Todd Helton hit career double 587 tonight. It's just too bad that he couldn't hit number 588 when he came up in the ninth with the bases loaded and two outs. Instead, he struck out to end both the Rockies' threat and the game. One reason he should stick around another year is to get 15 more and pass Barry Bonds on the all time list for two baggers.
Unfortunately, Tyler Chatwood was merely human tonight as he gave up four runs in six innings of work and the Rockies offense couldn't quite knock Adam Wainwright out of the game early. Now the Rockies will need a win tomorrow to split this home series with St. Louis.
Troy Tulowitzki and Charlie Blackmon each had two hits on the night and had all three RBIs for the Rockies, but that was barely better than Wainwright was at the plate (3-3 with 2 RBIs). The Rockies outhit the Cardinals 12 to 10, but failed to get an extra run across the plate despite having several good opportunities.
Perhaps the best chance the Rockies had to take control of this game was in the first. Tulo drove in the first two runs of the night on a two strike single to the opposite field after a single and a double to open the game by Corey Dickerson and DJ LeMahieu. Michael Cuddyer followed with a single and the Rockies had Wainwright in trouble. However, a double play off the bat of Helton followed by a line out by Pacheco ended that threat and the Cardinals tied it in the third and took the lead for good in the fourth.
Cuddyer maintained his advantage in the race for the NL batting crown holding steady at .331 by going 1-3. He also made a fantastic catch in right to end the top of the sixth but sadly hurt his left wrist and right forearm in the process. He's listed as day to day.
Here's the chart and Row call from the game:
<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2013-09-18&team=Rockies&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width = "450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2013-09-18&team=Rockies&dh=0&season=2013">FanGraphs</a></span>
Row Call:
DAWNMARIE01, ES46NE10, Goeldfinger, Greg Stanwood, Junction Rox, Kevin V. Minor, PurpleToPurple, RhodeIslandRoxfan, RockyMountainWay91, Roxman4ever, SDcat09, Sjamb, The Lodo Magic Man, butterfly2, chickenfoof, evers44, vtmn_D, zmiko
1 The Lodo Magic Man 55
2 ES46NE10 53
3 SDcat09 53
4 Sjamb 47
5 RockyMountainWay91 34