You remember when Paul Newman and Robert Redford looked over their shoulders and said, 'Who are those guys?!' We kept thinking, 'Did they win again?' It was incredible. It's not unlike what the Indians are going through right now [an -record 22 consecutive victories entering Friday]."

Game 163 in 2007 underscored the excitement and electric atmosphere afforded by the prospect of reaching the postseason via a Wild Card spot. It's a quality of the postseason structure not lost on Black, particularly as his 2017 Rockies fight for a Wild Card berth with two weeks remaining in the season.

"It just goes to show you that it's so close, winning or losing," Black said. "And championship-type games, it's razor-thin sometimes, the win or the loss. That was a tough one for us, no doubt about it. So I know the feeling of that, and I know the feeling the other way too, a couple of times.

"And it's razor-thin."

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Rockies face Padres, former teammate Lyles By Owen Perkins / Special to MLB.com | 1:13 AM ET

On a reunion weekend when the Rockies are celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their 21-1 run to the 2007 World Series, Saturday's pitching matchup features two making a homecoming: Colorado's Tyler Anderson and San Diego's Jordan Lyles, a former Rockie.

The Rockies enter the game with a 2 1/2-game lead on the Brewers for the second National League Wild Card spot.

Lyles started the season in a Rockies uniform and went 0-2 with a 6.94 ERA in 33 games spanning 46 2/3 innings before Colorado designated him for assignment on July 29. The Padres picked him up, and he'll make his third start with San Diego on Saturday.

"I don't need to spend a couple hours in the video room," Lyles said of facing his old teammates. "It's going to be fun."

Lyles has started 104 of his 179 big league games, but the Rockies had used him primarily in relief over the past two seasons.

"It's been a breath of fresh air just getting back into my routine," Lyles said of his return to the rotation. "Being a starter my whole career, knowing when I'm pitching. It's been fun getting back into that [in Triple-A El Paso]."

Anderson makes his first start for the Rockies since landing on the disabled list June 26. He was activated Sunday and pitched four scoreless innings of relief Monday for the win in Arizona.

"I'm just excited to be playing again," Anderson said, noting it didn't matter whether he started or pitched out of the bullpen. "The playoff race is a big part of that, of course. Just being able to be out there and pitch and contribute one way or another."

Things to know about this game • Padres manager Andy Green hopes to see Jose Pirela back in the lineup Saturday. Pirela has been out since spraining his left little finger while sliding into third Sunday.

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"He took some swings in the cage today," Green said before Friday's series opener. "I want to see him take BP on the field before I put him in the lineup. Hopefully, it's tomorrow, but with those kinds of things, hands for hitters, you never really know until you know."

• Rockies utility man is a career .462 hitter (6-for-13) against Lyles with a triple and two RBIs. Gerardo Parra is 8-for-15 (.533) with four doubles against Lyles.

• Wil Myers and Matt Szczur are the only active Padres to have faced Anderson. They are both are 0-for-3 with a off the lefty.

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Rodgers doubles as Lancaster's season ends By Mike Rosenbaum / MLB.com | 2:12 AM ET

Jorge Mateo tripled and scored a run and Sheldon Neuse collected two hits to back a strong outing by Heath Fillmyer and help Double-A Midland stay alive with 2-0 win over Tulsa in Game 3 of the finals. Starting in a must-win game after Midland dropped the first two games of the series, Fillmyer, Oakland's No. 19 prospect, allowed just three hits en route to completing five scoreless innings. The 23-year-old right-hander threw 49 of his 84 pitches for strikes as he issued three walks, hit one batter and struck out four.

Mateo, meanwhile, provided the RockHounds with a key insurance run in the top of the sixth inning, scoring on a Max Schrock groundout after leading off the frame with a triple. Both Mateo and Schrock, the A's respective Nos. 4 and 17 prospects, finished 1-for-4 at the plate.

Neuse, No. 14 on the A's Top 30 Prospects list, was the only RockHounds player to tally multiple hits in the victory, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles. He's now batting .636 in the series and .355 in the postseason overall.

The rest of the best performances from top prospects Friday

• No. 7 overall prospect Brendan Rodgers (Rockies' No. 1) hit a double and walked in a 1-for-3 performance as Class A Advanced Lancaster's season came to an end with a 7-1 loss against Modesto. Garrett Hampson (No. 8) accounted for the JetHawks' lone run in the contest, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI single.

• No. 16 overall prospect Willy Adames (Rays' No. 2) hit an RBI double and scored a run to finish 2-for-5 and help Triple-A Durham secure the Governors' Cup with a 6-4 win over Scranton. No. 77 overall prospect Jake Bauers (Rays' No. 5) went 1-for-5 in the contest, giving him at least one hit in each of Durham's eight playoff games. Overall, the 21-year-old outfielder-first baseman tied for the lead in the postseason with both a .393 average and 13 hits.

• After tallying multiple hits in four straight playoff games, No. 44 overall prospectKyle Lewis (Mariners' No. 1) turned in a 1-for-4 performance as Class A Advanced Modesto won its first California League title since 2004 with an 8-1 win over Lancaster. The 22-year-old outfielder, Seattle's first-round Draft pick in 2016, finished the series with a .429 average and batted .392 over six playoff games.

Mariners No. 12 prospect Joe Rizzo, whom the Mariners drafted one round after Lewis, was named the series' Most Valuable Player after finishing 2-for-4 in his third straight multi-hit game. Overall, the 19-year-old third baseman batted .538 with four RBIs in the series. 13

• No. 92 overall prospect Tyler O'Neill (Cardinals' No. 4) reached base three times as Triple-A Memphis fell to El Paso, 3-0, in Game 3 of the finals. He collected one the Redbirds' six hits in the contest, finishing 1-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base. Memphis still leads the best-of-five series, 2-1.

• Red Sox No. 11 prospect Bobby Dalbec and Brett Netzer (No. 30) each tallied two hits including a double and combined for four RBIs and three runs as Class A Greenville locked up the South Atlantic League title with an 8-3 win over Kannapolis. Netzer's double, specifically, blew open the game for the Drive, as he delivered a two-out, bases-clearing two-bagger to cap a five-run sixth inning. He ultimately batted .429 with 12 hits and eight RBIs in the postseason, all tops among all South Atlantic League hitters.

• Padres No. 12 prospect Franchy Cordero hit a solo home run and went 2-for-3 with two RBIs out of the leadoff spot to help power Triple-A El Paso past Memphis, 3-0, in a must-win Game 3 of the Pacific Coast League finals. It was the second straight multi-hit game for the 23-year-old outfielder, who carries a .375 postseason average into Game 4.

• White Sox No. 23 prospect Evan Skoug connected on a solo homer in Kannapolis' loss to Greenville. Leadoff hitter Alex Call (No. 25) also drilled a solo home run before finishing 3-for-4 with two RBIs. He batted .389 with four extra-base hits in the postseason.

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Tyler Chatwood returns to rotation form as Rockies runaway from the Padres at Coors Field Rockies entered the weekend with their third-best record in club history By NICK GROKE | [email protected] | The Denver Post | September 15, 2017 at 11:46 pm

Todd Helton’s goateed appearance in deck shorts Friday for a Rocktober reunion at Coors Field underscored a pressing need for the latest iteration of the Rockies.

Only twice in the club’s history has a Colorado team reached the round number of 90 wins in a season — the Rocktober theatrics of 2007, and again in 2009. The Rockies qualified for the postseason each time. It is a convenient bar to clear for entry.

These Rockies, built with babes and playoff neophytes, entered a weekend series against the Padres with 80 victories and 15 games to play. They are trying to milk every last win out of a tense stretch run toward the postseason.

And as they squeezed 94 pitches out of Tyler Chatwood in a 6-1 victory over San Diego in front of 39,243 fans in LoDo, the Rockies moved closer to October. Colorado (81-67) remained 2 1/2 games ahead of the and three in front of the St. Louis Cardinals for the second of two wild-card playoff berths.

“I wouldn’t say I felt any pressure,” Chatwood said.

Chatwood’s two-run single in the second inning, followed by DJ LeMahieu‘s triple that scored two more in the frame, held for the remainder as the Rockies took advantage of a struggling Padres team that lost a fourth in a row.

A return to form reached a new level for Chatwood as Colorado’s go-to veteran starter in a rotation once hijacked by rookies. He breezed through five scoreless innings on just three hits, forcing inning-killing double plays in the first and second frames, while allowing only one baserunner to reach second base.

“I had traffic in the first two innings, but I got the two double-play balls and I built some momentum,” Chatwood said. “It’s big going forward.”

