36-year-old rookie homers in Giants' win

Andrew Baggarly - MercuryNews

The Giants are not a hot ticket this season, but they presented one heck of a summer sequel Wednesday afternoon.

It was "Bull Durham II," and there couldn't have been a happier ending.

After 19 professional seasons and 362 home runs at outposts on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, Scott McClain finally went deep in a major league game. The 36-year-old rookie hit a solo shot in the sixth inning off Colorado Rockies right-hander Steven Register, the loudest shot in the Giants' 9-2 victory at Coors Field.

If the Giants received any more production from their farm system, they'd have won a 4-H ribbon.

Including McClain, their six rookie starters drove in all nine runs and combined for all but one of their 14 hits. Olympic medalist Nate Schierholtz singled twice and doubled twice as part of a career-high four-hit game. Travis Ishikawa hit a run-scoring single and a two-run double. Pablo Sandoval hit a two-run home run that preceded McClain's shot.

And McClain had a pair of run-scoring singles, including a two-out hit off Rockies ace Aaron Cook that put the Giants on the board in the first inning.

Cook was chased after allowing 10 hits and six earned runs in three innings.

Barry Zito easily outpitched the Rockies' ace, holding Colorado to four hits over eight highly effective innings. Zito (9-16) helped the Giants break a five-game losing streak and avoid going winless on their six-game trip to Cincinnati and Colorado.

McClain hit 291 home runs in the minor leagues and 71 more in four seasons with the Seibu Lions, drawing comparisons to the "Crash Davis" character from Bull Durham.

Susan Sarandon was the only thing missing.