pitchers. Yet Hendricks season was at least partially the result of some extraordinary circumstan

DENVER -- Dexter Fowlers clutch hit in extra innings ensured that Carlos Gonzalezs all-around performance didnt go to waste. Fowlers single with two outs in the 10th inning scored DJ LeMahieu from third base and the Colorado Rockies rallied for an 8-7 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday. Fowler finished with four hits and Troy Tulowitzki had two, including his 16th home run. Rockies starter Juan Nicasio retired his first 16 batters. "Its as good as Ive seen Juan this year," manager Walt Weiss said. Fowler got mobbed by teammates after his hit, but it was Gonzalez who did the dirty work to get the Rockies to the 10th inning. The left fielder made two big catches near the wall and came through with a two-strike, two-out double in the ninth to tie the score. It was his only hit of the day but it helped the Rockies gain a split of the four-game series. "I was battling the whole game offensively," Gonzalez said. "When youre having a tough game offensively you have to go out there and keep the game close and help the pitchers as much as you can." Nick Hundley, Cameron Maybin and Mark Kotsay homered for the Padres, who missed an opportunity to take three of four in the series after blowing a three-run lead in the ninth. Three of the games were won in the winning teams last at-bat. Sunday, it was Colorados turn. Rex Brothers (2-0) pitched the 10th for the victory. Tyson Ross (0-3) walked Todd Helton to lead off the 10th. Jonathan Herrera singled with one out and LeMahieu, pinch-running for Helton, moved to third on Tyler Colvins groundout. Fowler then singled up the middle off Joe Thatcher, who came on to face Colvin, to give the Rockies their sixth walk-off win this season and second of the series. "I was just trying to make a pitch, keep it down," Thatcher said. "He got a better piece of it than I would have liked for him to." Fowler got the game-winning hit after the Rockies rallied against closer Luke Gregerson in the ninth. Colvins RBI single made it 7-5 and Gonzalez tied it with a two-run double down the right-field line on Gregersons third straight slider. "He threw me another one on the outside corner, I tried to stay patient and let it get deep," Gonzalez said. "It was the perfect pitch to hit to right field." Ross came on and retired Nolan Arenado to send the game into extra innings. Gonzalezs game-tying double nearly overshadowed his defence. The Gold Glove outfielder made two fine catches, one in the fifth on Kyle Banks drive to the top of the wall to temporarily preserve the perfect game and another in the sixth to end a rally and save two runs. "Hes a phenomenal athlete," Weiss said. "A huge double to tie the game up. Big-time performance by CarGo." It was also a big-time performance early by Nicasio, who was untouchable through the first five innings. He struck out seven and had only one three-ball count, to Will Venable in the second inning. Maybin grounded out to start the sixth before the Padres broke through. Hundley hit a 2-2 slider into the left-field bleachers to end the drama, and the 33,668 fans at Coors Field gave Nicasio an ovation as Hundley circled the bases. "I hung a slider," Nicasio said. "I didnt think about the no-hitter, only that I missed the pitch. If I put my slider in the dirt maybe he strikes out." With the perfect game gone, Nicasio appeared to lose his rhythm. The next three batters singled to make it 4-2 before Gonzalez made a running catch of Venables liner to end the inning. Edgmer Escalona came on in the seventh and allowed a solo home run to Maybin and a two-run, pinch-hit homer to Kotsay that gave the Padres a 5-4 lead. They were the first homers of the year for both players. "Playing here the games never over," said Padres second baseman Jedd Gyorko, who left in the 10th with a right groin strain. "Their guy has a no-hitter through five and by the seventh inning we have the lead." The Padres scored two more off reliever Matt Belisle in the eighth to make it 7-4. San Diego starter Clayton Richard had a rough start to his day even before he took the mound. A few hours before the game, Richard, Hundley and pitching coach Darren Balsley had a closed-door meeting in the clubhouse managers office to go over the game plan for the afternoon. When they were done, the door was jammed and couldnt be opened. After clubhouse personnel