Giants continue to miss out on scoring opportunities
DENVER -- The standings suggest that the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies will remain the chief rivals for the National League West title through the rest of the season.
But if the Giants don't improve upon their 5-3 loss Tuesday to Colorado, which swept the two-game series, there won't be any two-team race. At least it won't involve the Giants.
They continued to perform feebly at the plate when it counted most. The Giants outhit Colorado, 10-7, but went only 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. That actually raised their batting average in such situations during this trip from .136 to .161.
San Francisco hasn't scored more than four runs in a game since May 3, a stretch of 12 games. The Giants are last in the NL in runs scored and entered Tuesday ranked 12th in batting average, due partly to the likes of Aubrey Huff (.229) and Miguel Tejada (.206). Once-proficient Aaron Rowand has dipped to .250. Buster Posey is batting .429 (9-for-21) during a six-game hitting streak, but none of the hits have gone for extra bases. Posey has two doubles this season, one fewer than left-hander Jonathan Sanchez.
"We expect more out of ourselves," outfielder Cody Ross said. "We talk about it as a group and we understand that we have to get better. And we better do it fast."
That will be challenging. The Giants face the Dodgers' top two pitchers, Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley, in a two-game series that opens Wednesday in Los Angeles. Then they'll likely confront the impressive trio of Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson and Gio Gonzalez during the weekend Interleague series against the Oakland A's at AT&T Park. After that comes a three-game series against the Florida Marlins, whose starting staff rivals San Francisco's in ability.
"Maybe it's a good time to face them," Ross mused. "Maybe we'll rise to the occasion."
San Francisco also remained prone to defensive lapses. In both games of this series, a Giants starting pitcher committed a throwing error that stimulated Colorado's offense. On Monday, Tim Lincecum's awry relay on a potential double-play comebacker launched a five-run Rockies outburst. Tuesday, Sanchez sabotaged his own excellent performance by fielding pinch-hitter Alfredo Amezaga's eighth-inning bunt and throwing wildly past first base, accelerating Colorado's four-run rally in the eighth inning that erased the Giants' 3-1 lead.
These errors prompted manager Bruce Bochy to contemplate a pregame round of pitchers' fielding practice, which is a staple for every club in Spring Training.
As if to display their superiority over the Giants in this facet of the game, Rockies closer Huston Street neatly speared Andres Torres' smash through the middle and started a game-ending double play.
"That's where a pitcher can help himself," Bochy said.
Sanchez (3-3) helped himself by throwing strikes. He entered the game having issued 28 walks, second-most in the NL. But he didn't walk a single Rockies batter and allowed only one to reach scoring position, with the exception of Troy Tulowitzki's second-inning waltz around the bases following his 11th homer.
Sanchez entered the eighth with a three-hitter and a 3-1 lead, courtesy of Tejada's second-inning RBI single and Pat Burrell's third-inning two-run double. But Ryan Spilborghs and Chris Iannetta singled to open the inning. Sanchez then made his disastrous play on Amezaga's bunt, scoring Spilborghs and leaving runners on the corners.
"I have to make that play," Sanchez said. "That's an easy out at first."
Relieving Sanchez, left-hander Javier Lopez yielded Dexter Fowler's ground-rule double to right-center field, which sent home Iannetta and tied the score. Jonathan Herrera grounded out without the runners advancing, but Carlos Gonzalez singled sharply through the drawn-in infield to score Amezaga and Fowler.
Gonzalez has spent much of the season hitting 100 points lower than the .336 figure that won him last year's NL batting title. That slump evidently won't last.
"That's what he's supposed to do," Lopez said of Gonzalez's go-ahead hit. "That's why you pay him $80 million. He's going to get hot."
The Rockies embraced their success, particularly since the Giants arrived here with a 5-1 edge in the season series.
"It's nice to answer back, throw a few punches and prove to them that we're going to be in this for the long haul," Tulowitzki said.
The Giants were equally unfazed by slipping a half-game behind Colorado in the West.
"If the season ended today, I suppose we'd panic," Lopez said. "But we've got three-fourths of the season left."
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