Matt in a great multi exposure photo by Dustin Bradford. Last week Garden City's Matt Daley got his first major league victory but in the process had to deal with the highs and lows of being a major league relief pitcher before notching it. He was called on to enter the game in the eight inning of a tie game with the bases loaded and the Reds cleanup hitter up. A daunting task but having seen Matt once before in Asheville, NC come in with the bases loaded and getting out of it unscathed, I was feeling just as confident as the more than 23,000 fans at Coors Field appeared to be feeling as they gave Daley a very warm welcome as he took the ball from manager Jim Tracey. The Rockies faithful were rewarded with a strikeout of clean up hitter Brandon Phillips, as it not only kept the game tied but also kept their hopes up for a fifth straight victory. Daley said, 'after that inning, I was like, hey this is going to be my first win. I honestly thought that.'

But with the Rockies failing to put up a run in the bottom of the inning, and with closer Huston Street still unavailable, Matt came back out for the top of the ninth inning of the tie game. With all righties due up for the Reds the fans were pumped because Daley has been exceptional against right handed hitters all year - holding them to a .191 batting average. He was 1-1 on veteran slugger Scot Rolen to lead off the inning when Rolen took him deep and put the Reds on top by a run. For Matt, it was only the fourth home run he's allowed this year in 46 appearances. But after the disappointing leadoff homer, Daley came back strong - fanning the next two batters and finishing the inning with a slow roller to third. So with a pitching line of 1 run, 1 hit and 3 strikeouts Matt sat in the dugout hoping the Rockies could mount one of their now patented ninth inning rallies. And sure enough Colorado came out and loaded the bases on a hit and a couple of walks. Then with two outs Seth Smith hit a seeing eye grounder through the middle that plated the tying and winning runs - and set off another Rockies late inning celebration. And it gave Matt his first major league victory!

Matt checks the runner at first. After the game, manager Jim Tracy talked glowingly of the job Daley did in relief. Saying, 'that strikeout to end the eight with the bases loaded was huge. And that homer to Rolen - a pretty good hitter, was only two inches from being a pop-up. I can't say enough about the role Daley has played for us.'

Daley fires another strike. Earlier in the day I had lunch with Matt and his girl friend Claire (sorry ladies), and we talked about his terrific season. The icing on the cake for Matt is the fact that in his first big league season, he has a chance to compete in a playoff race, raising the level of intensity even higher. We also talked about when Matt was going to get that elusive first win under his belt. As he said, wins aren't really a statistic that relief pitchers look for - but getting one would be nice. In two of his last four outings the Rockies came back to tie the game with Matt as the pitcher of record and they ultimately won for the next reliever. Well, when the game against the Reds ended Matt was all smiles as he helped lead the charge to jump on Seth Smith after the game winning single along with the rest of the Rockies roster. He then leaned over to me in the photo pit, and with a huge grin said, 'hey Ed, not exactly the way we talked about it but it'll work.' And as he was quoted in the Denver Post - 'it goes from elation to one of the worst feelings in the world - to pure elation again' - as he clung to the game ball.

So with 18 games left in his first big league season, Matt has become a critical component of the Rockies bullpen, a strength of the team. And as of this writing, the Rox hold a 3.5 game lead in the wild card race and are only four games behind the division leading Dodgers. Oh, and they officially eliminated the Mets from playoff contention last weekend. Let's Go Rockies!

-Ed Rotondo