Colorado Rockies vs. St. Louis Cardinals: Highs, lows, and history

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ST LOUIS, MO – AUGUST 25: Paul Goldschmidt #46 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits a two-RBI single against the Colorado Rockies in the second inning at Busch Stadium on August 25, 2019 in St Louis, Missouri. Teams are wearing special color schemed uniforms with players choosing nicknames to display for Players’ Weekend. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

With the Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals together in the spotlight for multiple reasons this weekend, we thought it might be good to look back at some of the moments the two franchises have shared through the years.

Had the 2020 Major League Baseball schedule been played as planned, the St. Louis Cardinals would have visited Coors Field to take on the Colorado Rockies in a three-game series. The highlight of the series could well have been off the field, where the Rockies were set to retire the number 33 worn by Larry Walker (before he was traded to St. Louis, we’ll talk about that later) in festivities set for Sunday.

With the MLB season delayed, the two franchises are now set to meet in the first round of the MLB Dream Bracket, presented by DraftKings. This simulated tournament between all-time rosters from different franchises has the Rockies and Cardinals squaring off in a best-of-seven matchup on Tuesday, April 21. You can watch it unfold at 1 p.m. (MT) on Twitch/MLB.com.

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Back to reality, the Cardinals lead the overall series with the Rockies, 118-98. In St. Louis, the series is decisively in favor of the home team as the Redbirds own a 67-42 edge in the series, including a four-game sweep last season in what (in my humble opinion) featured easily the worst Players’ Weekend uniforms in the history of that promotion (see the photo at the top for the Star Wars look).

Colorado has not won a series in St. Louis since sweeping the Cardinals during the 2009 campaign.

Monday also marks the anniversary of the first time the Rockies and Cardinals ever played against each other, with St. Louis taking a 5-0 home win. Cardinals leadoff batter Geronimo Pena went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Omar Olivares picked up the save with 3.1 innings of no-hit ball.

DENVER, CO – MAY 27: Colby Rasmus #28 of the St. Louis Cardinals is tagged out at home by catcher Chris Iannetta #20 of the Colorado Rockies as Rasmus attempted to score on a ground ball by Daniel Descalso of the Cardinals in the second inning at Coors Field on May 27, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) /

In Denver, the Rockies hold a 56-51 edge all-time, last sweeping the Cardinals at Coors Field during the 2010 season.

Speaking of that year, that Cardinals-Rockies series contained one of the top 10 games for the Rockies in the past decade, according to this list from MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. On July 6, St. Louis took a six-run lead into the bottom of the ninth before the Rockies rallied for an improbable win.

Colorado scored nine times in the bottom of the ninth, with Chris Iannetta hitting a three-run homer, Carlos Gonzalez hitting an RBI single as part of a 4-for-6 night, and Seth Smith capping the rally with a game-winning three-run shot off Cardinal reliever Ryan Franklin to send the Coors Field crowd into a frenzy.

The Rockies would also win the next night, 8-7, on a walkoff when Iannetta, the first batter of the bottom of the ninth, would hit a solo homer off Cardinal reliever Evan MacLane. It would be the third straight walkoff win for Colorado that season, with their July 4 game against the San Francisco Giants also ending in the game’s final frame.

St. Louis has also had its last-minute moments in Denver as well. On April 8, 2003, after Todd Helton‘s seventh-inning home run knotted the game at 12, the Cardinals prevailed in 13 innings when Mike Matheny‘s three-run shot handed the visitors a 15-12 edge. Cal Eldred pitched a perfect bottom of the inning to preserve the win.

BOSTON – OCTOBER 23: Larry Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals bats during game one of the 2004 World Series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on October 23, 2004 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox defeated the Cardinals 11-9. (Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

One of the biggest moments between the two clubs off the field happened on August 6, 2004, when the Rockies sent Larry Walker to the Cardinals in exchange for Jason Burch and two players to be named later. Walker would go on to play with the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series against the Boston Red Sox. In the Fall Classic, Walker would post a .357/.438/.929 with a 1.366 OPS as the Red Sox swept the series.

Walker would play 100 games for the Cardinals the next season before retiring.

That was the second-ever trade between Colorado and St. Louis. The first came on November 16, 1999, when the Rockies traded Luther Hackman, Darryl Kile, and Dave Veres to the Cardinals for Manny Aybar, Brent Butler, Rich Croushore, and Jose Jimenez.

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Among the players who have played for both franchises include Royce Clayton (1996-98 Cardinals and 2004 Rockies), Dexter Fowler (2008-2013 Rockies and 2017-19 Cardinals), Andres Galarraga (1992 Cardinals and 1993-97 Rockies), and Matt Holliday (two stints with Rockies and 2009-16 Cardinals).

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With the Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals together in the spotlight for multiple reasons this weekend, we thought it might be good to look back at some of the moments the two franchises have shared through the years.

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