Backup catcher Tony Wolters sends Rockies to NLDS with winning hit
A little-known backup catcher turned out to be the hero in Tuesday night’s NL Wild Card Game between the Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies.
Tony Wolters delivered the biggest hit of his career when he drove in Trevor Story with an RBI single to break a 1-1 tie in the top of the 13th inning at Wrigley Field. Wolters had fallen behind 0-2 in the count against Kyle Hendricks but delivered a two-out, two-strike single up the middle to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead.
Tony. Wolters. #WildCard pic.twitter.com/o1eHguo8AP
— MLB (@MLB) October 3, 2018
Scott Oberg closed things out in the bottom half of the inning to send Colorado to the NLDS, where they will take on the Milwaukee Brewers.
“Our team’s been grinding, working our tails off, we did a great job getting this win. I was looking out over, get something and put it in the outfield. Got a changeup, hit it up the middle, felt great. That was a good feeling right there,” Wolters said of his at-bat in a postgame interview with ESPN’s Buster Olney.
“We didn’t give up. We have warriors on this team. We’ve made comeback wins all year. It was something that wasn’t new to us,” Wolters told Olney.
The Rockies used 20 players during the 13-inning contest, while the Cubs used 23.
Aside from Wolters and the brilliant pitching by the Rockies — beginning with starter Kyle Freeland and ending with Oberg — Story deserves recognition for his game. He went 3-for-6 and scored the winning run.
Game 1 of the NLDS between the Rockies and Brewers will be on Thursday.
