Rockies 5, Giants 4: Tapia sac-fly in extras wins it for the Rockies

The Rockies staved off mathematical elimination for one more day by defeating the Giants in extras, 5-4. Twas a sacrifice fly in the top of the 11th off the bat of Raimel Tapia that sealed the deal. The much maligned Rockies bullpen managed to allow just one run in 5 ²⁄₃ innings. With the win, the Rockies take the season series from San Francisco, even though the Giants currently occupy the eighth and final playoff spot.

Five man infield

The Rockies faced a dire situation in the bottom of the tenth. Thanks to the extra-innings-runner-on-second-rule-that-sucks, the Giants quickly had a rally. With one out, Daniel Bard intentionally walked the bases loaded and the Rockies brought the five-man infield, which never works. And it worked! Thanks to this incredible play from Trevor Story:

Chi Chi’s Last Start?

Chi Chi Gonzalez performed admirably in his stint with the Rockies in 2019, earning himself a rotation spot out of spring training/summer camp for 2020. But this might have been the last time we see him in a Rockies uniform and it started out rough. The bottom of the first went walk, double, single, strikeout, double and, wouldn’t you know it, the score is 2-0 Giants. The second inning wasn’t much better: three straight singles and a wild pitch and it was 3-0.

Chi Chi settled down though, allowing just two more hits before being pulled in the sixth. If it was his last start in a Rockies uniform, it was actually not bad: 5 ¹⁄₃ IP, 8 H, 3 R/ER, 2 BB, 4 K. His two years in Colorado: 2-8 with a 5.70 ERA in 19 games with 6.8 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9.

Up Next

The Rockies head to Phoenix to close out their (regular) season. They’ll play a traditional doubleheader with the first game starting at 4:40 pm MT with Antonio Senzatela (5-2, 3.13 ERA) starting the game against Zac Gallen (2-2, 3.00 ERA). Good ol’ TBA will start the second game.