Andrew Baggarly - MercuryNews
Sergio Romo became the ninth Giants player to make his major league debut this season when he tossed a scoreless inning in a 4-1 loss to the Indians on Thursday.
"I never pitched on a field as bright as it was," Romo said. "I felt like the center of attention."
It was an illuminating evening for three other Giants rookies, too. Manager Bruce Bochy filled out his lineup with Brian Horwitz, Travis Denker and John Bowker, and all three received a major league education.
They had to face left-hander Cliff Lee, who might be pitching his way to a start in the All-Star Game. Lee (11-1) allowed four hits over eight innings and set a career high with 11 strikeouts - including six against the three greenest bats in Bochy's lineup.
"Yeah, definitely a learning experience," said Denker, who struck out twice. "When you run into a starting pitcher like that . . . yeah, wow."
Bochy started the rookies to rest some of his veterans, but the manager also hoped for a close game in which he could spring Ray Durham and Fred Lewis on a soft Indians bullpen.
But once again, Matt Cain had trouble avoiding the big inning as the Giants failed to complete a three-game sweep at Progressive Field. Instead, they are 3-3 on a trip that resumes today when they begin a series at Oakland - facing a club that has won 10 of the last 12 Bay Bridge rivalry meetings.
Because the Indians scheduled a night game and rain delayed the first pitch by one hour, 2 minutes, the Giants' charter probably didn't arrive in San Francisco until close to 4 a.m. "There's no point talking about what time we get in," Bochy said. "We haven't played very well against (the A's). We know that. It's important we hit the field ready to go." Denker assumed he was ready. He watched pregame video of Lee and kept looking for the cut fastballs he saw on tape. Lee didn't show one all night. "I've never seen anything like that," Denker said. "When guys make good pitches, you battle till he makes a mistake. Tonight, he didn't make any mistakes. It felt like the umpire was giving him some stuff, too, but he was around the dish. "I thought he gave me one pitch to hit, but I looked at the at-bat (on video) and it was six inches off the plate. Shoot, I couldn't hit that." Denker didn't criticize plate umpire Dan Iassogna's strike zone so much as he faced the reality of the situation. "I'm a rookie," he said. "He'll call it every time." Horwitz had a particularly rough game, striking out three times against Lee. Horwitz also misplayed Jamey Carroll's deep fly ball into a triple during the Indians' three-run third inning. Cain had a chance to escape that inning, but he missed his spot on a fastball to Jhonny Peralta, who whacked it for a two-run double. "We had the right idea," Cain said. "I just didn't make the pitch." Cain was expected to form a two-headed monster with Tim Lincecum this season, but he hasn't been nearly as successful out of the stretch. With runners on base, Lincecum has held opponents to a .176 average and one home run. Cain has a .295 opponent's average and has yielded six homers with runners on base. Cain also lacked feel for his curveball or change-up, Bochy noted. Romo's father and uncle traveled from Brawley, Calif., to Cleveland hoping to see him pitch in the series. His college coach made the trip from Colorado, too. They had to wait through 26 innings and a weather delay, but Romo finally took the mound in the ninth and retired the side. He struck out two, and punched his glove after David Dellucci looked at a called slider to end the inning. "It was everything I thought it would be, except not throwing strike one," Romo said. "I always imagined I'd paint it." The Giants haven't debuted this many rookies in one season since 1996, when a franchise-record 13 players broke into the majors. At least they'll avoid Lee the rest of the way, unless the Indians have a screw loose and trade him. "He never gave in," Denker said. "You just say, 'Go get 'em tomorrow' and throw that one away."
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