Saturday, August 22, 2009

Giants vets power victory over Rockies



Andrew Baggarly
Mercury News

The Giants have looked to the trade market, the farm system, and now they're scouring the waiver wire while trying to prod a slow-moving offense.

But their core consists of veteran players like Aaron Rowand, Edgar Renteria, Bengie Molina and Randy Winn. That's not going to change. And no matter what else happens down the stretch, the Giants cannot be rotten to the core.

They need their seasoned pros, and in the opener of a four-game showdown with the Colorado Rockies, the vets rose to meet the moment. Molina's ground-rule double was the key hit in a three-run first inning against Aaron Cook and Rowand hit a three-run home run in the fourth as the Giants won 6-3 Friday night at Coors Field.

The Giants moved within one game of the Rockies for the wild-card lead while also staying within earshot of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

"Bengie loosened everybody up with that hit, and Row's been swinging it better," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "I've said this: These are the guys we'll be leaning on, and they came through for us tonight."

Jonathan Sanchez pitched out of two jams while holding the Rockies to an unearned run in five innings. The bullpen escaped even stickier situations created from a series of walks, wild pitches and hit batters.

Jeremy Affeldt made the biggest pitch of the night in the seventh inning, getting Todd Helton to hit a bases-loaded comebacker and stopping it cleanly enough to start a 1-2-3 double play.

"I was overwhelmed with joy," Affeldt said.

There was plenty more in the postgame clubhouse. The players lingered near Tim Lincecum's locker and erupted in laughter when he grabbed his stocking cap and realized someone had frozen it.

"I'm wearing it anyway," Lincecum yelled. "I don't care."

The Rockies picked a bad time to shiver. They didn't resemble the team that has played brilliant baseball for three months under interim manager Jim Tracy, failing in the clutch and forgetting how to hit the cutoff man. Even Molina, who runs in slow motion, snookered an extra base when a throw from the outfield dribbled to a patch of empty grass.

Closer Brian Wilson noted that the Rockies finish their homestand with three games against the Dodgers before heading for three more at AT&T Park.

"Us, the Dodgers and us," Wilson said. "So to capitalize in Game 1 is huge for us. I mean, that's a tough 10-game stretch, and we know we're playing well in our park. If we get on a roll here, it could set us up."

The Giants didn't have either of their trade additions in the lineup for an important pennant-race game. Second baseman Freddy Sanchez missed his fourth consecutive game because of a sore left shoulder; first baseman Ryan Garko didn't start because Travis Ishikawa was 4-for-5 against Rockies right-hander Aaron Cook.

Cook (10-6) left the game because of a sore shoulder after a leadoff walk to Nate Schierholtz in the fourth inning. It would be a key loss for the Rockies, who have built their run on pitching as much as hitting. Cook is the first of four 10-game winners the Giants will face in this series; there are just 22 of them in the NL.

It was a warm night with still winds — hitting conditions that no humidor can tame. Rowand's ball appeared routine off the bat, but it carried into the Rockies' bullpen in right-center.

Winn yielded a start to Schierholtz, and it was expected Rowand would take more days off, too. But he had a four-hit game Sunday in New York and added two singles to his home run Friday.

He also fell down while failing to check his swing, but hey, you can't make it look pretty all the time.

From: MLB.com

SF
San Francisco (67-55)
Won 1
San Francisco 6, Colorado 3 COL
Colorado (68-54)
Lost 1
August 21, 2009
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
San Francisco
3 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 6 10 1
Colorado
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 9 3
Standings thru 8/21/09 | Recap: SF | COL | Wrap | Gameday


