Colorado Rockies morning after: Heroics vault team into first

When all of the dust has settled and all of the fans had filed out of Coors Field on Saturday night, the Colorado Rockies had not only made history and a statement, but they also had even grabbed a share of first place in the National League West.

For seven innings on Saturday night, German Marquez was the star on the hill for the Colorado Rockies. Then, with one swing of the bat, Matt Holliday made sure he rewarded Bud Black‘s gut decision with one of the most memorable hits since Nolan Arenado‘s walk-off home run for the cycle last season.

Holliday recorded his first homer for the Rockies since 2008 (a span of 3,634 days) to put Colorado on the board in the bottom of the seventh, staking the Rockies to a 1-0 lead. But there was a little more to it than just that.

Consider that Holliday wasn’t even the pinch hitter that Black was going to use in the bottom of the frame. With St. Louis right-handed starter John Gant still on the hill (and matching Marquez pitch for pitch), Black sent left-handed Gerardo Parra out to face Gant. But, when Tony Wolters struck out for the second out of the seventh, Black recalled Parra and decided to roll the bones with Holliday and hope for one swing to get the Rockies on the board.

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Forget right vs. left or anything else. It was a gut feeling by Black that Holliday could provide a spark. After all, that’s why he was signed by the Rockies, right? And, sure enough, Holliday did just, driving an 0-1 curveball 448 feet into the left-field seats for a home run that had both Rockies and Cardinals fans cheering. It’s not often you see that, but it also shows just how much one player can mean to two franchises.

Marquez allowed three hits over seven innings but will be widely overlooked after Holliday’s home run … and Colorado’s offensive outburst in the eighth. An eight-run explosion (including a franchise record-tying five doubles in the frame) sealed the 9-1 victory. Couple that with Seattle’s 4-3, 10-inning win in Arizona and the Rockies woke up on Sunday tied for first place in the division for the first time since June 6.

Something special is happening at 20th and Blake and all of the LoDo Magic was on display on Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 47,785. For the Rockies to win their first-ever National League West title, they’re going to need timely hits and masterful pitching. They got both last night.

However, one game won’t win the West or secure another Wild Card berth. This is a race that will go down to the wire, meaning September is going to be a lot of fun (and stressful) in LoDo.

Thirty-three games to go in the regular season. Plenty of time for more heroics and gut checks for a team that has a tantalizing mix of young players and seasoned veterans.

For every maddening moment that Bryan Shaw or Ian Desmond has provided this season, this team is still right where they want to be heading into the final stretch. Enjoy the ride … but know it’s going to be anything but easy the rest of the way. However, if I had told you in April that this would be the situation for the Rockies heading into late August, you would have signed up for it, right?

The rest of the season for your first-place Rockies begins on Sunday afternoon against St. Louis at Coors Field. Get ready. Buckle up. Hang on. There are more memories to be made.