Helton cashes in after a long playoff wait

For years, they have been saying that good things happen to those who wait.

For years, Colorado's Todd Helton has been waiting to get into the playoffs.

Yesterday, he made the wait seem worthwhile.

Helton, 34, ripped a triple in the first playoff at-bat of his 11-year career, triggering a three-run second inning that propelled the sizzling Rockies to a 4-2 win over the Phillies in the opening game of the National League division series.

"I felt much more comfortable today than I have in the last two weeks," Helton said.

The last two weeks have been a grind for the Rockies, who had little margin for error while snaring the wild-card spot. They won 14 of their last 15 regular-season games, including a pressure-packed 13-inning playoff victory over San Diego.

"It's been a crazy two weeks, kind of a blur," said Helton, who hit .320 this year and has an off-the-charts .332 career average. "But all in all, this is as good as it gets."

After that tense regular-season finish, the Rockies were at ease yesterday. Helton's triple, off the bottom of the wall near the 409-foot sign, relaxed them even more.

"That got us going. It was a huge hit for us," winning pitcher Jeff Francis said. "But he's been doing it all year - been doing it his whole career, really."

"He's a great player," leftfielder Matt Holliday said, "and he rose to the occasion the whole month of September."

So did Holliday, whose eighth-inning home run off Tom Gordon made it 4-2 and gave the Rockies' bullpen some wiggle room.

Helton batted .390 with four homers and 20 RBIs in September. Holliday had nine homers in his last 20 regular-season games, and he finished as the league leader in hitting (.340) and RBIs (137). He became just the third player to lead either league in both categories since 1967.

The voting already has been done, and it is generally assumed that Holliday and Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins will be in a tight race for the NL MVP award.

Yesterday's game will not affect the MVP outcome. But did Holliday get extra satisfaction in upstaging Rollins, who was 0 for 3?

"Not at all," said Holliday, who has five homers and nine RBIs in five games at Citizens Bank Park this season. "I take satisfaction in helping the team win games."

"We want to win tomorrow and go home to our crowd," Helton said.

Before yesterday, Helton had the third-most games (1,578) of any active player without a postseason appearance, trailing only Arizona's Jeff Cirillo (1,617), whose team is also in the playoffs, and the Mets' Damion Easley (1,593).

"It's always tough when you're watching at home and you want to be somewhere but there's nothing you can really do about it," Helton said. "But we're here now and that's all in the past. I'm just concerned about the here and the now."

And demonstrating that good things do happen to those who wait.