"Watching replay later, I had a little doubt," McClelland said today in a telephone interview with The Des Moines Register. "But if I had to call it again, I'd call it the same way."

San Diego led 8-6 heading into the bottom of the 13th before Colorado mounted a rally against closer Trevor Hoffman.

The final run came on Matt Holliday's head-first slide as Padres catcher Michael Barrett failed to catch the throw home, but turned and tagged Holliday after he slid past.

Television replays were not conclusive as to whether Holliday initially touched the plate.

"Michael Barrett stuck out his leg, but he didn't have it planted in the ground," said McClelland, of West Des Moines. "What I saw was Holliday kind of slide through that leg and touch the plate."

The Padres did not argue the call and McClelland said he did not hear from Barrett, relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman or Padres manager Bud Black after the play.

McClelland, 55, is in his 25th major league season.

Some questioned why McClelland waited to make the call at the plate. McClelland said he was trying to analyze the entire play.

"The reason I waited was to see if Michael even had held onto the ball, but the ball got away (even though I thought he was safe)," he said. "It's really not my style anyway."

McClelland, who has worked the World Series four times, a league championship series seven times, a league division series five times and All-Star game three times, said he watched replays later to check his position when he made the call.

"There was no position I could've been in to see it any better," he said. "I might have gotten a different look at it, but I don't think I would've gotten a better look at it."

Barrett was quoted after the game on the incident: "I've never, ever second-guessed Tim McClelland at home plate. And when he told me he was safe, there was no argument in my mind."

McClelland also said the six-man crew unanimously ruled that Colorado's Garrett Atkins missed a home run in the seventh with the Rockies leading 6-5. Replays on TV made it appear that it was possible the ball hit a wheelchair just over the fence and bounced back into play. Again, though, replays did not appear to be conclusive.

Colorado did not score and the Padres tied the game in the eighth inning.