Rapid City Journal from Rapid City, South Dakota • C4

C4 Wednesday, OctOber 4, 2017 Rapid City JouRnal 00 1 SPORTS ASSOCIATED PRESS The Diamondbacks and Rockies share a spring training facility and played each other 19 times this season. They know each other very well. Now comes game No. 20 on Wednesday night, the biggest one of them all, an NL wild-card matchup with Zack Greinke facing young Jon Gray. no secrets Rock- ies manager Bud Black said.

know what they like to do. They know our players. They know our tendencies, they know our tendencies, they know our tendencies. And we know a matchup of under-the-ra- dar franchises in the NL West that had turnaround seasons under first-year managers. The Rockies are in the playoffs for the first time since 2009.

The Diamondbacks been here since 2011. The game is sold out at Chase Field. couple of guys were wonder- ing why the fans here early in the season and when were they going to start showing Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said Tues- day. I told them you keep playing the same type of baseball, going to come out and sup- port us. we want to earn that.

We know that out there, and I wait to what tomorrow brings as far as the crowd, the noise and the Here are some things to consider when the Rockies meet the Dia- mondbacks: WILD ATMOSPHERE: Diamond- backs slugger J.D. Martinez relishes the idea of playing in the energized atmosphere of the winner-take-all contest, but said the players get too caught up in the scene. going to be awesome, going to be he said. at the same time you have to control it. I think going to be the hardest thing for everyone, both sides.

just being able to con- trol that environment and being able to control your adrenaline, your emotions and your feelings, because all that going to be on a ARM: Greinke (17-7, 3.20 ERA) will be making his 10th career playoff start. His postseason record is 3-3 with a 3.55 ERA. He is 2-1 in five starts against Colorado with a 3.41 ERA in 34 1-3 innings. The Diamondbacks signed Gre- inke to a six-year, $206.5 million contract before the start of last season. This is just the situation where they expect him to earn some of that money.

feel good going into he said. feel pretty prepared. All my pitches feel good, so be doing as good as I can do. see how it is, but it will be as good as I can YOUNG ROCKY: The Rockies counter with the 25-year-old Gray (10-4, 3.67), who said very to go against Greinke. obviously got a great track Gray said.

been a really good pitcher for years. very exciting for me. a guy I used to watch on TV so very, very Gray is 2-1 with a 3.50 ERA in three starts against the Diamond- backs. He allow more than three runs in any of the starts. MARTINEZ SIZZLING, GOLD- SCHMIDT SLUMPING: Dealing with Martinez could be quite a chore.

Acquired from Detroit before the trade deadline, Martinez has hit .302 with 29 home runs and 65 RBIs in 62 games with Arizona. In September, he hit .404 with 16 home runs and 36 RBIs in 24 games. But Paul Goldschmidt comes in with just the opposite performance down the stretch. The peren- nial All-Star and MVP candidate had a miserable September at the plate and enters the postseason in a 0-for-17 slump. not about he said.

just trying to win. So go out there and do my best. But not about me at all. go- ing to struggle throughout times of the year. I play well the last week or so, but why a team POWER SURGE: The Rockies bring a powerhouse lineup featuring NL batting champion Charlie Black- mon (.331, 37 home runs, 104 RBIs), Nolan Arenado (.309, 37 homers, 130 RBIs) and Carlos Gonzalez, whose bat came alive late in the season after an uncharacteristically tough year at the plate.

But the entire one-through- eight in the batting order are dan- gerous. Blackmon had just eight hits in 44 at-bats at Chase Field, but he loves hitting there. thing I like about it the best is it has a really nice eye. very big, bigger than most he said. makes for seeing the ball well.

It also carries pretty good. The gaps are big. The infield can be The teams split 10 games at Chase Field. Containing the power of both squads is crucial to the out- come of their 11th matchup there. always Black said, one swing and especially one swing with a couple of guys on can really change the Familiar foes Diamondbacks, Rockies vie in NL wild card ASSOCIATED PRESS colorado rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray throws during a practice for the national League wild-card playoff baseball game, tuesday in Phoenix.

the rockies face the arizona diamondbacks on Wednesday. ASSOCIATED PRESS new york aaron Judge slides past Minnesota twins third baseman eduardo escobar on a single by Gary sanchez during the seventh inning of the american League wild-card game tuesday in new york. Green gave up Jorge single and a pair of walks in the third. Robertson came in with the bases loaded and RBI grounder, then struck out Castro. Robertson tired in the sixth but earned the win, leaving after 52 pitches and 3 innings both career highs.

Kahnle relieved with a runner on and retired Joe Mauer on a flyout to the warning track. After Kahnle threw 2 innings, Chap- man struck out three around a hit the ninth. A pitcher named Santana Jo- han Santana beat the Yankees for the last postseason win in 2004. But Ervin Santana con- tributed to a first inning that lasted 45 minutes and three innings that took 1:43, and his career postsea- son ERA climbed to 6.57. Gardner walked leading off, Judge poked a bloop single to cen- ter and Gregorius lined a fastball over the right-field scoreboard.

Brushed off the plate by a 2-2 pitch in the second, Gardner sent next offering into the second deck in right for a 4-3 lead. Green struck the side in the second, but left in the third af- ter a leadoff single and two walks loaded the bases. Buxton hit into a run-scoring forceout before Rob- ertson struck out Castro, and the Yankees went ahead for good in the bottom half when Gary San- chez doubled off Berrios leading off and scored on Greg two- out single. National Anthem After a moment of silence for victims of the Las Vegas shoot- ing, Broadway star Aaron Tveit asked fans to join him in singing Star-Spangled Players on both teams remained at attention on the field until the color guard reached the foul line. Yankees pitcher Chasen Shreve, a Las Vegas native, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Way back when When the Yankees last won a postseason game, Judge was at Fresno State. Bird had just fin- ished a season with the Class A Staten Island Yankees, Sanchez with the Class A Tampa Yankees and Severino with the Dominican Summer League Yankees. Missed Zack Granite replaced Buxton in the fourth, two innings after the center fielder crashed into the wall robbing Todd Frazier of an extra-base hit. room Twins 3B-DH Miguel Sano was ruled out after practice Monday. he tried to take his swings, it was just too pro- hibitive as far as not being able to use his front leg as a bracing manager Paul Molitor said.

was emotional for him be- cause I know he wants to Up next RHP Masahiro Tanana (13-12) is likely to start Thursday for the Yankees against the Indians and Trevor Bauer (17-9). Yankees From C1 GET THIS DEAL ONLINE Want to get more deals like this? Register online at: rapidcityjournal.com/todaysdeal must register online to purchase deal Packet must be picked up before Friday, Oct. 20th at Rapid City Journal Office, 507 Main Street, Rapid City Mon-Fri 8:00 am 5:00 pm Concert Date: Friday, October 20th nly $70! 2 Tickets to BB Blues Band and 1 Night Stay at the Silverado Franklin.