On-fire Rockies continue hot streak, headed to World Series

DENVER -- Fake snow was falling, fake snow of the most bizarre kind. More than 50,000 fans at Coors Field were waving their Colorado Rockies rally towels with such ferocity, such glee, that the towels were breaking into pieces -- the tufts of white cloth creating a faux blizzard.

A blizzard on Oct. 15 would be unusual in Denver, but a World Series team? This World Series team? That's just crazy.

The Rockies are off to the World Series ... what'll they think of next? (AP)

Yet here come the Rockies, the most unlikely and yet most undeniable pennant winner in a long, long time. One month ago today, the Rockies were in fourth place in the National League West. They were 6½ games out of first, behind nearly half-a-dozen teams in the wild-card standings. They were done. Toast.

And then it started. And it hasn't stopped. The Rockies beat Arizona 6-4 on Monday night to win the National League Championship Series, advance to the World Series and continue the hottest September-October stretch in baseball history.

The Rockies won 13 of their final 14 regular-season games to force a one-game playoff with San Diego for the final postseason spot, then won that. Then they swept the Phillies in three games in the NL Division Series. And now they've swept the Diamondbacks in four games of the NLCS. Colorado has won 21 of 22 games, including 10 in a row, to become the first team to enter the World Series on such a crazy carpet ride.

"It's been one game after another, one person (coming through) after another," Rockies reliever Brian Fuentes said. "Who's next?"

The Indians or the Red Sox will be next for Colorado after a Game 4 that was a microcosm of the entire NLCS. It had the Diamondbacks making another boneheaded base-running play, their fourth gaffe of the NLCS. It had Rockies manager Clint Hurdle making another Midas move, laying his hands on the fourth inning and turning it into gold. It had Matt Holliday hitting another home run and rounding the bases to a thunderous chant of "M-V-P!" The crowd was referring to Holliday's status for the regular season, but it was a prescient chant as well -- two hours later, Holliday was named MVP of the NLCS.

Game 4 also had Arizona's defense committing another enormous error. It had Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki make another argument for future Gold Gloves. It had Arizona's Micah Owings become his team's latest starting pitcher to get ripped.

And it had Eric Byrnes paying again, in the most public and painful way, for his trash talk earlier in the week. Byrnes hit into the last out of the season for Arizona, a check-swing grounder to short that Tulowitzki inhaled before lasering to first. Byrnes dived headfirst into the bag, was called out and lay face-down in the dirt for several seconds while the crowd of 50,213 waved their disintegrating towels. Hundreds of others waved another accessory -- brooms, signifying the Rockies' sweep.

The Rockies deserve every bit of this pennant, but let's be honest: Arizona made it easy. The Diamondbacks didn't get a quality start -- defined by six or more innings and three or less earned runs -- from any of their four starting pitchers. Arizona's pitching wasn't helped by a defense that committed three errors that led to six unearned runs over four games. Nor was it helped by an offense that had 28 strikeouts, eight walks and eight runs in four games.

And the whole Arizona shebang was undercut by a raunchy series of mental breakdowns, including the mistake by its first batter of Game 4, Chris Young, who led off with a single but was picked off. Young broke for second while dumbfounded Rockies pitcher Franklin Morales stood on the mound and watched him go. Morales stepped back, ran at Young, got him to commit toward second base and then tagged him. See, the Rockies played fundamental baseball. The Diamondbacks? They played the fool.

The last head-scratching play of a head-scratching NLCS for Arizona came in the ninth with the Diamondbacks trailing 6-4, with one on and one out, and Stephen Drew representing the tying run. Drew had a 3-0 count, but manager Bob Melvin gave him the green light and Drew popped up.

"That's an easy (decision)," Melvin said. "He's my only left-handed bat there in the inning. It's going to be a fastball. He has a chance to tie the game."