Rockies celebrate, move on

DENVER, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The Colorado Rockies have advanced to baseball's post-season playoffs for the third time in club history and look to better their 2007 effort next week.

Their unlikely wild-card berth occurred with a 9-2 rout of Milwaukee Thursday and followed an 18-28 start start to the season that led to the May 29 firing of Manager Clint Hurdle.

The win over Milwaukee gave the Rockies a single-season franchise record 91 victories, making Hurdle's replacement, Jim Tracy, a likely Manager of the Year candidate.

"It's not the end of the journey," General Manager Dan O'Dowd told MLB.com. "We've got some more steps that we want to take."

"This is my most special moment in 33 years in baseball," Tracy told The Denver Post. "Nothing can match it."

The Rockies face either National League Central champion St. Louis or Los Angeles Dodgers, the NL West winner, in the NL Division Series.