Everything Gets Magnified this Time of Year

In 2007, when the Rockies were on their season-ending streak that propelled them to the playoffs and the World Series, my rallying cry was "Every Game Counts!" A lot of attention gets paid to games late in the season, because they are the games that cause you to clinch or fall out of the race. But without the games in April, May, June, July and August, many teams aren't even in a position to play important games in September.

Yesterday's game-saving catch by Clint Barmes WAS important, as was Yorvit Torrealba's Sac Fly in Friday night's game.

But you also have consider all those losses back in April and May that maybe could have turned into wins and maybe the Rockies could be looking at the NL West Division title rather than the Wild Card berth. And no matter how this season ultimately turns out the Rockies have to be better out of the box in the early months. The past 3 years they have gotten to the mark of 18-27, and in two of those years they dug out of it. In 2010, it would be nice to finish the first 45 games at 23-22 or better.

But since it's come down to the Braves and Rockies for the Wild Card race, you have to look back to two games that may make the difference: July 9th and July 12th.

The Rockies and Braves split 4 non-competitive games in Atlanta in May, and the Braves headed into Coors Field for a big 4 game series. On Thursday, the Braves took a 2-0 lead, 4-2 lead and 5-4 lead, each time the Rockies came back to tie without taking the lead. In the bottom of the eighth, pinch-hitter Garrett Atkins delivered a two-out two-run double and the Rockies held on in the top of the 9th, to win 7-6.

Then on Sunday, after the Braves won the next two games, and the 3 day All-Star break looming, the Braves jumped out to a 4-0 lead against Jason Hammel who only lasted 3 innings. In the bottom of the 7th the Rockies were trailing by 4 runs for the 3rd time in the game 7-3. Seth Smith hit a 3 run homer in the 7th, and Ryan Spilborghs delivered a game tying double in the 8th, but Chris Iannetta is thrown out at the plate.

In the 9th, Seth Smith is on first with 2 outs, when Brad Hawpe delivers a double to right-center as Smith scores the winner.

Take those two games the other way, and everything else goes the same way, the Rockies are now 86-70 and the Braves are 87-69.

Every Game Does Count!

DIVISION SEED TIEBREAKERS: If the Phillies and Cardinals end up tied for the 1st or 2nd division seeding, the Phillies would have the advantage based on their 4-1 record against the Cardinals this season. The Dodgers have the Edge on the Phillies 4-3 in the case of a tie, and the Cardinals have a 5-2 edge over the Dodgers. I'm not clear on whether a 3 way tie takes the total record, but in that case the Records would be: Dodgers 8-6, Phillies 7-5, and Cardinals 6-6.