Last night's Giants-Rockies game, much like yesterday's blog, hinged upon how the home team fared against Tim Lincecum. The results are in; The Freak left the stadium with his (pony)tail between his legs. Thanks to his shaky control (6 walks) the Rockies had traffic on the basepaths in every inning but the third.
The 6th inning proved to be the decisive frame. The Giants took a 4-2 lead in the top of the inning on home runs by CF Andres Torres (solo) and RF Nate Schierholtz (Aubrey Huff on board). The Rockies had taken a short-lived 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 5th on SS Troy Tulowitzki's two-run bases-loaded single. RF Seth Smith led off the home half of the 6th with a deep blast into the second deck in right field. 3B Jose Lopex singled to left. C Jose Morales bounced a one-hopper to Lincecum, who had to wait an instant for SS Miguel Tejada to reach second base to receive the throw. Tejada's momentum and Lincecum's wild toss could not connect, and the Rockies had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Alfredo Amezaga pinch hit for eventual winning pitcher Clayton Mortensen and struck out. CF Dexter Fowler singled to shallow right-center, plating Lopez with the Rock's tying run. 2B Jonathan Herrera blooped a single to center field that Torres bobbled. Morales should have scored, but he had stopped when rounding third base, both he and 3rd base coach Rich Dauer assuming that the Giants' centerfielder would field the hit cleanly. Because Fowler was already nearly at third, Morales re-started toward home and was thrown out easily by 1B Aubrey Huff's relay to C Buster Posey. Opportunity missed, as many have been the last three weeks by the struggling Rockies. With first base open, and two outs, the Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti visited the mound to talk to Lincecum and the infielders to discuss strategy. I took it as a good sign that they were thinking about walking LF Carlos Gonzalez to load the bases. But, obviously, Tulo's bases-loaded single in the previous inning led them to decide to pitch to CarGo. In the 5th inning, same situation, except that there was only one out when Tulo came to bat, Lincecum threw four pitches to CarGo that proved that they were not going to give the left-handed Gonzalez anything to hit, walked him on four pitches, and Tulo's key hit ensued. So, this time, Lincecum tried to be tricky, left a hanging 81 mph change-up up where CarGo could pound it, into the trees behind the waterfalls, three-run bomb, winning margin.
It was the Rockies' first home run with anybody on base since C Chris Iannetta's two-run shot against Arizona on May 4th. Twelve consecutive solo home runs is a franchise record, and an indication that the Rockies have not hit very well with runners on base during their protracted slump in May. Rafael Betancourt struggled again in his customary 8th inning role as the set-up man to closer Huston Street. Matt Lindstrom came in with two Giants on base to strike out Pat Burrell to end the 8th. Street efficiently dispatched the Giants 1-2-3 on nine pitches, all strikes, for his 13th save.
Sigh of relief, temporary respite from a disappointing home stand, music back on in the locker room. Now, if the 2010 Ubaldo Jimenez can show up at 20th and Blake St this afternoon, life will look better as the Rockies can reclaim first place in the West Division as they take their show on the road to Philly tomorrow.
Oh, the Yankees lost their 6th consecutive game, and I don't want to talk about it.
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