Rockies-Reds: Small Ball Helps Rockies Get Past Reds

The Rockies rallied on an eighth inning home run off the bat of Ian Stewart to knock off the Reds Monday night, 4-3.

After going down on strikes in his first three at-bats, Stewart blasted the first pitch he saw from reliever Carlos Fisher over the fence.

In the 7th inning, Eric Young Jr. led off with a pinch hit bunt single. Carlos Gonzalez then worked a walk to get men on first and second base with no one out.

Seth Smith, quite possibly the hottest hitter in baseball over the past 10 days, strolled up to the plate, and layed down a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners to second and third with one out.

The heady play yielded a run when Todd Helton hit a sacrifice fly.  

Troy Tulowitzki then came to the plate with the tying run in scoring position. Tulowitzki delivered, lining a single into right field, scoring the Gonzalez from third, and tying the contest at three.

The single was costly, however, as Tulo was visibly hurt by the swing and removed by Jim Tracy after being examined at first base by trainer Keith Dugger. The injury will keep the shortstop sidelined for at least a day. The Rockies are officially calling the injury back spasms.

Despite the injury, the damage was done, and the Rockies were tied, awaiting Stewart to come through in the next inning to seal the victory.

The seventh was impressive for the Rockies because it truly showed the shift in philosophy of this Rockies coaches under Jim Tracy.

In the past, a hitter like Seth Smith, on a tear and a top candidate for National League Player of the Week, with two runners on base, and down by two runs, would have swung for the fences.

The thought would have been that there may not be an opportunity for the Rockies to score again, so may as well wait for the home run.

Instead, Smith laid down a bunt that moved two runners into scoring position for the teams two best hitters—Helton and Tulowitzki—with one out, and no possibility of the classic double play ball.

Helton was able to plate the first run and Tulowitzki successfully delivered the second run.

Despite Smith being as hot as he is, the odds of him driving a pitch out of the park are not as great as either Tulowitzki or Helton delivering with a simple base hit.

It was a selfless move on the part of Smith who knew that the franchise's greatest player was standing in the on deck circle behind him.

Many fans may not realize it, but that kind of play is exactly why this team is playing games in September that have meaning, instead of being excited about the upcoming Broncos' season.

If the Rockies continue to do the little things to win games, they may just find themselves extending their Wild Card lead and looking forward to October baseball at Coors Field.