Chatwood will start again in San Diego next week, a site that suits him. He has a 3.41 ERA on the road this year.

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“There’s some resemblance to games from him earlier this year,” Colorado manager Bud Black said. “Lot of success with the fastball and cutter and he kept them honest with a curve. When he needed to throw a strike, he did.”

Wil Myers — a Rockies homewrecker this season who completed a cycle at Coors Field back in April — hit a 457-foot, two-out solo homer in the sixth inning to end Chatwood’s night. But the damage was minimal. It was Myers’ dribbler back to Chatwood in the first that led to a double-play.

In late July, Chatwood lost his rotation spot due in part to significant struggles pitching in Colorado — he had a 6.25 ERA at Coors Field before Friday — and in part because of the ascension of rookies Kyle Freeland, German Marquez, Antonio Senzatela and Jeff Hoffman.

But in his past three starts, after manager Bud Black called on him for a series of spot starts, Chatwood has allowed just one run over 13 2/3 innings, on 13 hits.

Colorado’s offense was more active. With two outs in the second, the next five hitters reached base, with singles from Carlos Gonzalez and Mark Reynolds and an intentional walk to Jonathan Lucroy leading up to Chatwood’s single and LeMahieu’s triple. They tagged San Diego starter Clayton Richard for seven hits in six innings.

“We didn’t get too big with our swings,” Black said. “(Richard) was pitching us away. He has a good sinker. If you try to pull that ball, you’ll run into difficulty.”

Nolan Arenado, who let a routine grounder through his legs for a rare error in the sixth, ripped a line drive to the left-field bleachers in the eighth to expand Colorado’s lead. It was his 34th home run this season. Trevor Story tripled after him and scored on Ian Desmond’s sacrifice fly to center.

The Rockies entered the weekend with their third-best record in club history, a .544 winning percentage topped only by the 2009 and 2010 teams. There’s a hitch. That 2009 team flew to the postseason in overdrive, winning a wild-card dogfight by going 18-9 over the final month. The 2010 team tanked, losing eight in a row and 13 of their final 14 games to miss the playoffs.

And after winning six of eight in an arduous eight-game swing through Los Angeles and Arizona, the Rockies returned home to win a ninth game in their past 12 — with one more step toward their first postseason peak in eight years.

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Rockies’ 2007 “Rocktober” reunion gathers at Coors Field with the Padres in town “I saw that from a different perspective,” Black said. “But Todd came by my office today. We had a nice chat. I always admired him from the other side.” By NICK GROKE | [email protected] | The Denver Post | September 15, 2017 at 11:43 pm

Todd Helton gave a bear hug to Nolan Arenado, but only after complaining about the music. The stadium speakers were blaring too loudly, Helton said. It is hyping the Rockies during batting practice, Arenado said. Then you better get three hits, Helton said.

Happy days were back at Coors Field again Friday with a collection of 21 players and coaches from the Rockies’ 2007 National League pennant-winning club reconvening for a pregame 10-year reunion.

“It does not feel like 10 years,” said Clint Barmes, a second baseman for the Colorado club that won 21-of-22 games to reach the World Series.

The list of names included Helton, who hit his 300th career homer on Sept. 16, 2007, and then, a two-run walk- off two days later that kick-started a season-ending streak that propelled them into Rocktober.

“I was in the hospital holding my son after he was just born and Helton hits the walk-off that kind of started everything,” Barmes said. “That’s a big moment I will never forget. Showing up every day, walking into the clubhouse, you just had this feeling that something good was going to happen. We expected to win.”

Friday’s reunion unfolded against a Padres team and their manager who became starring players in the drama of that late-season run. Bud Black, now Colorado’s manager, was the skipper for a Padres team that lost a one-game tiebreaker, on Oct. 1, a 9-8 Rockies victory in 13 innings — the notorious Matt Holliday slide game.

“I saw that from a different perspective,” Black said. “But Todd came by my office today. We had a nice chat. I always admired him from the other side.”

Matt Holliday, Seth Smith, Ubaldo Jimenez and Chris Iannetta, among others, sent video messages to Coors Field from faraway places. So did Clint Hurdle, then the Rockies manager now in charge of the Pirates.

“We found a way to get something done that had never been done before,” Hurdle said.

This time around. The Rockies’ run toward the World Series in 2007 started Sept. 16 with a 13-0 victory over the Florida Marlins. The Padres that season were also rolling. Black remembers something similar with San Diego 10 years ago that the Rockies experienced this year. “We had a tough August but we played well in September to hang in there,” Black said. “You ever see that movie ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’? When (Paul) Newman and (Robert) Redford looked over their shoulders and said, ‘Who are those guys?’ We kept thinking, ‘Did they win again?’ It was incredible.”

The Rockies, too, struggled through August this season, with a 12-15 record, their only losing month. But they had won eight of their past 11 before Friday.

Pitching changes. The Rockies got a bulk of starting pitching appearances this season from four rookies, but their rotation through a weekend series against the Padres was a throwback. “It’s three guys who, ironically, we had penciled in as far back as ,” Black said. The Rockies threw Tyler Chatwood in another spot start Friday. Left-hander Tyler Anderson will start Saturday, his first start since June 25. And Jon Gray goes Sunday. 17

Anderson and Chatwood, who pitched recently in the bullpen, are on pitch counts. And the Rockies will continue juggling their rotation over the final two weeks.

“All hands on deck,” Black said. “We have plenty of reinforcements to pick up innings. We’ll continue to look at our rotation moving forward.”

Blackmon sits. Charlie Blackmon did not start as the Rockies gave their star center fielder a breather. Ian Desmond started at the position instead. Blackmon’s 145 games played are a team-high. “Charlie was due a day to exhale a little bit,” Black said. “He’d been grinding really hard, playing every day. We saw this as a day for him to take a step back.”

Looking ahead

Padres RHP Jordan Lyles (1-2, 6.75 ERA) at Rockies LHP Tyler Anderson (4-5, 5.75), Saturday 6:10 p.m., AT&T SportsNet, 850-AM

After struggling to a 6.94 ERA over 33 relief appearances this season, Lyles was cut by the Rockies on July 29. He had devolved to a low-leverage innings eater in Colorado. But on Aug. 7, the Padres signed Lyles to a minor-league deal and he debuted for them Sept. 2 — as a starter. In two games, over 9 1/3 innings, he has allowed six runs. Anderson, meanwhile, will take the Print Viewrotation spot once held by rookie Kyle Freeland, his first start since June 25. Anderson on Monday gave up just one hit in four relief innings after Freeland was hit by a line drive.

Sunday: Padres RHP Jhoulys Chacin (12-10, 4.06) at Rockies RHP Jon Gray (8-4, 3.95), 1:10 p.m., AT&T SportsNet

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Rockies at Giants, pitchers TBA, 8:15 p.m., AT&T SportsNet

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Colorado Rockies: Raimel Tapia is part of the future, not the present By Kevin Henry / September 15, 2017 / Rox Pile

When Charlie Blackmon needed an off day on Friday after suffering through a 1-for-18 slump over his last five games, the shuffled their lineup by moving Ian Desmond to center field while Gerardo Parra took over left field duties.

Parra in left field was not a surprise. Moving Desmond to center for the series opener against the at Coors Field, however, was a bit of a surprise. It marks the first time that Desmond has played center field since he was signed by the Rockies in the offseason.

One of the biggest questions raised out of the outfield and lineup shuffle is in regards to Raimel Tapia. The 23- year-old outfielder has started five games for the Rockies in center field this season. However, the left-handed- hitting Tapia did not get the start on Friday with southpaw Clayton Richard on the hill for the Padres.

Desmond starting over Tapia in center field makes sense if you’re playing the right-hander at the plate (Desmond) against the left-hander on the mound (Richard) strategy. But there could be a little more behind the scenes at play here.

In Colorado’s 8-1 win over the on Sunday, Tapia drew the start in left field and went 2- for-4 with a run scored. However, with the bases loaded in the first inning, Tapia struck out to end the frame.

It’s part of a trend this season for Tapia, who has struck out 34 times in 144 plate appearances (23.6 percent of the time) while drawing just eight walks. In fact, in 34 plate appearances in August and September, Tapia has had just one walk.

For a player who can do so much with his speed, getting on base is imperative and Tapia simply hasn’t been doing that lately. Especially in August when he hit just .125 in 24 at-bats. That’s one of the reasons why he was sent down on August 28, meaning he couldn’t be called back up until the Rockies were well past the roster expansion date.

After the slate shifted from Los Angeles, Tapia had just four plate appearances in the four-game series at the , going 0-for-4 with two .

