Helton's long drive to center field on Cole Hamels' first pitch of the second inning caromed off one of them and rolled away from Phillies centerfielder Aaron Rowand, allowing Helton to register just his third triple of the year and score the Rocks' first run of the postseason.
"I mean, speed kills," Matt Holliday explained.
"I put myself in a hole," Helton said. "My legs were jelly the rest of the game after running like that."
But, no, that wasn't one of the things that caught him off guard. The first was the stuff in the air. Like confetti, only smaller.
"It took me like three innings to figure out what it was," Helton said. "I didn't know if they were bugs or what, but it was all the lint from the towels. I thought it was pretty cool."
The Phils gave fans white towels to wave during the game.
Then there was the other thing, the marvelous, totally unexpected thing. When the playoffs finally came, they were a relief. After the Rocks' final stretch of the regular season, when they had to win 14 of 15 just to make the postseason, the playoffs actually represented less pressure.
"I don't know, I felt totally different," Helton said. "I felt relaxed and confident. I mean, the last two weeks, we lose the game, the season's over. Today it wasn't like that."
Difficult as it was, the Rocks' final surge was the best possible preparation for the postseason. They may be the first team in history to reach the playoffs for the first time in 12 years and find them relaxing.
"We've been playing games where if you lose, you're pretty much done," Tulowitzki said. "If we were to drop a game today, we still come back tomorrow and play, and we know that. But by no means do we want to lose."
Tulo represents the other end of baseball's risk/reward spectrum, reaching the playoffs in his first major-league season. He appreciates the contrast.
