Mercury News
With their season at stake, the Giants sure dished it out Tuesday night. And for once, they proved they could take it, too.
Their hyper-aggressive lineup had an obvious stratagem against Colorado Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez; stunningly, 17 of the 19 batters Jimenez faced took the first pitch.
Their uncharacteristic patience led to a flood of baserunners, an early exit for Jimenez — and another all-important step in the Giants' wild-card climb. Barry Zito fed the Rockies all the rainbow curves they could eat as the Giants won 10-2 and moved within 21/2 games of Colorado for the wild-card lead.
All of a sudden, the Giants look like they're stalking prey — and the Rockies look wounded.
"Our backs have been against the wall, but this team, for not having much experience at all in a playoff race, just keeps fighting," Zito said. "And just as important, we're staying loose and having fun."
The Giants will look to finish a three-game sweep of Colorado behind Matt Cain today in the final regular-season meeting between the clubs. Then they'll do some scoreboard watching over the final two weeks.
But for the moment, there's a revival happening at China Basin. And Zito is at the center of it — a big-money pitcher for reasons that have nothing to do with his $126 million contract.
Even in his darkest hours, Zito almost always delivered with a little help. He is 106-6 in his career when receiving at least four runs of support, including 21-2 as a Giant. Problem is, he entered the game with the lowest run support in the major leagues (2.94 per game), and the Giants had failed to score for him in 10 of 29 starts. Zito (10-12) had the stuff to win a pitcher's duel while reaching double-digit victories for the ninth consecutive season. He held the Rockies to two runs in seven innings, walked one, set a season high with nine strikeouts and has a 1.98 ERA in 11 career starts against them. His curveball baffled the Rockies' patient lineup again, especially Todd Helton, whose knees buckled while he struck out looking three times. He showed some grit on his final hitter, taking Eric Young Jr.'s line drive off his right wrist and throwing to start a double play. X-rays after the game did not reveal a fracture. "It'll sting for a few days, but I'm fine," Zito said. Zito made the Rockies swing the bat, and the Giants were determined to make Jimenez (13-11) do the same. The Giants entered having swung at the first pitch 33 percent of the time, the highest rate among major league teams. Not surprisingly, their 3.60 pitches per plate appearance was the lowest in the majors, too. But the Giants stalked Jimenez while scoring three runs in the first inning. They forced the Rockies' ace to throw 38 pitches to get three outs. Hitting coach Carney Lansford offered a cagey no-comment when asked if the Giants took the first pitch by design. Randy Winn, who walked twice and scored three runs, insisted it developed organically. "Carney's always talked about getting your pitch to hit," Winn said. "I don't know if it's just taken till now or what, but I can tell you I was looking to swing first pitch. I had a runner in scoring position and I was looking to drive him in. I just didn't get a pitch to hit. "That unfolds as the game unfolds. You're playing off the guy in front of you." Their three-run first inning wouldn't have happened without a huge break. With the bases loaded and one out, Bengie Molina hit a potentially easy double-play grounder that third baseman Garrett Atkins let clank off his glove for an error. Uribe's 400-foot, two-run double broke open the game in the third and Jimenez didn't survive the inning. The Giants clinched the season series with Colorado (10-7 with one to play), meaning they would be awarded home-field advantage in the event of a one-game playoff. That's no trifling detail. The Giants are 7-1 against the Rockies at AT&T Park, but just 3-6 at Coors Field. The Giants and Rockies have the two best home records in the National League.
From: MLB.com
 Colorado (82-64) Lost 4 | San Francisco 10, Colorado 2 |  San Francisco (79-66) Won 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Standings thru 9/15/09 | Recap: COL | SF | Wrap | Gameday |
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