The Rockies Make The Post-Season For 1st Time Since 2009 (Or The Cardinals Break The Brewers' Hearts)

After leaving Fenway Park aglow in the Boston Red Sox's second consecutive AL East title, we went to Woody's Grill & Tap.

With the Red Sox & Yankees spots in the post-season all that remained to be determined was the second NL Wild Card spot. The Colorado Rockies have held that spot virtually the entire season, but the Milwaukee Brewers have been knocking on the door. The Brewers were playing the St. Louis Cardinals while the Rockies would host the Los Angeles Dodgers in the early evening.

I made a point of checking the Brewers-Cardinals game and saw the Brew Crew had a 6-0 lead in the third inning. It seemed the Rockies would have to win their game against the Dodgers. But after returning home and turning to the game, the Cardinals were in the midst of three run rally in the 8th inning to take a 7-6 lead. The Brewers could not capitalize in the 9th which mean the Colorado Rockies have earned a NL Wild Card spot and their first post-season appearance since 2009.

The Brewers might be baseball's most disappointed fan base. They weren't expected to do much this year, but jumped out to a good start and led the NL Central by 5.5 games at the All-Star Break. But then they faltered and the Chicago Cubs took off. The Brewers would rebound and give the Rockies a run for their money but never could quite catch them. Milwaukee will be a very hungry team in 2018.

As for the present, the Rockies will travel to Phoenix to play their NL West division rival Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Wild Card game on Wednesday night. If the Rockies prevail they will play the Dodgers in the NLDS.

I feel good for Rockies manager Bud Black. He never reached the post-season in his nine years as skipper of the San Diego Padres. Black was supposed to be the manager of the Washington Nationals, but that turned out to be a snafu. But Black has landed in the black in Denver. Having Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, DJ LeMahieu and Carlos Gonzalez in the middle of your order can't hurt either. But they've only got one game to make their point.