Tapia has a lot of promise, but it’s clear that, right now, he doesn’t figure into Colorado’s plans as much as some fans would like. That will likely continue throughout the rest of the regular season and ensure that he is not a part of Colorado’s postseason roster, should the Rockies clinch a Wild Card spot.

“He’s won a few games for us,” Black told MLB.com right after Tapia was recalled on September 7. “I think he’s had a nice year overall, also with the Triple-A season and what he’s done for us. It’s been a nice growth year for Ramiel, to the point where I think he’s put himself on the radar moving forward.”

It appears that Tapia and the Rockies can look forward to his growth paying off in the future, not this season. With Carlos Gonzalez back to “CarGo mode,” and Parra, Desmond and Blackmon available, that’s a reality that Colorado fans will just have to swallow.

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Why hasn't MLB fixed its September roster expansion rules? Jerry Crasnick / ESPN Senior Writer / 12:24 p.m. MT

In roughly the amount of time it takes to drive from Anaheim to San Jose, Mike Scioscia displayed his strengths as an American League Manager of the Year candidate while simultaneously setting back baseball aesthetics 20 years.

Scioscia used a league-record 12 pitchers in the ' 11-9, 11-inning Labor Day victory over the Oakland Athletics. He called upon Parker Bridwell and Blake Parker, the law firm of Chavez (Jesse), Alvarez (Jose) and Ramirez (Noe), the son of a Cy Young Award winner (Cam Bedrosian) and the first Sacred Heart University Pioneer to play major league ball (Troy Scribner). Over the course of 4 hours, 48 minutes, Scioscia did everything but coax Chuck Finley out of retirement to help the Angels win a game.

It was a strategic coup de grace and an artistic monstrosity. And it was only possible because of the MLB rule that allows rosters to expand from 25 to 40 players in September.

As baseball celebrates the ' sustained excellence, Giancarlo Stanton's pursuit of 60 home runs, Rhys Hoskins' power surge and an American League wild-card scramble, people throughout the game are lamenting incessant late-inning machinations and box scores that take longer to read than a Cheesecake Factory menu. Amid its efforts to reach out to a younger audience, baseball is plagued by a persistent case of September game creep.

"I agree with the sentiment that it completely changes the game in September when the games matter most -- and I don't like it," said reliever Brad Ziegler, a member of the players' association's executive committee. "This is the time of the year when we're competing with football for ratings popularity, and our games become longer and tougher to watch.

Number of players on active rosters As of Friday morning, Sept. 15.

TEAM PLAYERS Dodgers 39 Red Sox 37 Indians 37 Astros 37 Angels 36 Rangers 36 Pirates 35 Nationals 35 Rockies 35 D-backs 35 Orioles 35 Cubs 35 Reds 34 Tigers 34 Royals 34 Blue Jays 34 Mariners 34 Brewers 34 Twins 34 Braves 33 Cardinals 33 Rays 33 20

Giants 33 Mets 33 Athletics 33 Yankees 32 Phillies 32 Marlins 30 White Sox 29 Padres 29

Source:

"You're muddling through the last five innings of a game, when fans have an opportunity to switch over and watch a college football game or an NFL game. I don't think most fans will think twice. They're going to go where there's more action and the games aren't 3½ hours long anymore."

September baseball is putting a crimp -- albeit minor -- in commissioner Rob Manfred's quest to put a foot in the behind of the game's pokey pace of play. The average for a nine-inning September MLB game is 3:06.55, up slightly from the 2017 overall mark of 3:05.26. But when games already take almost 10 minutes longer to play than they did in 2015, even an 89-second backslide sends the wrong kind of message.

With the exception of minor league call-ups and their overjoyed parents, the arrangement is grating on a lot of nerves. At ballparks across the game, clubhouse attendants scramble to do laundry and find locker spaces, and traveling secretaries are even more harried than usual. Pre-series scouting meetings drag on interminably, and advance scouts rush to provide reports on players just in from the minors.

Even the umpires grumble about the incessant pitching changes, according to one MLB manager who preferred to remain nameless.

When managers aren't arranging early batting practice for recently arrived hitters who are frozen out of cage time at 5 p.m., they find their best relievers don't always serve the same purpose they did from April through August. What's the point of having a dominant lefty specialist when the opposition has four right-handed pinch hitters available to counteract him?

Still, the status quo persists. MLB has instituted instant replay, safeguards to protect catchers and middle infielders from collisions and the no-pitch intentional walk, but rosters continue to increase each September in the most arbitrary and inequitable of ways.

"I think everybody, from a competitive, on-the-field perspective would like to see it altered," said manager Buck Showalter, a member of Manfred's 16-member competition committee. "I know there was a lot of presentation and talk about it this last [labor] agreement, but somehow it wasn't a priority."

Any conversation about September roster expansion invariably makes reference to former Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin, who first expressed concerns about the issue in 2005. Melvin now works as a senior adviser for the Brewers, and whenever he receives a call from a national baseball writer in September, he's pretty sure what the topic of discussion will be.

Melvin's objections are rooted primarily in the competitive disparities of the system. He has never understood how MLB can rationalize having a team with 35 available players compete against a club with 28 at its disposal on a given night.

"It's not about large markets or small markets," Melvin said. "I just thought it was the integrity of the game. There's no other sport I know of where you can start a game with unbalanced rosters. And we're the one sport where if you take a player out of a game, he can't go back in. 21

"I don't care what the number is: When the managers exchange lineups with the umpires, it should be whatever number you've decided. It should be either 30-on-30 or 32-on-32 or whatever. I think it should be a minimum of 30, personally. In September, you have nagging injuries. Teams can be tired, and you need extra bullpen arms because the starting pitchers don't go very long anymore. Whatever the minimum is, I just think every team should be at the same number when you play a game."

September roster sizes typically reflect the economic and competitive circumstances driving individual teams. While the Los Angeles Dodgers have expanded their roster to 39 players this month, the Miami Marlins check in at 30 and the San Diego Padres and have 29 on hand. That's the difference between a well-heeled, big-market team headed for the postseason and three fiscally conscious, rebuilding clubs auditioning some kids over the final few weeks.

The players' association is also entrusted with protecting the interests of its membership when changes to the system are proposed. The current system of unlimited September call-ups results in an additional 7,000 to 7,500 days of service time per season for players, and those days make a difference to players working toward salary arbitration and free agency. Any alterations, in the union's eyes, would have to be "service time neutral" at the very least.

In 2011 and 2012, MLB and the union discussed proposals to allow teams to increase their roster sizes to 32 or 35 or any other number they chose under the provision that clubs would designate an active roster of 25, 28 or some other predetermined number before each game or new series. But the union objected under the premise that if teams could only use a maximum of 28 players a game, they would have little incentive to go beyond that in September.

During the last round of labor negotiations, MLB tried to accommodate the union's 7,000- to 7,500-game service time target by expanding rosters to 26 players from April through August, then increasing rosters to 28 in September. But some late snags developed, and September roster changes weren't part of the new five- year labor deal announced in December.

Sources said the union objected to a provision that would have allowed clubs to option players to the minors in September, because it feared teams would engage in "roster time manipulation." MLB adjusted its position to address the union's concerns and thought it had a deal in place, but the two sides were unable to strike a compromise on the issue.

Progress has painstaking because each new proposal opens a Pandora's box of potential objections. Some small-market teams are concerned that the addition of a 26th man throughout the season might result in inequities, because affluent clubs can afford to spend $3 million to $4 million on an established platoon bat or veteran pitcher, while rebuilders and non-contenders will opt for a minimum-wage type to round out the roster.

If and when teams go to 28 players a game in September, those rosters will most likely have to include five starters. The ultimate nightmare scenario would be for teams to add three more relievers and have them jogging out of the bullpen like clowns piling out of a minivan.

Officials with the players' association and the commissioner's office declined to discuss the topic for attribution with ESPN.com, and that might be perceived as a positive omen. The two sides have the option to revisit the issue at any time, and their aversion to public posturing or finger-pointing is a sign they might be ready to resume talks at some point.

In the absence of a change, managers can't be faulted for using every tool at their disposal. Colorado's Bud Black and San Francisco's Bruce Bochy combined to use 20 pitchers in a recent nine-inning game, so the phenomenon isn't limited to Scioscia and the Angels.

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"I think there has to be a happy medium for us to all play with the same roster, yet protect the length of the season and the needs of all teams involved," Houston's A.J. Hinch said. "Roster expansion doesn't bother me as much as the open-ended expansion does. I looked down at my card [during a game in Seattle] and they had 12 relievers. We have 37 guys up here now. It's just not the same game."

