When hits like that are falling -- and hits like Ryan Spilborghs' quickly dying infield roller that started off the 11th -- you can tell the Rocks are simply living right.

• Arizona closer Jose Valverde -- he's known as Big Papa in these parts -- threw 42 pitches over 1 2/3 innings, giving up Spilborghs' hit and the three walks that sealed his team's fate. Valverde hadn't thrown more than 32 pitches in any of his 65 outings this season. In fact, he hadn't thrown that many pitches since Aug. 17, 2006 -- against the Rockies.

"You got to at least go with your best until they get a run," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said, in defense of leaving Valverde in the game.

But you'd have to say, after blowing his first save since Aug. 31, that Big Papa was pooped.

• It's not as if Colorado's closer was lights-out on this night, either. Corpas blew a save by giving up a run in the bottom of the ninth. He hit Chris Young with a pitch, gave up a single to Stephen Drew that sent Young to third and allowed a run-scoring groundout to Eric Byrnes.

• Arizona baseball fans are getting a reputation -- and it's not a good one -- after the first two games of this series. In Game 1 on Thursday, some of the less-enlightened bleacher types pelted the field with plastic bottles when outfielder Justin Upton was called for interfering with Colorado second baseman Kaz Matsui on a hard slide in the seventh, resulting in a rally-killing double play. The bottle-throwing hissy fit resulted in a short delay and made the home fans look a little clueless.

On Friday night, they were at it again, booing umpire Tom Hallion for a controversial call at second base in the third inning. Arizona's Young bolted for second on a steal attempt, but the Rockies sniffed it out and called a pitchout. The throw from catcher Torrealba was high, though, and Young beat the throw to the bag. Problem was, Young may have never touched the bag. His hand ran into Tulowitzki's ankle, and the shortstop brought down the tag and got the call.

Melvin came out to argue, and the boos rolled on for the rest of the inning despite the fact that the call, like Thursday night's against Upton, probably was correct.

• Switch-hitting Tony Clark earned a start Friday and made manager Melvin look like a genius. The veteran first baseman doubled deep to center his first time up, off Taveras' glove, grounded a 3-2 pitch through the right side of the infield for a single in the fourth and took an intentional walk -- he had only three of them all season -- in the fifth.

Starting Clark was a great call by Melvin -- and a gutsy one, too. Clark hadn't had a hit in four previous at-bats against Jimenez, striking out three times. "Sometimes, with Tony, it's more than just the left-right thing," Melvin said before the game. "It's kind of the stability he brings to the lineup at times, defensively ..."

In the bottom of the seventh, Clark hit a rocket into the gap in right-center off LaTroy Hawkins, but Taveras ran it down for a scintillating sliding catch to end the inning. With Byrnes on first at the time, if that drive would have slipped by Taveras, it was a sure game-tying hit.

Bottom Lines

The NLCS now moves to Denver for the first postseason game in that city -- not counting Game No. 163 that earned the Rockies their ticket into this postseason -- since 1995. Game 3 is scheduled for Sunday night ... Suns player Amare Stoudemire was shown in the stands during the game. Wearing a Diamondbacks cap. He pointed to it and pounded his heart for emphasis. Just a little something that LeBron James maybe ought to keep in mind ... One of the Diamondbacks' slogans this year is "Anybody. Anytime." After Friday -- a game that ended at 2:45 a.m. ET on Saturday -- maybe they ought to change it to "Anybody. All the time." ... The first two Arizona pinch-hitters saw two pitches and recorded two outs ... Arizona starter Doug Davis threw nine balls in his first 12 pitches ... The much-maligned Arizona fans did show up on Friday. Attendance was 48,219, a sellout at Chase Field ... As sweet at Taveras' catch on Clark's drive was -- "That's a fast man going as fast as he can, laying out and coming up with something in a very big part of the game," Hurdle said -- the Rockies are just 50-49 this season with him in the lineup. He missed the first 17 wins in this current streak, remember, with a pulled quadriceps muscle.