Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton is soaked with champagne in the clubhouse as the Rockies celebrate winning the National League wild card tiebreaker game against the Padres. Colorado won, 9-8 in 13 innings, on Monday at Coors Field in Denver.

Denver ? In a season that needed an extra day, Matt Holliday and the Colorado Rockies needed extra innings to pull off the most dramatic comeback of the year.

Holliday raced home on Jamey Carroll’s shallow fly ball, capping a stunning, three-run rally in the 13th inning against Trevor Hoffman and leading the Rockies over the San Diego Padres, 9-8, Monday night in a tiebreaker for the NL wild card.

“It’s been an incredible run from game 1 to game 163,” Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said.

After Scott Hairston’s two-run homer put the Padres ahead in the top of the 13th, Colorado came back against baseball’s career saves leader.

The Rockies, who won for the 14th time in 15 games, took the longest one-game tiebreaker in major-league history. They advanced to play Philadelphia in the first round starting Wednesday.

Kaz Matsui and Troy Tulowitzki, who had four hits, lined back-to-back doubles off Hoffman, making it 8-7. Then Holliday tripled off the wall in right to tie it.

After Todd Helton was intentionally walked, Carroll lined out to right fielder Brian Giles.

Giles’ throw home bounced in front of catcher Michael Barrett, who couldn’t hold on as Holliday swiped the plate, then lay face-down after cutting his chin with his headfirst slide. Umpire Tim McClelland made a delayed safe call, and replays were inconclusive on whether Holliday touched the plate with his left hand or was blocked by Barrett’s left foot.

Said Padres manager Bud Black: “It looked to me like he did get it.”

The Rockies won the longest game at Coors Field this season behind Holliday, the MVP candidate who won the NL batting title at .340. He also drove in two runs to take the league RBI crown with 137, one more than Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard.

Ramon Ortiz (1-0) got the win. He was the Rockies’ 10th pitcher, taking over after Jorge Julio gave up Hairston’s homer.

“All we kept saying was ‘hold ’em at two, hold ’em at two,”‘ Hurdle said.

The Rockies are headed to the playoffs for the first time since 1995, when they lost to Atlanta in the first round.

After stranding runners at second in the 10th, 11th and 12th off Matt Herges, the Padres broke through against Julio. Brian Giles drew a leadoff walk and Hairston homered into the bleachers in left-center.

It was sweet atonement for Holliday, who misplayed Giles’ flyball into an RBI double off Brian Fuentes with the Rockies ahead by 6-5 in the eighth that scored Geoff Blum from second base with the tying run.

The Rockies and Padres were tied at 6 in the 163rd game of the season for each team, the first play-in game since the New York Mets beat Cincinnati 5-0 for the 1999 NL wild card.

Peavy allowed six runs and 10 hits in 61â3 innings.

Rockies starter Josh Fogg allowed five runs and eight hits in four-plus innings.