Red-Hot Rockies Keep on Rolling: Catcher Yorvit Torrealba's 3-Run Shot Sank Arizona, Leaving Colorad

Oct 15, 03:42 AM

Current Headlines: By Todd Zolecki, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Oct. 15--DENVER -- It has been 31 years since a team has dominated the postseason like the Colorado Rockies.

And they're not finished yet.

They beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-1, last night in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series at Coors Field to take a lead of three games to none. The Rockies, who swept the Phillies in their division series and have won 20 of their last 21 games, have captured their first six games of the postseason.

That hasn't happened since the Cincinnati Reds swept the Phillies in the League Championship Series in 1976, three games to none, and swept the New York Yankees in the World Series, four games to none.

The Rockies will try to sweep the Diamondbacks in the best-of-seven series and make it seven straight playoff wins tonight in Game 4.

Everything is going the Rockies' way.

"We can't win four at once," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "We've got to get one on the board first. If we don't, the flip side isn't very good. But we can't look at it that way."

The big blow came with two on and two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba battled Diamondbacks righthander Livan Hernandez to a full count, fouling off a 60-m.p.h. curveball on the sixth pitch of the at-bat to stay alive.

Hernandez followed that slow curve with an 82-m.p.h. fastball that Torrealba ripped over the left-field wall for a three-run home run to make it 4-1.

"I was praying it would leave the yard," Torrealba said. "[The at-bat] was kind of crazy because he'd step off [the rubber] and I'd step out [of the batter's box]. He was taking a long time. I was taking a long time. I just stayed with my plan. He tried to sneak a fastball, and I hit it good. I was looking middle away. He never really threw me a fastball inside. He hadn't thrown a fastball inside all year. I was looking slider down and away or anything soft and away. It kind of surprised me."

And to think, the Rockies entered last night having been outplayed in Games 1 and 2 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

Oh, wait a second.

That's only what Diamondbacks leftfielder Eric Byrnes said Saturday.

"They might have outplayed us," Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said before the game. "And in many ways maybe they have. They way I look at it is, we're up 2-0. And we come out here every day and we come here to win games, and that's our main objective. And they can outplay us all four games. If we end up winning the series, I'll be fine with that."

The team that Byrnes thought the Diamondbacks had outplayed struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Rockies leftfielder Matt Holliday, who figures to finish first or second in the voting for National League MVP (with Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins taking the other spot) hit a solo home run to left field to hand the Rockies a 1-0 lead.

Holliday had hit .125 (1 for 8) with no RBIs in Games 1 and 2, but Coors Field has been kind to him. He hit .376 with 25 home runs, 82 RBIs and a .722 slugging percentage at home this season. He hit .301 with 11 homers, 55 RBIs and a .485 slugging percentage on the road.

The Rockies defense played brilliantly in the early innings. They turned double plays in the first, second and third to kill any threat of a Diamondbacks rally. The Diamondbacks finally scored in the fourth inning when Mark Reynolds crushed a solo home run to left field off Rockies righthander Josh Fogg, who allowed seven hits and one run in six innings.

That made it 1-1. But that was it.

"It's kind of been the theme of the series," Melvin said. "They've gotten the big hit where we haven't. The double play kind of did us in early on."

"The double plays obviously were huge for me," Fogg said.

It couldn't have been real easy to hit last night.

The temperature had dropped from 43 degrees on the first pitch to 39 degrees before the end of the fifth inning.

Oh, and it was raining the entire time. But it didn't seem to bother Torrealba, who was born in Venezuela.

Not at all.

Contact staff writer Todd Zolecki at 215-854-4874 or tzolecki@phillynews.com.

Read his blog at http://go.philly.com/zozone.

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