Colorado Rockies vs. New York Yankees: Highs, lows, and history

The first-ever meeting between the Yankees and Rockies took place at Coors Field in June of 2002 and the three-game series ended with a beauty, at least for Colorado fans.

After losing to the Yankees the previous day 20-10 (in a game where starting pitchers Mike Hampton and Andy Pettitte gave up a combined 15 runs in a combined 8.2 innings pitched), Colorado had some walkoff magic saved up for Sunday.

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In a game started by Roger Clemens, the game would come down to the 10th inning. Facing Yankees reliever Steve Karsay, Colorado’s Larry Walker led off the bottom frame with a single to right and Todd Helton followed with a single as well. Todd Zeile would then prove to be the hero, smacking a three-run home run to left field for the walkoff win.

Ironically, Zeile would sign with the Yankees for the 2003 season. We recently highlighted him in a series of “Forgotten Rockies.”

The Yankees last visited Denver in 2016 as Colorado took both games of the two-game set. Included in that series was a 13-10 Colorado win where the Yankees scored seven times in the top of the eighth to pull close before Carlos Estevez pitched a perfect ninth to record the save.