All the quibbling and carping about slow September play obscures the sense of enthusiasm fans feel upon seeing prospects they've been following from afar for years. Cleveland's Francisco Mejia, Oakland's Franklin Barreto and the Dodgers' Alex Verdugo are among the September additions gaining valuable experience and making a little extra coin during cameo appearances this month.

"I was a September call-up at 19 years old," Washington manager Dusty Baker said. "I looked so forward to that because I made more money in that month than I did in five months in the minor leagues. I was sending money home to my mother, and I was like, 'This is the life.' For a young player, it's wonderful."

For managers, not so wonderful.

"We had a game against the Phillies recently and Larry Bowa brought it up to me," Baker said. "He said, 'You outmanned us.' I understand that, because I've been outmanned.

"They've been talking about doing something, and I wish they would. I've been hearing about this since I've been in the game, and I've been in the game for 40-something years. I don't know if they're going to do anything or not."

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First thoughts towards an Arizona Diamondbacks Wild-Card Game roster Time to start thinking about what 25 players we select By Jim McLennan - Sep 14, 2017, 10:00pm EDT

The key thing to note is that the wild-card game is treated, for roster construction purposes, as a whole round of playoffs on its own. Teams taking part can therefore select 25 players with the sole intention of winning that single contest, then re-adjust the roster for the Division Series if they win. This basically gives them four additional spots for the game, to allocate as they see fit, because there is no need for more than a single .

Assumptions Various things will be taken as read for the purposes of this exercise. In descending order of likelihood, these are

1. The Diamondbacks will be in the wild-card game. Otherwise, what’s the point? 2. It takes place at Chase Field. The team currently has a five-game lead over the second wild-card spot, and also owns the first tiebreaker against them. With 15 games left, the odds are definitely in our favor. 3. We’ll play the Rockies. This isn’t certain: it could end up being a team from the NL Central instead - the Brewers have been gifted three additional home games, due to Hurrican Irma. But Colorado remain the most likely opponent, and I’m not sure it makes much difference, perhaps informing the next choice.

Who should be the starting pitcher?

The wild-card is the ultimate “win or go home” contest: the only guaranteed sudden-death game on the major- league calendar (of course, there may end up being Game 7’s - or there may not). The entire point of MLB in creating the format, was that those teams have to send their ace to the mound for the play-in game, giving their opponent in the Division Series an advantage of missing the #1 starter. But it probably affects the Diamondbacks less than, say, a team like the Dodgers, who have an obvious ace, with a clear drop-off after Kershaw. In and Zack Greinke, we have the best 1-2 punch in Arizona, since the heyday of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling.

You can make an argument for Ray or Greinke as having been the “best” pitcher for Arizona so far this year. Ray has the better ERA, Greinke the better FIP. The table below sums up their statistics so far this season, and also breaks down how they have pitched in the likely environment and against the probable opponent. Obviously, those latter components have smaller sample sizes - significantly smalller for the latter in particular. But both those factors are ones which should be taken into account.

Ray vs. Greinke Metric GS IP IP/GS H ER HR BB SO ERA FIP WHIP K/9 K/BB Ray 24 144 6.0 101 45 18 64 196 2.81 3.49 1.15 12.25 3.06 Home 12 70 5.8 59 34 12 37 94 4.37 4.41 1.37 12.09 2.54 vs. COL 2 12.2 6.3 10 7 3 8 18 4.97 1.42 12.79 2.25 . Greinke 29 186.1 6.4 155 62 21 40 200 2.99 3.12 1.05 9.66 5.00 Home 17 112 6.6 79 29 12 21 128 2.33 2.82 0.89 10.29 6.10 vs. COL 5 34.1 6.8 30 13 6 2 37 3.41 0.93 9.70 18.50

While the overall numbers are similar, if we pick them apart a bit, we do see a clear difference. Greinke’s significantly better record at Chase, and also against the Rockies, suggest he would be the better selection for the wild-card game. If we win there, we would then have Ray starting the first game of the NL Division Series. I’m more than fine with this, because it would most likely be against the Dodgers. Over five starts against LA,

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Ray is 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA and has struck out over 41% of batters faced (53 of 129). Even if there wasn’t a wild-card game, we might well want to start off with Ray in Game 1 of the NLDS.

The starting lineup It’s not clear who would catch Greinke. Jeff Mathis was Greinke’s personal battery-mate, until he took a foul tip off his hand and was placed on the DL August 22. It was reported recently that there is a chance Mathis could return by the end of the regular season. But I’m not sure I’d go with him in the wild-card game. Apart from the obvious offensive surplus, since Chris Iannetta has taken over, Greinke has, if anything, pitched better. Small sample size, but it’s a 2.02 ERA over the four starts with Iannetta catching. compared to 3.16 with Mathis. I’d not risk disrupting that, and so would start Iannetta.

Elsewhere, we should probably factor in the Rockies’ choice of starting pitcher. Their two best have been RHP Jon Gray and LHP Kyle Freeland, with ERA+ of 127 and 125 respectively. But according to a recent piece on Purple Row, RHP German Marquez is the choice - mind you, that was before the D-backs soundly beat him last night. Over the entire season, the D-backs have hit lefties 78 OPS points below righties, so that would suggest Freeland as the best bet. But Grey performed best of their starters in this series, holding the D-backs to two runs over seven innings, with a K:BB of 10:0. I’d give him the edge for a Chase Field game, and run out this line-up.

1. David Peralta*, LF 2. Chris Iannetta, C 3. Jake Lamb*, 3B 4. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B 5. J.D. Martinez, RF 6. Daniel Descalso*, 2B 7. A.J. Pollock, CF 8. Ketel Marte#, SS

There is still the question of whether Chris Owings comes back or not - like Mathis, there is apparently a chance he might return in the regular season. If so, then he could replace Descalso. But the question of whether or not he’d be fully up to major-league speed in time for the post-season also needs to be answered. We can’t afford to carry people who aren’t at 100%. To be safe, I’ll assume he and Mathis will not be ready in time for the wild-card playoff.

The bench and bullpen The standard roster has a seven-man bullpen and five players off the bench. But as noted, that implies a five- man rotation. For a one-game series, there would be four additional spots available.

On the bullpen side, you probably want to have a starting pitcher in there, just in case there’s an injury which requires your starter to be replaced early. Zack Godley and Patrick Corbin would both fit the bill: the former showed today he can dominate the Rockies, throwing eight shutout innings, while the latter’s left-handedness would be as sharp a difference from Zack Greinke as you could possibly want, and also pitched well against Colorado last night.

• Emergency starter: Zack Godley • Bonus emergency starter: Patrick Corbin • Left-handed specialist: Jorge De La Rosa • Charlie Blackmon specialist: Andrew Chafin • Mid-relief: T.J. McFarland • 7th-inning man 1: David Hernandez • 7th-inning man 2: Jimmie Sherfy • Set-up: Archie Bradley 25

• Closer: Fernando Rodney

Those are no additional true relief arms, but I can’t say I look at the bullpen and feel there are many more deserving of a slot in there. J.J. Hoover? Jake Barrett? I guess you could add one of those if you wanted, but I feel that any game where we need to turn to them, is not one that’s going well. Better to have a second “relief starter”, in the event we have to use Godley early AND the game then goes deep into extras. If you remember the 2014 AL wild-card game, that did take 12 innings and require the use of 11 relief arms, so we were getting close.

Let’s move on to the bench, where we want a range of late inning replacements for all purposes. Ideally, you’d like a good balance of left- and right-handed bats, offering options for both getting on-base and power, as well as potential defensive replacements and pinch-runners. A third catcher is likely, although with Iannetta starting in this scenario, it’s hard to think of many situations in which we would pinch-hit for him. Here’s what I’d have.

• OF Gregor Blanco* • IF Brandon Drury • OF Rey Fuentes* • OF Jeremy Hazelbaker* • UT Chris Herrmann* • C John Ryan Murphy • IF Adam Rosales

Again, this is dependent on neither Mathis nor Owings being available. Mathis would replace Murphy; Owings would probably take Fuentes’s spot.

That’s a best guess for the one-game scenario. Thoughts, suggestions and comments are welcome, of course!

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Shades of 2011? How the Cardinals again are sneaking up on everyone By David Schoenfield / ESPN Senior Writer / 12:55 p.m. MT

The St. Louis Cardinals missed the playoffs last season and haven’t missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons since 2007 and '08, so falling short again would qualify as tough times in Cardinals Nation.

I go on St. Louis radio every so often, and the running thought throughout the season from hosts, such as the great Bernie Miklasz, has been that the Cardinals simply aren’t good enough -- they've looked like a .500 team.

