In baseball, there are three possible “true outcomes” when a batter comes to the plate – three ways his at-bat might unfold without the fielders coming in to play – a walk, a strikeout or a home run.
Here’s how the Rockies final inning of the season, a seven-run rally to beat the Giants, unfolded according to the three true outcomes.
Strikeouts: One of the real keys to the extended rally was that Colorado, with the exception of Descalso, kept putting the ball in play. Throughout the rally, Colorado put the ball in play on four different occasions with two strikes. Two of those resulted in hits and the last was very nearly when Rafael Ynoa almost beat out an infield hit that was overturned on replay and would have extended the Rockies’ lead even more.
Then, in the bottom of the ninth, closer John Axford found himself in a bit of trouble. Having walked a batter to load the bases with just one out, Axford got a key punchout, striking out Matt Duffy swinging on a hard slider. Buster Posey grounded out to Nolan Arenado to end the threat, the game, and the 2015 Rockies season.
