Seth Smith: the human lucky charm

Rockies began 21-1 run Sept. 16, day he arrived

Gerry Fraley, Special To The Rocky

Published October 16, 2007 at midnight

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More Rocktober 2007: Colorado Rockies Playoff Run

Late innings are not always the most important innings. Rockies manager Clint Hurdle went for it in the fourth inning Monday night and hit the jackpot.

With the Rockies down 1-0, Hurdle removed starting pitcher Franklin Morales for a pinch hitter. Seth Smith, the human good-luck charm, responded with a two-run opposite-field double that keyed a six-run inning that led to a 6-4 victory over Arizona at Coors Field and a sweep of the National League Championship Series.

This marked the second time in the postseason that Hurdle pulled Morales in the fourth inning of a one-run game. In the second game of the Division Series sweep of Philadelphia, Smith reached on a two-out infield single ahead of Kazuo Matsui's winning grand slam.

Smith has led a charmed existence with the Rockies. He spent much of the season at Triple-A Colorado Springs, joining the major league club on Sept. 16. The Rockies started their 21-1 run the same day.

The bullpen influenced Hurdle's decision. With a bounty of effective relievers at the ready, he can pull the starter early without concern of exposing the underbelly of the bullpen.

There is no underbelly in this bullpen, which has a 1.61 ERA for 28 innings in the postseason. The first two pitchers out of the bullpen were former closers Matt Herges and LaTroy Hawkins. They combined for three scoreless innings.

Hurdle showed vision in the inning. He had Herges prepare as soon as Arizona starter Micah Owings began experiencing control problems. Hurdle was going to use a pinch hitter rather than let the moment pass.

Owings issued consecutive one-out walks to Brad Hawpe and Troy Tulowitzki on 12 pitches. With two outs, Owings had a 0-2 count advantage on Smith but could not put him away.

After wasting a slider, Owings tried to jam Smith with an 88 mph fastball. Smith fought off the up-and-in pitch, flaring it down the left-field line.

"That's the way the game goes some times," Arizona catcher Chris Snyder said. "Micah made a good pitch, but (Smith) got just enough and hit it in the right spot. There's nothing you can do about it."

Smith is the quintessential 25th man on a 25-man roster.

He made the Division Series roster only because of center fielder Willy Taveras' lingering thigh injury. With the bullpen pitching well, Hurdle decided to drop left-hander Mark Redman to keep Smith on the roster for this series. The Rockies believed Smith could do more than an extra pitcher could to help win a game.

Smith won over Hurdle by going 5-for-7 as a pinch hitter after being promoted. That included a triple in the play-in win against San Diego. Good things keep happening to the Rockies with Seth Smith around.

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