And that certainly appeared to be the case. The bullpen blew some games early as the Cardinals faltered to a 3-9 start. There was the wacky Matt Adams experiment in left field. Manager Mike Matheny again was having trouble settling on an infield rotation. Free agent Dexter Fowler got off to a slow start, as did fellow outfielder . At the All-Star break, the team was two games under .500 at 43-45. The one hopeful sign was that the Cubs were coughing along with the same record and both teams were just 5½ games behind the Brewers, and many expected Milwaukee to fade in the second half.

So here we are in mid-September … and the Cardinals are right there. Of course they are. They’re the Cardinals! You thought they were going to go away easily, America? They were 66-66 on Aug. 30 but since then have gone 11-3 entering Friday's action to leave them tied with the Brewers at three games behind the Cubs and 2½ games behind the Rockies for the second wild card.

So how did they get here? We can focus on four surprising contributors:

Tommy Pham: Here’s what the Cardinals thought of Pham heading into the season: He started in the minors. That’s not a positive outlook for a 29-year-old outfielder. Pham had been a solid backup the past two seasons and was essentially the final cut, squeezed out by Adams and Jose Martinez (more on him in a second). "It came down to one spot," Matheny said at the time. "And sometimes the best thing that can be done is to tell the truth. And the truth is another guy (Martinez) truly earned that spot."

Now? Pham leads the Cardinals with 5.0 WAR, tied for 16th among all MLB position players, even though he wasn't called up until May 5. He’s the first Cardinals player with 20 home runs and 20 steals since Reggie Sanders in 2004 and has provided strong defense in both left and center.

It’s been a remarkable journey for a player originally drafted way back in 2006. Pham has a degenerative eye condition known as keratoconus. From Derrick Goold’s excellent May feature on Pham’s eye issues:

Keratoconus causes structural abnormalities in the cornea, warping it and leaving it similar to the shape of a football’s tip. Instead of light bending toward the retina to be processed as an image, the light scatters, splinters. Halos or double images can appear. Pham said he is legally blind in his left eye due to keratoconus.

“It’s like driving a car with someone who is holding a jar of Vaseline,” said Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler, a Beverly Hills, California-based surgeon and ophthalmologist, “and then they smear it all over your windshield.”

Pham is in a constant battle to make sure his special contact lenses are fitting properly. As Goold wrote, “One flaw can throw his vision off.” That makes Pham’s breakout one of the best stories of the season. Even then, there’s an element of good luck involved. He was called up because Piscotty landed on the DL and Fowler was battling a sore shoulder. In Pham's first series, he had six hits and three home runs against the Braves. He hit .333 in his first 20 games. If he hadn’t hit right away, who knows what would have happened.

Jose Martinez: He entered spring training as a 28-year-old with 18 career plate appearances in the majors. The Cardinals purchased him in May 2016 from the Royals, and he hit .278 with 11 home runs in Triple-A. Solid, but unspectacular. As a 6-foot-7 outfielder/first baseman not known for his defense, he looked more like Triple-A roster depth than anything. 27

During the winter, Martinez worked out in Miami with Martin Prado and Miguel Rojas of the Marlins … and a hitting guru simply known as “Sosa.”

He revamped his swing -- yes, creating a better launch angle to hit more fly balls and fewer grounders -- and made the roster with a big spring training. Now he’s hitting .314/.379/.546. He’d always made hard contact and didn't strike out much; now he’s learned how to tap into his natural extra-base power. He’s hit .356 in the second half as he continues to get more playing time (playing first base of late, with Matt Carpenter sliding over to third).

Paul DeJong: A fourth-round pick in 2015 out of Illinois State, DeJong had a solid year in Double-A in 2016, hitting .260 with 22 home runs, although the 144 strikeouts were a concern. He played third base, with 11 starts at shortstop sprinkled in, but looked comfortable enough there that the Cardinals sent him to the Arizona Fall League to continue working at shortstop. The Cardinals had Aledmys Diaz, a 2016 All-Star, but Diaz had slowed down in the second half and nobody thought much of his defense. Hey, it couldn’t hurt trying DeJong at shortstop. Still, he wasn’t on prospect radar lists heading into 2017.

The Cardinals couldn’t have dreamed of this: 22 home runs in 93 games. DeJong was called up May 28, originally to play some second base when Kolten Wong landed on the DL. DeJong didn’t get his first start at shortstop until June 24, his 21st game. The job was his a couple of days later. The defensive metrics say he’s played an average shortstop -- plus-2 defensive runs saved -- and the power has held up despite a poor 108/14 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

This is how you turn things around: two guys who started the year in Triple-A and another guy who began the season as the 25th man on the roster.

Luke Weaver: Even as the Cardinals were scuffling, one key was that the rotation had been healthy (well, other than Alex Reyes blowing out in spring training) until Adam Wainwright landed on the DL in late July and then again in August. Still, the Cardinals have used just eight starting pitchers (and one of those for just one start). They traded Mike Leake in August, in part because Weaver had been called up and quickly established himself as an impact performer. After beating the Reds on Thursday, he’s 6-1 with a 1.89 ERA in seven starts (and three relief appearances).

Weaver is proving to be another astute first-round pick by the Cardinals, taken 27th overall out of Florida State in 2014. The right-hander's slight frame masks a fastball that sits at 92-94 mph, and he throws across his body a bit, creating some deception in the delivery. But with fastball command and a plus and , he’s effective against left-handed batters, who are hitting .171 against him. He doesn’t come with the hype that Reyes had, but it appears that Weaver knows what he’s doing out there.

So the Cardinals are still alive in the playoff race. Can they make it? They still have two games left against the Cubs in this series, and then end the season with a seven-game homestand against the Cubs and Brewers. They entered Friday 4-8 against the Cubs and 7-9 against the Brewers. But these are the Cardinals -- they almost always find a way, and this is starting to feel a lot like 2011. I don’t need to remind Cardinals fans about how that season ended.

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Chatwood, Rockies handle Padres 6-1 Win number 81 is in the books. By Ted Chalfen - Sep 15, 2017, 9:34pm MDT

On the night the 2007 Rockies playoff run was honored with a “Rocktober reunion”, the current edition of the team took another step towards clinching the fourth playoff berth in franchise history. Tyler Chatwood had a strong start and knocked in two of the Rockies runs in the victory, the team’s 81st on the season. No matter what happens the rest of the way, the 2017 Rockies will finish with the franchise’s first non-losing record since 2010.

The Rockies rallied for four of their runs with two outs in the second inning. It started with a Carlos Gonzalez single, which was followed by a Mark Reynolds double and an intentional walk of Jonathan Lucroy, which loaded the bases for Tyler Chatwood. The Rockies’ starter looped a single into right field that scored two runs. Then DJ LeMahieu hit a triple off the auxiliary scoreboard in right field that scored two more, and the Rockies led 4-0.

Tyler Chatwood had his second consecutive strong start since returning to the rotation. He didn’t allow a run until Wil Myers (who else?) homered off him with two outs in the sixth. Myers would be the last batter for Chatwood, who exited after allowing one run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings while walking one and striking out three. He threw 94 pitches.

Mike Dunn entered the game with no one on and two outs in the sixth and induced what seemed to be an inning-ending ground ball, but it went straight through Nolan Arenado’s legs and into left field. Then Dunn walked on four pitches and the tying run came to the plate in the form of Erick Aybar. Scott Oberg came in and got Aybar to ground out weakly to Arenado to end the threat.

The Rockies finally added to their lead in the eighth inning. Nolan Arenado led off with his 34th home run of the season, and Trevor Story followed with a triple that fell just between Spangenberg and Margot in left field. He scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ian Desmond that made it 6-1. There would be no taco’s tonight, as Carlos Gonzalez and Mark Reynolds each flied out to end the inning.

Jake McGee allowed two singles in the ninth but the Padres failed to score.

Tomorrow night will be an interesting pitching matchup as Tyler Anderson makes his first start since June 25th against recent Rockie Jordan Lyles. The game is at 6:10 MDT.

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Feeling Chatty: Tyler Chatwood dominates Padres in Rockies win By Drew Creasman on September 15, 2017

We may have witnessed history at Coors Field on Friday night. We aren’t entirely sure because it is a strange history but anytime you find something in a game that is 148 years old that may have never happened before, you have to stop and appreciate it no matter how odd. And in the Colorado Rockies 6-1 win over the San Diego Padres, Tyler Chatwood did something that maybe (maybe!) has never been done before in the long and glorious past of Major League Baseball.

After the conclusion of the fifth, Chatwood had allowed 20 baserunners over his last 13.1 . We can’t sort by the proper variables at this time and are still doing research (that frankly could take some time) but so far have been unable to find any other pitcher in MLB history who has allowed that many baserunners over that few innings and not allowed a run.

