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A20 SPORTS
Thursday 4 OcTOber 2018

Rockies top Cubs 2-1 in 13 innings in epic wild-card game

By JAY COHEN Arenado's sacrifice fly
AP Sports Writer drove in Blackmon.
CHICAGO (AP) — Tony Lester then limited the
Wolters waited and waited damage by striking out
as the NL wild-card game Story and Matt Holliday
went deep into Tuesday with LeMahieu on third.
night. He stretched a cou- That one run looked as if it
ple of times and tried to fig- might hold up as Freeland
ure out when he might get cruised into the seventh.
a chance to play. After Story robbed Daniel
When that opportunity ar- Murphy of a hit with a div-
rived, he was ready. ing grab at shortstop, man-
Wolters hit a tiebreaking ager Bud Black replaced
single with two outs in the Freeland with Adam Otta-
13th inning and the Colo- vino.
rado Rockies outlasted Chicago loaded the bases
the Chicago Cubs 2-1 at with two outs, getting some
Wrigley Field in the longest help when Drew Butera
win-or-go-home postsea- was called for catcher's
son game in major league interference, but Ottavino
history. struck out pinch-hitter Ja-
"Probably the biggest hit son Heyward to end the
I've ever had, that's for inning.
sure," he said. The Cubs got another
The 26-year-old Wolters, chance when Anthony
claimed off waivers from Rizzo singled with two outs
Cleveland in 2016, entered in the eighth, and Maddon
as part of a double switch went for it. He ran for his
in the bottom of the 12th. Colorado Rockies' Tony Wolters hits a one-run single against the Chicago Cubs during the 13th star first base
The reserve catcher came inning of the National League wild-card playoff baseball game Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018, in Chicago. man with the speedy Gore,
up with runners at the cor- Associated Press who promptly swiped sec-
ners and drove in Trevor "You're always wondering, The Cubs made it to the a career playoff high with ond.
Story with a two-strike hit 'How's this going to end?' NLCS in each of the previ- nine strikeouts in his 26th Ottavino had an 0-2 count
back up the middle off los- But our guys fought all night ous three seasons, winning postseason appearance. on Baez when his third
ing pitcher Kyle Hendricks, and to be able to get that the 2016 World Series to But he took a little while to pitch got too much of the
quieting the crowd of last out there was great," break a 108-year drought, settle into the game, and plate. The free-swinging
40,151 on a crisp fall night. Oberg said. but they were plagued by the Rockies took advan- slugger drove it into the
After playing its third big Wolters got his first hit since an inconsistent offense all tage. gap in left-center for a ty-
game over three days in Sept. 10 in his playoff de- season long. Chicago fin- Charlie Blackmon led off ing double , easily scoring
three different cities, Colo- but, and it was just the sec- ished with six hits and left with a five-pitch walk. DJ Gore from second and
rado now heads to Milwau- ond postseason game for 10 runners on base after LeMahieu followed with a sending a charge through
kee to open a best-of-five Oberg. Previously, the lon- managing only three hits in ground-rule double on a the crowd.
Division Series against the gest winner-take-all games Monday's 3-1 home loss to 3-2 pitch — with the ball Hitters had been 0 for 36
NL Central champion Brew- in the postseason were the Brewers in the NL Cen- getting stuck in the famed against Ottavino with an
ers on Thursday. 12-inning affairs in the 2014 tral tiebreaker. ivy in left-center — and 0-2 count this year."q
"We didn't make it easy on AL wild-card round and "We played that game
ourselves, that's for sure," Game 7 of the 1924 World a lot," said manager Joe
Story said, "but we're going Series. Maddon, who matched a MLB gives Russell
to enjoy this one tonight This one lasted 4 hours, 55 postseason record by using
and we're definitely not minutes, and had pretty 23 players. "Believe me, it 40-game ban under
done." much everything, too. Hen- was on my mind for a large domestic violence policy
Scott Oberg, the sixth Colo- dricks was the third starting part of it."
rado pitcher, fanned Kris pitcher used by the Cubs, This time, it was Kyle Free-
Bryant for the final out of after Jon Lester worked land cruising through Mad- CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Cubs infielder Addison
the 12th and then struck six solid innings and Cole don's lineup. Russell has accepted a 40-game suspension for vi-
out the side in the 13th to Hamels was pressed into Starting on three days' olating Major League Baseball's domestic violence
end the longest postsea- action after the teams rest for the first time in the policy. Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the
son game at 104-year-old were tied at 1 through nine. pros, Freeland struck out six ban in a statement Wednesday. MLB had been in-
Wrigley. Terrance Gore Rockies third baseman No- in 6 2/3 scoreless innings. vestigating domestic violence allegations against
tried to sell that he was hit lan Arenado exchanged a The Denver native looked Russell made by his ex-wife, Melisa Reidy. Russell had
by a pitch, but was sent memorable hug with Javier quite comfortable in his denied the accusations, which Reidy detailed in a
back to the plate after a Baez after he tagged the first career playoff appear- blog post in September. Russell's unpaid suspension
replay review confirmed excitable Cubs star in the ance, helping his home- includes the 11 regular-season games he missed af-
the initial call. 11th. town team bounce back ter being placed on administrative leave Sept. 21.
After Albert Almora Jr. Colorado moved on to the from Monday's NL West tie- Russell will be eligible to return on May 3 against St.
struck out swinging for the Division Series for the first breaker loss to the Dodgers Louis, barring any postponements, and he will not
final out, Wolters ran out time since 2009. The Rock- in Los Angeles. appeal the suspension. He will also participate in an
and grabbed Oberg. They ies lost to Arizona in the "Sometimes you just get evaluation and treatment program.
were soon joined by the NL wild-card game a year beat and we got beat to- The Cubs' season ended Tuesday with a 2-1, 13-in-
rest of the excited Rockies ago. night," Lester said. ning defeat to the Colorado Rockies in the NL wild-
in a rollicking purple mob "Such a crazy game," Story Lester helped Chicago card game. Russell was not active for the game.q
near the mound. said. stick around by matching