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Hawpe's 14th-inning homer keeps Rockies surging

Sep 22, 2007 - 7:23 AM By Tim Powers PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

San Diego (Ticker) -- Brad Hawpe made up for an earlier miscue in a big way.

Two innings after being tagged out while overrunning third base on an infield single, Hawpe homered in the 14th as the Colorado Rockies posted a crucial 2-1 victory Friday over the San Diego Padres in the first of a three-game series.

The sixth straight victory pulled Colorado (82-72) within 3 1/2 games of San Diego (85-68) in the National League wild card race. A loss would have all but ended the season for the Rockies.

"People have come up with all of these scenarios, but we needed to win tonight," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "This at least puts us in a position to go out there and see what we can do (Saturday) night. This obviously gives us some more momentum."

The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak by the Padres, who fell 1 1/2 games behind the NL West Division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks (87-67). Arizona beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 12-3, on Friday.

San Diego's advantage over Philadelphia (84-70) in the wild card race also was cut to 1 1/2 games.

Padres slugger Adrian Gonzalez almost spoiled the night for the Rockies when he hit the first pitch of the ninth inning from closer Manny Corpas over the wall in center field to tie the game at 1-1. But Hawpe skied a first-pitch slider by lefthander Joe Thatcher (0-1) in the 14th over the center field wall for his 27th homer of the season.

"I was looking for something away," Hawpe said. "I wasn't looking for a home run, just to put the barrel on it. He made the perfect left-on-left pitch, down and away, so I wanted to make sure I could cover that."

"I felt real good out there," Thatcher said. "It was one pitch, and obviously it cost us the game, but I was real sharp. It was still a pretty good pitch, he just got under it and got it up in the air. I thought it was a pop-up at first, but it's a big ballpark, so for any ball to get out of here, you know it's a legit home run."

The lefthanded-hitting Hawpe is batting .188 with four homers against southpaws.

"It's another beautiful swing," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "I mean, he hits balls and they carry like nobody's business. It was dead air out there and it's late. People who play here know how hard it is to bust one."

Matt Herges (5-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.

"What I know about games like this is, when you lose them, it's devastating," Herges said. "But, when you win them, it's an unbelievable amount of momentum. This time of year, we know we've got our work cut out and that every game is huge now. The other two teams keep winning, and we've got to keep winning."

Up until the ninth, Franklin Morales had outdueled the NL's hottest pitcher, Jake Peavy, and stifled a red-hot ballclub.

The 21-year-old Morales hurled six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit with four walks and six strikeouts. The rookie lefthander has not yielded a run in his last three outings, covering 17 frames.

"Franklin was awesome tonight," Hurdle said. "For the young man to take the ball in this kind of matchup with Peavy, he answered. Six real strong innings. Any time there was traffic, he settled down and made pitches."

Peavy retired the first 12 batters he faced before Todd Helton doubled to lead off the fifth. But Colorado got to Peavy in the seventh as Matt Holliday drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a base hit by Helton and scored on a ground single to right by Hawpe.

"I thought Jake was sharp again," Padres manager Bud Black said. "He did everything he possibly could. They manufactured a run there, but I thought Jake was outstanding."

Entering the game as the league leader in wins, strikeouts and ERA, Peavy did nothing to hurt his qualifications for the Cy Young Award in this one. He yielded just three hits, walked two batters and struck out eight.