tried unsuccessfully to unlock the door with several sets of keys, Richard, Hundley and Balsley removed the pins from the hinges and the door was pushed open from the outside. Things didnt get much better for Richard when he took the mound. He gave up a two-run homer to Tulowitzki in the first inning and two more runs in the third on a groundout by Gonzalez and a triple by Arenado to make it 4-0. Richard settled down after that, retiring 10 of the last 12 batters he faced. He allowed four runs on eight hits, struck out three and walked one in six innings. "I thought I threw well for the most part," he said. "A bad pitch to Tulo that came over the plate, but really other than that it was just baseball." NOTES: Escalona left the game with right triceps soreness. He is scheduled to have an MRI on Monday and the Rockies said the results will be known Tuesday. ... San Diego SS Everth Cabrera extended his hitting streak to a career-high 10 games. ... Rockies OF Michael Cuddyer was out of the lineup for the third straight game with a strained rib cage muscle. Weiss said Cuddyer has improved since getting injured in the 12th inning Thursday and with a day off Monday thinks there is a chance the veteran will play the opener against Washington on Tuesday. ... San Diego closer Huston Street (left calf strain) will pitch a simulated game Monday. He is eligible to come off the 15-day DL on Friday. ... Padres RHP Jason Marquis (7-2) will pitch Mondays opener of a three-game series against Atlanta. Air Max 270 Cheap Online . -- Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis was charged Thursday with driving while intoxicated, a day after he was suspended for an NFL substance-abuse policy violation. Cheap Air Max 270 Free Shipping . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. http://www.discountairmax270.com/ .Y. - General manager Billy King says the Brooklyn Nets are looking to add a big man and confirmed the team worked out centre Jason Collins, who would become the first openly gay active NBA player if signed. Wholesale Air Max 270 .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. Cheap Air Max 270 Wholesale . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. Out of everyone who threw enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, no one finished with a lower average than Kyle Hendricks. And, heck, he led MLB by 31 points, which is the same as the difference between Chris Sale and Jerad Eickhoff. Hendricks might get rewarded with the National League Cy Young, but even if he doesnt, he has proven himself, a feather in the cap for everyone who has ever said its better to be a pitcher than a thrower. If you go back to the Chicago Cubs getting Hendricks from the Texas Rangers in a trade for Ryan Dempster all the way back in 2012, it wasnt just one lopsided trade that helped the Cubs to build a championship rotation.However, Hendricks 2.13 ERA is worthy of closer examination. Whenever you see any extreme data point, you should ask yourself, how likely is this to repeat? Theres no question that Hendricks has become a quality starter. Theres no question hes one of the most valuable Cubs, and indeed, one of the more valuable starting pitchers. Yet Hendricks season was at least partially the result of some extraordinary circumstances. In part, it was about Hendricks. In part, it was about everyone else around him. But its almosst impossible to imagine the same season happening again.ddddddddddddTo start with some little stuff: Hendricks isnt a contact pitcher, but hes also not a high-strikeout guy. He struck out batters at a rate a couple points higher than average. He also walked batters at a rate a couple points lower than average. Put the rates together and you get K-BB percentage (or K-BB%). Hendricks finished last year at 17 percent, while the average was 13 percent. That makes Hendricks compare well to frequent comp Greg Maddux, but when Maddux ran a K-BB% of 15 percent between 1992-2001, the average was 7 percent. Baseball has changed -- strikeouts are everywhere. Hendricks has a long, long way to go if he wants to be a real Maddux 2.0.Hendricks is good in part because he does get his strikeouts. Hes boosted, as well, by the fact that he limits his free passes. But just in terms of K-BB percentage, Hendricks was the same as Julio Teheran and John Lackey. Hendricks thrived because of his timing, and because so many batted balls were turned into outs. ' ' '