The 2007 National League Wild Card tie-breaker game was a one-game extension to

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

's (MLB) 2007 regular season, played between the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

and

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

's (NL) West Division to determine the

NL wild card The wild card was established for Major League Baseball's playoffs in with the intention of helping the best teams that did not win their division to still have a chance to win the World Series. The restructuring of both the American League an ...

. It was played at

Coors Field Coors Field is a baseball stadium in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Opened in 1995, the park is located in Denver's Lower Downtown neighborhood, two blocks from Union Station. The ...

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, on October 1, 2007. The Rockies won the game 9–8 in thirteen innings on a controversial play at home plate. The game was necessary after both teams finished the season with identical win–loss records of 89–73. The Rockies won a coin flip late in the season, which awarded them home field for the game. Upon winning, the Rockies advanced to the NL Division Series where they swept the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. After advancing, they swept the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

in the NL Championship Series, winning their first pennant in franchise history. However, the Rockies were, in turn, swept in the

2007 World Series The 2007 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2007 season. The 103rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Colorado Rockies and the American L ...

by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, ending their season. In

baseball statistics Baseball statistics play an important role in evaluating the progress of a player or team. Since the flow of a baseball game has natural breaks to it, and normally players act individually rather than performing in clusters, the sport lends itsel ...

the tie-breaker counted as the 163rd regular season game for both teams, with all events in the game added to regular season statistics.

Background

The 2007 season saw heavy competition between the Padres and the

for the

National League West The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a re ...

divisional title. The Padres spent 52 days with at least a share of the lead, while the Diamondbacks spent 89 total days atop the division and ultimately won by a game with a record of 90–72. The Rockies spent just three days, last on April 6, with a lead in the division. Notably the Diamondbacks scored 20 fewer runs than their pitchers allowed, one of just five teams in MLB history to make the playoffs despite being outscored during the season. In addition to the divisional race, the competition over the wild card continued to the last day of the season. Six teams in the 2007 National League finished within five games of one another: the aforementioned Diamondbacks, Padres, and Rockies along with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

, and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

. The Diamondbacks, Phillies, and Cubs won the West,

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

, and

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

divisions respectively. Meanwhile, the 2007 Mets underwent what was described in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as "one of the biggest collapses in baseball history", becoming the first team with a seven-game divisional lead with only 17 games remaining to finish outside of first place, losing the East division to the Phillies on the final day of the season. Also, at 88–74, the Mets finished a single game behind the Rockies and Padres' 89–73 record in the wild-card race. Had the Mets defeated the Marlins in their final game of the regular season and no other results changing, there would have been a tiebreaker between the Mets and Phillies for the NL East, and the loser taking part in a three-way tiebreaker for the NL Wild Card with the Padres and Rockies respectively. While the Padres had been a consistent presence amongst the league's top teams during the 2007 season, the Rockies finished the first half with a .500 record of 44–44. They propelled themselves into the wild-card race, however, by going 46–29 in the second half of the season including a Rockies' season-best 11-game winning streak from September 16 through September 27 and ultimately tied the Padres regular season record. With the Rockies and Padres holding the best non-division winning records in the league a tie-breaker was necessary to determine the wild-card winner. A coin flip conducted earlier that September set the Rockies' home park of

as the location for the game.

Game summary

The

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

matchup saw eventual

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Ha ...

and

Major League Baseball Triple Crown In baseball, a player earns a Triple Crown when he leads a league in three specific statistical categories in the same season. The term "Triple Crown" generally refers to the batting achievement of leading a league in batting average, home runs, ...

winner

Jake Peavy Jacob Edward Peavy (born May 31, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, and San Francisco Giants. He batted and threw r ...

against the Rockies

Josh Fogg Joshua Smith Fogg (born December 13, 1976) is an American retired Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for several teams between 2001 and 2009. Fogg played college baseball for the University of Florida and was drafted by the Chicago Whi ...

, who teammate

Matt Holliday Matthew Thomas Holliday (born January 15, 1980) is an American professional baseball coach and former left fielder who is the bench coach for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB from 2004 to 2018 for t ...

nicknamed "Dragon Slayer" for his strong performances against ace starters throughout the season. The Rockies opened the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

Kaz Matsui is a Japanese retired professional baseball player who played as a shortstop and is the current manager of the Saitama Seibu Lions. He is a switch-hitter. Matsui signed with the New York Mets on December 17, 2003, becoming the first Japanese ...