Chatwood finally did allow a run with two outs in the sixth inning, bringing him to an even 14 clean despite all the traffic, before Wil Myers smashed a cutter 457 feet, deep over the wall in left-center to put the Padres on the board. That was the last batter the Rockies starter would face.

His final line: 5.2, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K.

Colorado scored all of their runs (until a Nolan Arenado home run in eighth) on a four-run outburst in the second.

The two-out rally was started by Carlos Gonzalez who hit a grounder that bounced off the glove of the pitcher and fell into no-man’s land between the mound and second base, going down as a single. Mark Reynolds then cracked a double down the right-field line but third base Stu Cole elected to hold CarGo at third with two outs.

The Padres intentionally walked Jonathan Lucroy to load the bases for Chatwood who came through with a big two-RBI single to right, scoring Gonzalez and Reynolds. DJ LeMahieu followed by lining a triple high off the scoreboard in right field to score Lucroy and Chatwood.

Scott Oberg induced four straight groundball outs in relief and Pat Neshek picked up an inning, allowing a double but no runs, striking out one. Jake McGee allowed back-to-back one-out singles to Erick Aybar and Jabari Blash in the ninth but struck out Austin Hedges and got a fly out from Hector Sanchez to end it.

After Arenado’s eighth-inning homer, Trevor Story hit a triple in between the left and center fielders and scored on a sac fly from Ian Desmond to make the score 6-1, and that would be the final.

Arenado now has 34 home runs on the season and leads MLB with 124 RBI.

Colorado improved to 81-67 but with Milwaukee winning over the Marlins only maintained their 2.5 game lead on the second spot in the National League Wild Card.

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With Rocktobers watching, Chatwood hits and pitches Rockies to victory By Aniello Piro - September 15, 2017

Friday was an exciting day at Coors Field for reasons other than the game. The Colorado Rockies welcomed back members of the storied ‘Rocktober’ Rockies team for a 10-year reunion. With members of the legendary team watching, the postseason-hunting Rockies took care of business Friday night, defeating the San Diego Padres by a final score of 6-1.

Friday’s contest marked the first of three games the clubs will play this weekend at Coors Field. The Rockies were level-headed Friday night, leading to a critical victory as just 14 games remain on the schedule.

Called upon as the starting pitcher for Friday’s game, Tyler Chatwood (8-12, 4.67 ERA) was sharp for a majority of his outing, logging 5.2 innings, surrendering just one run on four hits.

The Padres’ lone run stemmed from a solo shot off the bat of Wil Meyers, ultimately ending Chatty’s day on the mound, however, not before he would inflict some damage of his own at the plate.

Chatwood got the Rockies going by driving in two runs on a RBI single in the second inning to set the tone for Colorado throughout the ball game.

Once Chatwood exited, the Rockies bullpen locked things down with Mike Dunn, Scott Oberg, Pat Neshek, and Jake McGee all taking care of business.

Outside of Chatwood, a two-RBI triple from DJ LeMahieu in the second and a moonshot home run from Nolan Arenado paired with a Trevor Story and an Ian Desmond sac fly in the eighth accounted for all of the Rockies runs.

With the win, Colorado’s magic number sits at 13. They lead the Brewers, who also won, by three games for the final Wild Card spot. The win also ensured a .500 season – Colorado’s first since 2010.

The Rockies and Padres will clash tomorrow night again at Coors Field as Tyler Anderson is set to face former Rockie Jordan Lyles. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 pm MDT.

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Time flies when 10 years ago was so much fun for Helton and the Rocktober Rockies By Aniello Piro - September 15, 2017

Todd Helton can hardly believe it’s been 10 years since his Colorado Rockies went on one of the greatest runs in baseball history.

“Time flies,” Helton said Friday night at Coors Field. “When they called and told me about the reunion, I couldn’t believe that it’d been 10 years.”

2017 marks the 10-year anniversary of the Colorado Rockies’ magical run to the franchise’s first and only National League pennant.

The streak, known as ‘Rocktober,’ was an impeccable run by the Rockies in which they won 21 one their final 22 games, including the infamous game 163 against the Padres, to sneak into the postseason and eventually make it all the way to the World Series in dominant fashion.

The streak remains one of the greatest and most epic winning periods for any team in the sport and is the most historic tale in the history of the franchise.

Friday the Rockies welcomed back members of the legendary 2007 club for a reunion almost 10 years to the day of the start of their historic run.

Helton, the anchor of 2007 club and the greatest player in the history of the franchise, took a trip down memory lane to recall his thoughts on the exhilarating time that turned the Mile High City into a baseball hotspot.

“Thinking back, it was a great time in all of our lives. To see the guys faces, it’s always good to see the guys again. We were such a tight-knit group of guys. We see them, and we don’t skip a beat. It’s just like when we were playing 10 years ago.”

People point to many different reasons why the Rockies were able to do what they did a decade ago, but the Toddfather was firm in his stance that the club’s success stemmed from everyone playing at that time. No one player was bigger than the next; it was a team an effort.

“We just got hot. It wasn’t one person, it wasn’t two people, it was all 25 of us. It took all 25 of us to pull it off.”

What a time it was for those Colorado Rockies. The run holds a special place in the hearts of all the Rockies faithful, and will always be a defining moment for the franchise.

Instead of mashing home runs, Helton now lives back home in Tennessee, picking up his kids from school, playing golf and serving as the director of player development at his Almer Mater, the University of Tennessee.

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On Deck: Padres at Rockies SEPTEMBER 15, 2017 BY TRACY RINGOLSBY

The Rockies get a three-game reprieve at Coors Field in the middle of a stretch of 14 out of 17 games on the road, hosting the Padres for three games this weekend. The Rockies just finished up a 6-2 trip to Dodger Stadium (4-0) and Arizona (2-2). Next week they are in San Francisco for two games and then four games with the Padres at Petco Park next weekend.

Rockies have won 8 of 12 games with the Padres this year. Padres having lost six of their last nine games, and being outscored 29-48 in the process. Two old Rockies will be on the mound at Coors Field this weekend, starting for the Padres — Jordan Lyles on Saturday and Jhoulys Chacin on Sunday.

Pitching Matchups

Friday

Tyler Chatwood (7-12, 4.70) for the Rockies vs. Clayton Richard (7-3, 4.78) for the Padres.

Chatwood will be making his third start in a row after a month in the bullpen. He has returned with a limited workload, pitching three shutout innings in his first start back and then going five innings to win at Dodger Stadium last weekend. He is 1-2 against the Padres this year, including an eight-inning, one run effort in which he struck out eight at San Diego on June 3 in his last appearance against the Padres.

Chatwood lifetime against current members of the Padres roster

Name PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA Wil Myers 21 19 7 3 0 2 5 2 4 .368 Yangervis Solarte 13 13 2 0 0 1 3 0 3 .154 Hector Sanchez 11 9 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 .111 Erick Aybar 7 5 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 .000 Manuel Margot 6 4 2 0 1 0 1 2 2 .500 Cory Spangenberg 6 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .200 Allen Cordoba 5 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 Austin Hedges 5 5 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 .200 Luis Torrens 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 Luis Perdomo 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 Jabari Blash 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Jhoulys Chacin 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Total 81 70 15 3 1 4 10 11 18 .214

Richard is 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA in his last seven starts. He is 1-1 against the Rockies this year, winning his start at Petco Park, despite allowing four runs, three earned, on 10 his and three walks in 5 2/3 innings. In July visit to Coors Field he suffered the loss, allowing 11 runs, 10 earned, on 14 hits and a walk while retiring only 11 batters.

Richard lifetime against current members of the Rockies Roster

Name PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA Carlos Gonzalez 37 35 8 0 0 0 4 2 8 .229 Gerardo Parra 22 19 8 1 0 0 0 2 1 .421 Ian Desmond 21 20 6 0 0 2 4 0 2 .300 Mark Reynolds 16 11 2 0 1 0 0 5 5 .182 Jonathan Lucroy 13 13 6 2 0 1 6 0 1 .462 33

Nolan Arenado 12 12 7 1 1 1 5 0 0 .583 DJ LeMahieu 12 8 2 1 0 0 1 3 0 .250 Charlie Blackmon 11 9 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .444 Ryan Hanigan 10 9 4 2 0 0 1 1 0 .444 Trevor Story 6 6 3 0 1 1 3 0 0 .500 Tony Wolters 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 Jon Gray 3 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .333 German Marquez 3 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 .000 Jeff Hoffman 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Pat Valaika 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Total 172 153 53 7 3 5 26 13 22 .346

Saturday

Tyler Anderson (4-5, 5.75) for the Rockies vs. Jordan Lyles (1-2, 6.75 overall, 1-0, 5.79 with Padres)

Anderson rejoins the rotation after two extended stints on the disabled list. He made his return to the active roster on Monday, working four innings in relief, allowing one hit and not walking anyone to earn the win in Rockies 5-4 victory at Arizona. It was his first appearance since late June. He has made only three appearances total since May 30, working a total of 7 1/3 innings.

