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Colorado Rockies: Top 32 moments in franchise history tournament

By Noah Yingling

8 May 1997: Second baseman Eric Young of the Colorado Rockies throws the ball as first baseman Mark Johnson of the Pittsburgh Pirates slides into the base at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Pirates won the game 10-8. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /
8 May 1997: Second baseman Eric Young of the Colorado Rockies throws the ball as first baseman Mark Johnson of the Pittsburgh Pirates slides into the base at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Pirates won the game 10-8. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr / /
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7 Apr 1998: John Vander Wal of the Colorado Rockies in action during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Cardinals defeated the Rockies 12-10. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr/Allsport. Getty Images.
7 Apr 1998: John Vander Wal of the Colorado Rockies in action during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Cardinals defeated the Rockies 12-10. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr/Allsport. Getty Images. /

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In the eighth inning, Curt Leskanic came on in relief for the Rockies and he gave up back-to-back singles to Mondesi and Blowers. Hollandsworth came up and drove Mondesi in on a sac-fly to tie the game back up at 12 a piece. Leskanic retired Gagne and Roger Cedeno (who was pinch-hitting for Radinsky) to end the inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, Antonio Osuna came on in relief for the Dodgers and with one out, Jayhawk Owens flied to Mondesi in right field but he couldn’t catch it so Owens went to second base on the error. McCracken grounded out for the second out of the inning and John Vander Wal came up to pinch-hit for Leskanic. He, then, hit a two-run homer to make it a 14-12 game. Eric Young followed with a single and his sixth stolen base of the game. However, he was stranded by Weiss.

Reliever Bruce Ruffin came on in the ninth to shut it down but he blew the lead by allowing a RBI single to DeShields and a two-run home run by Mondesi to make it a 15-14 game.

Dodgers closer Todd Worrell came on in the bottom of the ninth to record the save but he also failed as he gave up singles to Bichette and Castilla. Jeff Reed pinched hit for Owens and he got an RBI single to score Bichette and tie the game. The next batter was Quinton McCracken and he got an RBI double to score Castilla and win by the score of 16-15.

Final Thoughts

With Hideo Nomo pitching and with the slow delivery he had, it’s not surprising to see that the Rockies were able to steal 10 bases off of him. His next two starts against the Rockies were much different from this game though as just four days after this game, he went against the Rockies again (this time in Los Angeles) and he went eight innings and he only gave up five hits and one run. His next start against the Rockies was on September 17, 1996…and the Rockies were no-hit. If you want to see that game (which would definitely not be a highlight of the Rockies), you can find it on YouTube (with Vin Scully broadcasting it). If you want to see some highlights of this game that we’ve been talking about, this video on Rockies.com takes a peek at it.

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