Recap: Giants 9, Rockies 1
Turning point: Jason Hammel got ahead of hitters but couldn’t put them away in the second when he gave up three runs. After singles by Bengie Molina and Juan Uribe to start the inning, Travis Ishikawa reached base on an infield single with the count 0-2. Aaron Rowand grounded a 1-2 pitch into left field for a two-run single and after a sacrifice put runners on second and third, Eugenio Velez hit a sacrifice fly on a 1-2 pitch to give Tim Lincecum an insurmountable three-run lead.
At the plate: The Rockies went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and struck out 15 times and scored their run in the seventh without benefit of an RBI. Carlos Gonzalez, who went 2-for-4, tripled with one out in the seventh. He scored on a ball four-wild pitch to Todd Helton. …The Rockies were held to six hits, including infield singles by Yorvit Torrealba, who went 2-for4, and Seth Smith. Gonzalez and Smith each struck out three times. The Rockies are 1-6 this season at AT&T Park where they have lost five consecutive games…Molina went 2-for-3 with an intentional walk and three runs scored. He hit his 18th homer of the season with two out in the fourth to give the Giants a 4-0 lead. …Uribe went 2-for-4 and singled home the first run in what mushroomed into a five-run eighth, capped by Velez’s bases-loaded triple.
On the mound: Hammel allowed four of his seven hits in succession to start the second and gave up four runs in six innings. …Joel Peralta walked pinch hitter Fred Lewis with the bases loaded in the eighth and then gave up Velez’s three-run triple. Three of the runs in the eighth were charged to Juan Rincon, who worked a perfect seventh but gave up a single and two walks, one intentional, while retiring one of the four batters he faced. The other run was charged to Randy Flores, who was brought in to face left-handed hitting Ishikawa and gave up a single. …Lincecum, who improved to 14-5 and lowered his ERA to 2.30, gave up six hits and one run in seven innings with four walks and 11 strikeouts, nine swinging.
Numbers game: 6 hits for the Rockies in each of the four games on this 1-3 road trip. They are hitting .183 (24-for-131) with 45 strikeouts and are 2-for-22 with runners in scoring position.
Tracy~
Would this lineup be any better if they changed the order a bit? It seems like they get guys on base and just aren’t getting the timely hits. Would it help if they put Hawpe in the 7 spot? I noticed he’s been hitting 6th, which is different. Yorvit has gotten some timely hits as of late, and they could use his bat with runners on. Also, is EY2 going to be starting now instead of Barmes @ 2B?
OK, got the nearly obligatory loss to Lincecum out of the way. Time to get busy indeed (as the manager said). The lack of hitting lately is troubling, but the bullpen giving up 4 runs is unacceptable in any game.
With reading the numbers game above, they only way the Rockies win is if the pitching staff shuts every team out. The boys once again are in the mindset of playing not to lose. You gotta take it to your opponents. Have faith and trust in yourself and ability,now lets go get’em!
Rt now the Rox have slipped into their old habits. Winning at home and can’t do squat on the rd. This looks like the pre-humidor days when they would put up 10 at home and struggle to score 2-3 on the rd. SF’s pitching is GREAT, but SD’s isn’t. SD has good pitching, the park makes them better. Good thing for an all-star closer in Heath Bell struggling against us or we would be sitting on a 4 game losing streak rt now. Just find a way to win one of these next 2 games and the Rox will be in a great position. Leave SF 3 1/2 up if they do that, then go to AZ and take 2 of 3 then come home and clean house like they have been doing since June. Get swept in SF again though and the Rox will be in trouble.
I think the rox need to be more aggressive in the batter box. It seems like they wait until two strikes before they start swinging. They also can’t swing for the fence everytime up. If they get swept, they might not make the playoffs.
Brutal loss. I felt like Rox had to sweep a hot SD team and are looking to get swept by the Gigantes. Is there any idea when Cook and Contreras will be back in the rotation.
tj, yes Hammel gave up four runs and the bullpen gave up late runs, but the problem with this team right now is NOT pitching. The lack of execution on the road lately is disheartening. It’s baseball though and teams go through stretches. I believe they are 10-10 over their last twenty will the losing, winning and now losing streaks again. Need to go on a 7-3 run right now but win 2-3 out of the next 4. The Freak is a tough pitcher and too many left on last night, hope they bounce back tonight and start getting in a groove at the plate.
I really believe the Rox will be ok with just one win out of the next 2 games. They lost 5 in a row on the last rd trip, we all thought they were done, then came home and won 9 of 10. Keep the 3 game lead with one win in the next 2 games, then play well in AZ and dominate at home like they have been doing. SD and MIL should be series victories, especially at home. Stl will be tough but who knows, maybe they will have it wrapped up by then and won’t have the intensity for that series.
I believe they are 10-10 over their last twenty
Close, they’re actually 11-9. Let’s hope they don’t drop to 10-10. :)
Ok, now they’re 10-10 in their last 20. Ugh.