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
 San Francisco (67-55) Won 1 | San Francisco 6, Colorado 3 |  Colorado (68-54) Lost 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Standings thru 8/21/09 | Recap: SF | COL | Wrap | Gameday |
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