, followed by a

Troy Tulowitzki Troy Trevor Tulowitzki (born October 10, 1984), nicknamed "Tulo", is an American retired professional baseball shortstop, who played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Colorado Rockies. He also played for the Toronto B ...

single and a

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

to Matt Holliday to load the bases. Matsui scored on a

sacrifice fly In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...

by Todd Helton and

Garrett Atkins Garrett Bernard Atkins (born December 12, 1979) is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman. Between 2003 and 2010, he played for the Colorado Rockies and Baltimore Orioles. Amateur career High school career Atkins attended Univer ...

made the game 2–0 with a single which scored Tulowitzki. Yorvit Torrealba later added to that lead, leading off the bottom of the second inning with a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

. The Padres took the lead in the top of the third, however, loading the bases via singles from Peavy and Scott Hairston and a walk to Brian Giles.

Adrián González Adrián González Savín (born May 8, 1982), also known by his nicknames "A-Gon" and "Titán", is a Mexican-American former professional baseball first baseman He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, ...

then hit a grand slam, making the score 4–3. This was González' first career grand slam. Khalil Greene then singled, advanced to third base on a double by Josh Bard, and scored on a ground out by Brady Clark. Helton homered in the bottom of the inning to close the gap to 5–4 in favor of San Diego. The score remained the same through the fourth inning. Fogg was relieved by

Taylor Buchholz Taylor Buchholz (born October 13, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Biography Buchholz stands 6 feet 4 inches tall, and weighs 220 lbs. He bats and throws right-handed. He grew up and lives in Springfield, P ...

in the top of the fifth and, following a double by Tulowitzki, Peavy allowed the game-tying run to score on a Holliday single.

Seth Smith Garry Seth Smith (born September 30, 1982) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles. He ...

pinch hitting In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, America ...

for the pitcher in the bottom of the sixth, hit a

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Matsui to give the Rockies a 6–5 lead. The Rockies'

appeared to homer in the bottom of the seventh, extending the Rockies lead, but umpires ruled that the ball hit padding on the outfield wall, which was still in play, and awarded Atkins a double. Jamey Carroll pinch ran for Atkins, but no runs scored in the inning. The Rockies brought in closer

Brian Fuentes Brian Christopher Fuentes (; born August 9, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Minnesota Twins, Oakland ...

in the top of the eighth, but the Padres re-tied the game when

Geoff Blum Geoffrey Edward Blum (born April 26, 1973) is an American former professional baseball infielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Montreal Expos, Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox and Arizona Dia ...

singled to lead off the inning, advanced to second base on a

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third str ...

, and scored on a double by Brian Giles. This was Fuentes' seventh

blown save In baseball, a save (abbreviated SV or S) is credited to a pitcher who finishes a game for the winning team under certain prescribed circumstances. Most commonly a pitcher earns a save by entering in the ninth inning of a game in which his team ...

of the season. The game remained tied until the top of the 13th inning when Giles singled off of Jorge Julio and scored on a home run by Scott Hairston.

Ramón Ortiz Ramón Diógenes Ortiz (born May 23, 1973) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Anaheim Angels, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals, Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, Los Angele ...

relieved Julio and no further runs scored in the inning, but the Padres entered the bottom of the 13th with an 8–6 lead. The Padres brought in

Trevor Hoffman Trevor William Hoffman (born October 13, 1967) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher who played 18 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1993 to 2010. A long-time closer, he pitched for the Florida Marlins, San Diego ...

to secure the game and a wild-card victory. However, Hoffman blew the save, allowing doubles to Matsui and Tulowitzki and a triple to Holliday which tied the game 8–8. Hoffman then

intentionally walked In baseball, an intentional base on balls, usually referred to as an intentional walk and denoted in baseball scorekeeping by ''IBB'', is a walk issued to a batter by a pitcher with the intent of removing the batter's opportunity to swing at the ...

Todd Helton leaving baserunners at first and third base. Carroll then hit a line drive to right fielder Brian Giles. Holliday tagged up at third and slid headfirst on a close play at home plate. Home plate

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per' ...

Tim McClelland Timothy Reid McClelland (born December 12, 1951) is an American former umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1983 to 1999 and throughout both leagues from 2000 until his retirement prior to the 2015 season. He c ...

ruled Holliday safe on the sacrifice fly, and the Rockies won the game 9–8.

