D'oh! Holliday's snafu helps sink Rockies
BOSTON -- Colorado is simply making too many mistakes to hang with Boston in this World Series, and not all of them are buried in the slew of walks and misplaced pitches emanating from the mound.
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| Matt Holliday's pride must be hurting after he gets picked off. (US Presswire) |
Holliday, who collected four singles in four at-bats, at the time represented the tying run.
Once he was erased, Colorado went quietly 1-2-3 in the ninth and trudged toward that long charter flight home.
Though Papelbon's throw was a strike, catcher Jason Varitek said most of the credit goes to bench coach Brad Mills.
"He doesn't get enough credit for the homework he does," Varitek said. "He's always prepared."
The move came just after the always-dangerous Todd Helton had settled into the batter's box. Without ever having thrown a pitch home, Papelbon simply whipped around and threw to first.
Helton would have to wait until the ninth to bat, and Papelbon blew a 2-and-2 pitch past him for strike three.
"Obviously, I was trying to steal second," said Holliday, who isn't necessarily a burner but did convert 11 of 15 stolen base attempts this season.
"Typically, I would guess he would not come over there on a big guy," Holliday continued, explaining why the move caught him so off guard.
Papelbon's throw to first wasn't even close. First baseman Kevin Youkilis probably had time to grab a hot dog and a Coke from a Fenway concession stand between the time he caught the ball and the time he slapped the tag on Holliday.