San Francisco AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Velez, E, LF 4 0 0 0 1 0 2 .281
Renteria, SS 4 1 2 0 1 0 0 .262
Sandoval, P, 3B 4 1 1 0 1 0 4 .330
Molina, B, C 5 1 2 1 0 0 1 .261
Schierholtz, RF 2 1 0 1 1 0 3 .298
Romo, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Affeldt, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
b-Garko, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .272
Wilson, B, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Ishikawa, 1B 5 1 1 1 0 0 2 .262
Rowand, CF 4 1 3 3 0 0 1 .280
Uribe, 2B 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .276
Sanchez, J, P 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .033
a-Lewis, F, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .273
Medders, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Winn, RF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .269
Totals 37 6 10 6 4 3 17

a-Struck out for Sanchez, J in the 6th. b-Struck out for Affeldt in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Molina, B (23, Cook).
HR: Rowand (11, 4th inning off Fogg, 2 on, 0 out).
TB: Renteria 2; Sandoval, P; Molina, B 3; Ishikawa; Rowand 6; Uribe.
RBI: Molina, B (64), Schierholtz (24), Ishikawa (32), Rowand 3 (51).
2-out RBI: Ishikawa.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Schierholtz; Velez, E 2; Ishikawa 2; Sandoval, P 2.
SF: Schierholtz.
Team RISP: 3-for-11.
Team LOB: 9.

BASERUNNING
SB: Renteria (6, 2nd base off Fogg/Iannetta).

FIELDING
E: Velez, E (5, fielding).
DP: 2 (Renteria-Uribe-Ishikawa, Affeldt-Molina, B-Ishikawa).

Colorado AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Fowler, CF 2 2 2 0 3 0 0 .274
Spilborghs, LF 4 0 0 0 1 1 5 .249
Helton, 1B 5 0 3 0 0 0 4 .322
Atkins, G, 3B 5 0 1 1 0 2 3 .226
Hawpe, RF 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 .302
Eaton, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-Smith, S, PH 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 .294
Beimel, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-Quintanilla, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .174
Barmes, SS 4 0 1 0 0 2 2 .249
Iannetta, C 4 0 1 0 0 2 2 .222
Stewart, 2B 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .223
Cook, P 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .119
Fogg, P 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .125
Gonzalez, C, RF 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .287
Totals 34 3 9 2 6 12 20

a-Homered for Eaton in the 8th. b-Struck out for Beimel in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Iannetta (12, Affeldt).
HR: Smith, S (10, 8th inning off Affeldt, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Fowler 2; Helton 3; Atkins, G; Smith, S 4; Barmes; Iannetta 2.
RBI: Smith, S (32), Atkins, G (39).
2-out RBI: Atkins, G.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Barmes; Iannetta; Stewart; Quintanilla.
GIDP: Spilborghs; Helton.
Team RISP: 2-for-9.
Team LOB: 11.

FIELDING
E: Stewart (8, fielding), Fowler (4, fielding), Spilborghs (4, throw).

San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Sanchez, J (W, 6-10) 5.0 2 1 0 4 8 0 4.30
Medders 1.1 2 0 0 1 1 0 3.49
Romo 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4.84
Affeldt (H, 26) 1.2 2 1 1 0 1 1 1.93
Wilson, B 1.0 3 1 1 0 2 0 2.86
Colorado IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Cook (L, 10-6) 3.0 3 4 4 2 0 0 4.47
Fogg 3.0 4 2 1 0 1 1 2.25
Eaton 2.0 3 0 0 2 1 0 7.85
Beimel 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.64

Romo pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.
Cook pitched to 1 batter in the 4th.

WP: Romo, Eaton.
HBP: Gonzalez, C (by Medders).
Pitches-strikes: Sanchez, J 91-54, Medders 29-17, Romo 7-3, Affeldt 28-15, Wilson, B 22-16, Cook 47-27, Fogg 45-34, Eaton 42-24, Beimel 11-8.
Groundouts-flyouts: Sanchez, J 3-4, Medders 2-1, Romo 0-0, Affeldt 4-0, Wilson, B 0-1, Cook 5-4, Fogg 5-3, Eaton 1-4, Beimel 1-1.
Batters faced: Sanchez, J 20, Medders 8, Romo 1, Affeldt 6, Wilson, B 6, Cook 14, Fogg 14, Eaton 11, Beimel 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Romo 2-0, Affeldt 3-0, Fogg 1-1.
Umpires: HP: Jim Joyce. 1B: Bill Miller. 2B: Derryl Cousins. 3B: Angel Campos.
Weather: 83 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 8 mph, In from RF.
T: 3:18.
Att: 43,666.
August 21, 2009

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner


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