Controversy

During the final play Padres catcher Michael Barrett attempted to block home plate from Holliday's slide while receiving the ball on a throw from Brian Giles. Holliday arrived at the plate before the ball did and the ball bounced away from Barrett. Some controversy arose after the game as to whether Holliday had actually touched

home plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

or if Barrett had successfully blocked him. Several sportswriters, such as

Jeff Passan Jeffrey Scott Passan (born September 21, 1980) is an American baseball columnist with ESPN and author of ''New York Times'' Best Seller ''The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports''. He is also co-author ...

Yahoo! Sports Yahoo! Sports is a sports news website launched by Yahoo! on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from STATS, Inc. It employs numerous writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American major sport. B ...

and Mark Kiszla of ''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

'', said outright that Holliday never touched the plate. Kiszla referred to the moment humorously, saying "When folks retell this story 100 years from now, he still will not have touched home plate." Padres

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

Bud Black Harry Ralston "Bud" Black (born June 30, 1957) is an American professional baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Colorado Rockies. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher from 1981 through 1995, most notably ...

and first base umpire Ed Montague both agreed with McClelland's safe call. Barrett said he was unsure but "never, ever second-guessed Tim McClelland at home plate." While the throw got away from Barrett, he quickly retrieved the ball and went to tag Holliday, but stopped short after McClelland ruled Holliday safe and the game over. Holliday said after re-watching the play, he felt a review of the replay would have been inconclusive.

Aftermath

Colorado's win clinched the team's second post-season berth in franchise history, and the first for their first baseman Todd Helton. The Rockies swept the Phillies in the 2007 National League Division Series and the Diamondbacks in the

2007 National League Championship Series The 2007 National League Championship Series (NLCS), the final round of the 2007 National League playoffs, began on October 11 and ended on October 15. It was a best-of-seven series, with the West Division champion Arizona Diamondbacks facing th ...

(NLCS) to win the franchise's first National League pennant. This streak, in combination with the Rockies performance at the end of the season, meant the Rockies had won 21 of their last 22 games. The last National League team to win 20 of 21 games at any point in the season were the 1936 New York Giants. The Rockies also opened the playoffs with seven straight wins, the 1976 Cincinnati Reds were the only other team in major league history to do so. The Rockies moved on to the

with their NLCS win, where they were swept by the

. The game counted as a regular season game in

. If Matt Holliday had gone 0 for 5 in the game he would have lost the

batting title In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league win ...

Chipper Jones Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones Jr. (born April 24, 1972) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves from 1993 to 2012. The Braves chose Jones with the List of first ov ...

. However, Holliday went 2 for 6 and won the title with a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .340. Also, Holliday's triple and

run batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBI) in the 13th gave him 137 RBI in total, winning the RBI crown over

Ryan Howard Ryan James Howard (born November 19, 1979), nicknamed "the Big Piece", is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Howard spent his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, from to . He is ...

by 1. Holliday's teammate Tulowitzki believed Holliday was the league's most valuable player, but he ultimately finished a close second to the Phillies'

Jimmy Rollins James Calvin Rollins (born November 27, 1978), nicknamed "J-Roll", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (–), Los Angeles Dodgers (), and Chicago White S ...

in the Most Valuable Player Award voting. Also, Padres' starter Jake Peavy increased his

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

(ERA) from 2.36 to 2.54 in the game and added six

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is den ...

s to his season total. Peavy ultimately won the National League wins,

, and ERA titles. These titles combined to give Peavy a pitching Triple Crown and he went on to win the

unanimously. Finally, despite an

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

in the game, the Rockies set the single-season major league record for team

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, di ...

(.9893), breaking the 2006 Boston Red Sox mark of .9891. Conversely, while the Rockies enjoyed a run to the World Series, and have qualified for the postseason three subsequent times since this game (

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

), the Padres would not make the playoffs until 2020, thirteen years later.

References

;General * ;Specific {{Navboxes, list1= {{Colorado Rockies {{San Diego Padres {{2007 MLB season by team {{Major League Baseball on TBS {{Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio {{MLBtiebreaker National League wild-card tie-breaker game Colorado Rockies postseason San Diego Padres postseason Major League Baseball tie-breaker games National League wild-card tie-breaker game 2000s in Denver Sports competitions in Denver National League wild-card tie-breaker game