Anderson lifetime against current members of the Padres roster

Name PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA Wil Myers 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Matt Szczur 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Total 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0

Lyles returns to Coors Field as a visitor, after spending the last three seasons plus first four months of this season with the Rockies. A starter his first two years in Colorado, he was used in long relief the last two seasons. He was released on Aug. 1, having gone 13-16 with a 5.22 ERA in 68 relief appearances and 37 starts. He was signed by the Padres a week later, initially making five starts at Triple-A El Paso (1-1, 4.50), and then being called up when rosters expanded on Sept. 1.

Lyles lifetime against current members of the Rockies roster

Name PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA Gerardo Parra 16 15 8 4 0 0 0 0 1 .533 Alexi Amarista 15 13 6 0 1 0 2 2 0 .462 Jonathan Lucroy 12 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Ian Desmond 6 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 Carlos Gonzalez 6 6 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 .333 Ryan Hanigan 5 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .400 Nolan Arenado 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 DJ LeMahieu 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Total 66 63 20 5 1 0 3 2 4 .317

Sunday

Jon Gray (8-4, 3.95) for the Rockies vs. Jhoulys Chacin (12-10, 4.06) for the Padres.

Gray has been the Rockies most consistent start of late. He is 4-2 in his last six starts with a 2.45 ERA. He has struck out 38 in 36 2/3 nnings of those six starts, giving up 32 hits and 10 walks. He was sidelined for two 34

months, and has faced the Padres only once this season. He earned a July 19 victory at Coors Field, allowing four runs and striking out seven in six innings.

Gray lifetime against current members of the Padres roster

Name PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA Wil Myers 19 17 7 2 0 1 5 1 3 .412 Yangervis Solarte 10 10 4 2 0 0 3 0 1 .400 Erick Aybar 5 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 Cory Spangenberg 5 5 1 0 0 1 3 0 2 .200 Hector Sanchez 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .500 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333 Jabari Blash 3 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 .500 Manuel Margot 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Luis Perdomo 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .500 Allen Cordoba 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Brad Hand 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Jose Pirela 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Clayton Richard 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 Matt Szczur 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Total 60 54 18 5 0 2 12 4 14 0.333

An original signee of the Rockies out of Venezuela, Chacin has faced the rockies only one, June 3 when he gave up three runs on four hits and seven walks in six innings, striking out one. He spent five full years in the big leagues with the Rockies before being released in the spring of 2015. He was 38-48 with a 3.789 ERA in 124 appearances, 109 as a starter, with Colorado.

Chacin lifetime against current members of the Rockies roster

Name PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA Gerardo Parra 31 27 7 0 1 0 1 4 4 .259 Ian Desmond 23 22 7 1 0 0 0 1 6 .318 Jonathan Lucroy 17 16 5 2 0 0 1 0 1 .313 Mark Reynolds 13 13 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 .077 Alexi Amarista 12 11 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 .182 Ryan Hanigan 6 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .200 Nolan Arenado 3 3 2 0 0 1 2 0 1 .667 Charlie Blackmon 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 Tyler Chatwood 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 .333 Carlos Gonzalez 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 DJ LeMahieu 3 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .333 Trevor Story 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Tony Wolters 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Total 123 113 27 4 2 1 6 9 24 0.239

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Colorado Rockies: Postseason picture with 14 games to play By Kevin Henry – September 16, 2017 / Rox Pile

The Colorado Rockies took care of business on Friday night at Coors Field, posting a 6-1 victory over the San Diego Padres as the two teams opened a critical weekend series. While all Rockies fans were keeping an eye on the action in downtown Denver, they were also keeping a close watch on what was happening at Wrigley Field and Miller Park.

It’s the final stretch for the postseason and the Rockies continue to maintain their lead for the second National League Wild Card spot. Now sitting at 81-67, the Rockies grabbed their sixth straight victory against the Padres on Friday night. That is tied for the longest winning streak against San Diego in franchise history. The Rockies will look to extend that skein when Tyler Anderson returns to the Colorado rotation to face former Rockies pitcher and now San Diego starter Jordan Lyles on Saturday night.

Colorado seems to be heating up at the right time, going 7-2 over the last nine games. Not only did the win give them a 30-18 mark in series openers this season, but it also handed Colorado its 81st win of the season. That clinches the seventh .500-or-better season in franchise history and the club’s first since 2010.

So the Rockies won last night, giving themselves a 79 percent chance to make the postseason according to MLB.com and an 84.3 percent chance according to FanGraphs. How did the other two teams chasing the Rockies for the second Wild Card spot fare and where do they stand in terms of the odds? Let’s take a look.

Milwaukee Brewers (78-69, 2.5 games behind Colorado)

Friday result: Defeated Miami, 10-2

Odds for postseason: 11 percent (MLB.com) and 7.4 percent (FanGraphs)

Quick thoughts: In a game moved to Milwaukee because of south Florida’s recovery efforts from Hurricane Irma, the Brewers (playing as the visiting team) scored eight runs in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie and take the win.

Elimination number: 13

St. Louis Cardinals (77-70, 3.5 games behind Colorado)

Friday result: Lost to , 8-2

Odds for postseason: 21 percent (MLB.com) and 6.1 percent (FanGraphs)

Quick thoughts: Against their arch-rivals in the Windy City, St. Louis succumbed to the defending World Champions thanks in part to a seven-run sixth inning pieced together by the Cubs. The result not only hurt the Cardinals in the Wild Card standings but also in the chase for the National League Central as they fell four games behind the Cubs.

Elimination number: 12

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Colorado Rockies: is Tyler Chatwood the Rockies 2nd best starter? By Noah Yingling – September 16, 2017 / Rox Pile

Jon Gray has been the Colorado Rockies best starting pitcher in 2017 as he is 8-4 with a 3.95 ERA. In his last 10 starts going back to July 25, he is 5-3 with a 2.79 ERA. He hasn’t given up more than three runs in any of the outings and he has gone at least six innings in seven of the ten starts. However, following him, the case could be made that Tyler Chatwood has been the Rockies second-best starter of late.

Tyler Chatwood faced the San Diego Padres on Friday night and he pitched very well as he went 5 2/3 innings only allowing four hits, one run, and one walk. With that performance, it begs the question: is he the Rockies second-best starter?

Chatwood since August 9

Chatwood has made nine appearances since August 9, six have been in relief and three have been starts. In that span, he has an ERA of 1.54. Batters have only hit .244 and he has only walked 3.85 batters per nine innings (his average this season is 4.8 per nine innings).

His numbers are also pretty good in his three starts. He is 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA in 13 2/3 innings pitched. That’s only only run (which he gave up last night). His other numbers aren’t as strong as batters have hit .255 and he has walked 3.95 per nine innings. This is particularly good on the walk front as we know that Chatwood is prone to walk plenty.

Final Thoughts

Considering that German Marquez, Kyle Freeland, and have really struggled as of late, I would probably amend my postseason rotation if it started today. Obviously, Bud Black has a little bit more time to decide what his postseason rotation would like (assuming that the Rockies get through the wild card game but if it happened today, this what it would probably look like if I were Bud Black.

Wild Card Game: Jon Gray

Game 1 of the NLDS: Tyler Chatwood

Game 2: Tyler Anderson

Game 3: Gray

Game 4: German Marquez

Game 5: Chatwood

Sometimes, especially with his walks, Chatwood may give you some heart palpitations but, as of late, he has got the job done. And that’s not something most of the rest of the rotation has done. Therefore, at least at this point, he is the Rockies second-best starter

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Chatwood’s arm, bat lead Rockies past Padres 6-1 By MICHAEL KELLY – September 16, 2017 – Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Rockies celebrated their past and then continued the push to add another chapter to their playoff record book.

Tyler Chatwood pitched into the sixth inning and drove in his first runs of the season, Nolan Arenado homered and the Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 6-1 on Friday night.

Colorado remained 2 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee and moved 3 1/2 games ahead of St. Louis for the second NL wild card. The Cardinals lost to the Cubs on Friday, and the Brewers beat Miami.

The Rockies (81-67) are assured of their first non-losing season since 2010.

