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Helton homers in ninth, lifts Rockies to victory

Sep 19, 2007 - 5:23 AM By Derek Nagy PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DENVER (Ticker) -- Todd Helton hit a two-run walk-off home run in the second game of a day-night doubleheader, lifting the Colorado Rockies to a 9-8 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers to complete the sweep.

Dodgers closer Takashi Saito (1-1) looked to be on his way to an easy save after pinch hitter Omar Quintanilla grounded out and rookie Troy Tulowitzki struck out for the first two outs in the ninth.

After Matt Holliday singled to right, Helton clinched the victory with his 15th home run of the season, as the Rockies (79-72) remained alive in the playoff race, four games behind the San Diego Padres (82-67) in the National League wild card race.

"To be in the race and down (in the count) 1-2 to a guy we haven't even gotten a hit off this year, wow," Helton said. "He's a great pitcher and to be able to come through, it was an amazing feeling."

"That was a tough one right there," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "The players battled to get themselves in a position to win after the way the game started out but the day we spent there in Coors Field hurt us today."

Ryan Speier (1-1) pitched a perfect top of the ninth to pick up his first win of the season as Colorado swept the twin bill after winning the first game, 3-1.

The win gave Colorado 79 wins on the season, its most since 2000 when the Rockies finished 82-80.

"It was awesome, probably my favorite game ever," Holliday said. "For that to happen like that to a guy like Todd was a lot of fun and it was one of my favorite memories of my career."

Saito blew his fourth save of the year following 16 straight converted saves and allowed just his third home run of the season.

"It's really easy to second guess yourself after something happens, but I went with his best pitch and Helton did a nice job of hitting it," Dodgers catcher Russell Martin said.

The Rockies had taken a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning on Holliday's 100th career home run before Matt Herges entered the game for Colorado and did nothing to help the cause.

Herges promptly surrendered a leadoff home run to James Loney, who has six home runs in September and 12 on the season. Herges then allowed a single to Ramon Martinez and walked Mike Lieberthal before being lifted for Jeremy Affeldt.

Affeldt looked like he was going to escape the inning unscathed, as he got pinch hitter Delmon Young to fly out to right and Juan Pierre to pop out to shortstop. But on his first pitch to Abreu, the rookie hit a liner to deep left-center that was just out of the grasp of Holliday, rolling all the way to the wall and clearing the bases.

Martin, who was a defensive replacement in the bottom of the seventh inning, hit his 18th home run in the top of the eighth that gave Los Angeles an 8-5 lead.

Jonathan Broxton had an eventful eighth inning, allowing a two-run home run to Ryan Spilborghs with no outs that cut the lead to 8-7. But he retired Cory Sullivan on a groundout and struck out Brad Hawpe and Yorvit Torrealba to end the threat.

However, Saito blew his fourth save of the season, as the Dodgers (79-72) slipped into a tie with the Rockies in the NL wild card race.

Los Angeles grabbed a 3-0 in the first inning. Pierre led off the game with a single and moved to second on a balk by Colorado starter Mark Redman. He moved to second on a balk and Abreu drove him in with a single. One batter later, Luis Gonzalez added to the lead with his 15th home run of the season.

Colorado came right back, getting a leadoff single from Jamey Carroll and a run-scoring double from Tulowitzki. Holliday then doubled to score Tulowitzki to make it 2-0 before being retired on a fielder's choice. Helton scored two hitters later on a double from Spilborghs that tied the game at 3-3.