SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle
Trading Jonathan Sanchez largely became moot with his July 10 no-hitter. How could general manager Brian Sabean make that move? How could ownership sign off on it?
Sabean confirmed the obvious Friday on KNBR, when he said the Giants need Sanchez, not because of the no-hitter, but because of the extended loss of Randy Johnson.
Sanchez continues to show he has the stuff to help fill the void. He just needs to keep the ball in the park. His failure there undermined the Giants in an 8-2 loss Saturday night that evened the series at Coors Field.
The gopher ball has destroyed Sanchez in both starts since the no-no.
The Rockies' Troy Tulowitzki, one of the hottest hitters on a hot team, broke a scoreless tie with a three-run homer against Sanchez in the fourth inning on a fastball meant for the outside corner that flew right down Blake Street.
Monday night in Atlanta, Sanchez surrendered all three runs on homers by Garret Anderson and Chipper Jones. Tulowitzki's was the 10th against Sanchez in 90 innings this season.
"That's the difference," Sanchez (3-9) said. "I give up two hits in the first five innings and I give up three runs. It's like, how did that happen? They get one pitch and hit it out of the park, and you know the story."
Tulowitzki hit a run-scoring double that chased Sanchez in the sixth and finished with a career-high five RBIs.
Tulowitzki's homer gave the Rockies a 3-0 lead - in other words, game, set and match against a timid Giants offense that has scored two or fewer runs in five of the first nine games of a trip that ends today.
Jorge De La Rosa held the Giants to two runs in 71/3 innings and won his sixth consecutive decision, plus his fourth in a row against San Francisco. His ERA over those four wins: 0.99.
The left-hander could serve as a role model for Sanchez because they have similar stories. De La Rosa always had great stuff but had to overcome wildness and occasional loss of focus on the mound, which he did, and now is a force in his late 20s.
"He turned it around," manager Bruce Bochy said. "I think Sanchy is turning it around, too. The results weren't great, but watching him throw tonight, he was mixing his stuff better and he carried himself well. He's on the right track. The long ball just got him."
The few bright spots for the Giants included a pair of doubles from Pablo Sandoval, one driving in a run, a Randy Winn triple that led to another run, a spectacular throw by right fielder Nate Schierholtz from the wall to nail Dexter Fowler trying to tag from first on a flyball, and a scoreless inning by struggling Sergio Romo.
Now, the Giants have to hope rookie Ryan Sadowski can recover from an awful start in Atlanta and hang with nine-game winner Aaron Cook in a game that will settle the series and end this marathon trip that opened the second half. The Giants either will finish 4-6 or 3-7.
If the Giants can reach 4-6 they should celebrate, given they are averaging 2.3 runs a game.
Asked if the team was frustrated, Winn sarcastically said, "Yes, we're at the end of our rope. We might not even show up tomorrow."
He then smiled and said, "We would have liked to come in and win all three games. That's not going to happen now. We just have to move ahead to tomorrow, learn from what we didn't do well today, come out and win a ballgame. If we can come out and win the series, that's what we wanted."
 San Francisco (52-45) Lost 1 | Colorado 8, San Francisco 2 |  Colorado (53-44) Won 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Standings thru 7/25/09 | Recap: SF | COL | Wrap | Gameday |
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