Colorado is striving for more than a winning record. It is trying to reach the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons and fourth time overall.

The Rockies continued their postseason drive Friday with a nod to history. They hosted 18 players and three coaches from the 2007 NL pennant-winning team, including franchise icon Todd Helton. The former players saw the Rockies pick up their ninth win in 12 games.

“It’s cool to see those guys come back, especially after what those guys accomplished,” Chatwood said. “I actually played with a couple of those guys so it was nice to see those guys before the game.”

None of the current Rockies have experienced the success of the 2007 team, which won 21 of 22 games to reach the World Series for the first time in franchise history. This Colorado squad is trying to reach those heights, and beating the Padres on this brief three-game homestand is critical.

The Rockies did their damage with two outs in the second off Clayton Richard (7-14). San Diego intentionally walked Jonathan Lucroy to load the bases, and Chatwood knocked in the first two runs with a single to right.

“That was a big hit. When you load the bases to get to the pitcher with two outs that can be back breaking,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “That was very, very critical.”

DJ LeMahieu followed with a two-run triple off the right-field scoreboard to make it 4-0.

“Of course (it’s frustrating),” Richard said. “I thought it was a ball I could get to. And then just as much frustration going 0-2 the next at-bat and not executing the pitch.”

Chatwood (8-12) tossed 5 2/3 innings and left after Wil Myers’ solo homer, his 28th. It was Chatwood’s third start after six relief appearances. After tossing 75 pitches in a win against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday and 94 Friday he feels he has slowly built back into longer starts.

“It’s big going forward,” he said. “I think I’m on a normal pitch count, so that’s nice.”

Arenado led off the ninth with his 34th homer. Trevor Story followed with a triple and scored on Ian Desmond’s sacrifice fly.

ABOVE AND BEYOND

Helton said he knew Arenado would be a great third baseman, but he never expected his former teammate to become an elite slugger.

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Helton’s last season with the Rockies was Arenado’s first, when the rookie hit .267 with 10 homers in 133 games in 2013. He hit 18 homers in 2014, but turned into a true power hitter in the years since while still playing Gold Glove defense.

Arenado tied for the most homers in the NL in 2015-16, with 42 and 41, respectively, and led the majors in RBIs both seasons.

He leads the majors again this season with 124 RBIs to go with his 34 homers.

“I envisioned him being a defensive whiz, which he is. He’s got to be the best third baseman, defensively, to come along in a long, long time,” Helton said. “I never would have expected him to put up the power numbers that he has and drive in the amount of runs he has.

“I’m excited for him. He’s a reason to come to the ballpark every day, as a fan, to get to watch a guy like that. He sells tickets.”

UP NEXT

Padres: RHP Jordan Lyles (1-2, 6.75 ERA) makes his third start for San Diego and first against his former team. Lyles was designated for assignment by Colorado on July 29.

Rockies: LHP Tyler Anderson (4-5, 5.75) will make his first start since June 25. He has made one relief appearance since coming off the 60-day DL on Sunday.

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Rockies celebrate 2007 World Series team By MICAHEL KELLY / September 16, 2017

DENVER (AP) — Todd Helton walked toward the batting cage at Coors Field wearing his old No. 17 and exchanged a bear hug with Nolan Arenado.

Mentor and pupil, together again. But while Arenado’s focus is on the team’s current quest for an NL wild card, Helton was on hand for a bit of nostalgia, celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Colorado’s 2007 NL Championship team.

“When they called me I couldn’t believe it had been 10 years,” Helton said. “It was a great time in all of our lives. We were such a tight-knit group.”

The Rockies brought back 18 players and three coaches to celebrate the franchise’s run to the World Series. Helton, whose No. 17 is the only number retired by the team, headlined the group that won 21 of 22 games in September and October to cap the franchise’s lone NL crown. He was among those in attendance for Colorado’s game against San Diego on Friday.

The former players were introduced in a ceremony before the game and a highlight video was shown. Clint Hurdle, the manager of the ’07 team, and five former players still on active rosters around the majors offered well wishes. Hurdle now manages the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Rockies won 13 of 14 to force a play-in game with San Diego on Oct. 1, 2007. Colorado rallied for three runs in the bottom of the 12th against closer Trevor Hoffman and won it when Matt Holliday sprinted from third base on Jamey Carroll’s fly out to right. Current Rockies manager Bud Black managed the Padres in that game.

The Rockies won seven straight against Philadelphia and Arizona to reach the World Series, where they were swept by Boston.

“It’s a career highlight,” said Jeff Francis, who started Game 1 of each postseason series. “It means a lot to all these guys here. That’s why they came back. I don’t think any of us had more meaningful moments in our career than what we had here.”

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Rockies celebrate 2007 team with reunion, win over Padres By Dennis Lin – Contact Reporter / September 15, 2017, 8:30 PM / The San Diego Union-Tribune

An unpleasant memory for the Padres resurfaced Friday at Coors Field. Only a pair of veteran coaches could truly relive it. Meanwhile, inside the home dugout, Bud Black was pulled in two directions: asked to reminisce about a glorious time in local history, forced to dredge up the agonizing past. The former San Diego manager’s familiar, sunny disposition was still there. Time has softened the blow.

Twenty-one players and coaches from Colorado’s last pennant-winning team had gathered for a 10-year reunion. They stood side by side on the field during an extended pregame ceremony. They watched as the video board replayed images from a miraculous run, including the controversial Matt Holliday slide that ended the Padres’ playoff hopes in a 9-8, 13-inning decision on Oct. 1, 2007.

“It’s mixed emotions,” Black said before the Rockies’ celebration continued with a 6-1 victory against the Padres. “The older I get, the more I appreciate that game as far as being a great game. But it just goes to show you, it is so close, winning or losing, all the time. In championship-type games, it’s razor-thin sometimes. And that was a tough one for us, no doubt about it.”

Though he continues to maintain that Holliday never touched home plate, Black, of course, has moved to the other side. The Rockies entered Friday with a 2 ½-game lead for the National League’s second wild-card spot. Their manager never made the postseason in eight-plus years with San Diego. In Black’s first season, the Padres came within a judgment call of extending a wild-card tiebreaker game here.

“I just remember the plane ride home, Trev talking to the media,” said Padres third base coach Glenn Hoffman, whose brother, famed closer Trevor, yielded the walk-off run. “It was tough. To get over it? It took awhile. You were so close.”

Glenn Hoffman and pitching coach Darren Balsley are the only uniformed personnel left from the 2007 Padres. Most of the current players were in high school when Holliday raced home on Jamey Carroll’s fly ball to right field, an indelible moment to begin what is known as Rocktober. Colorado won 21 of 22 games to reach the World Series.

“We had a tough August, but we played well in September to hang in there,” Black said. “You ever see the movie ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’? You remember when (Paul) Newman and (Robert) Redford looked over their shoulders and said, ‘Who are those guys?’ We kept thinking, ‘Did they win again?’ It was incredible.

“But looking back on it, what an accomplishment. Not unlike what the Indians are going through now, right? What a feat, and they deserve everything they got that season, just because they played good baseall. You deserve what you get a lot of times in professional sports, and they deserved to get into the playoffs.”

As they have for most of the last decade, the rebuilding Padres looked far away Friday night.

Clayton Richard at least had a much better start than he did July 19, when he surrendered a career-high 11 runs here. The left-hander completed six innings and allowed four runs.

It still qualified as a frustrating performance. Richard narrowly missed throwing a scoreless outing. All four runs came in the bottom of the second, after Carlos Gonzalez hit a slow, two-out grounder that turned into a single when it tipped off Richard’s glove.

“It was a ball I felt like I could get to,” Richard said. “It barely glanced off my glove, slows it down enough (third baseman Yangervis Solarte) can’t make a play. It kind of stinks. … That’s baseball, being so close, but those are the little things you have to do that separate winning teams from losing teams.” 41

Tyler Chatwood took a Colorado shutout bid into the sixth. First baseman Wil Myers ended it there, launching a 457-foot rocket over the center-field fence. The home run was his 28th of the season, matching the career high he set in 2016.

The Padres did not make other noise. Without No. 3 hitter Jose Pirela in the lineup, they have scored two runs over the last three games. Pirela, who is nursing a sprained pinky finger, will be re-evaluated Saturday.

“We haven’t squared up enough baseballs,” manager Andy Green said. “You’re not going to win baseball games at Coors Field putting up a solo home run. It doesn’t matter what your pitcher does on the mound.”

In the bottom of the eighth, Nolan Arenado slugged his 34th homer. Trevor Story tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly to deep center. There was no controversy at home plate.

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