Matt Cain dominated over eight innings and Aaron Rowand drove in two with an RBI double as the Giants managed to take the final game of their three game home set with the Colorado Rockies, 4-1.
Cain (4-4) surrendered a mere four hits and three walks while striking out five and dropped his ERA to 2.36 on the season. His only blemish on the evening was a solo homerun by Troy Tulowitzki (7) in the fourth, giving the Rockies an early 1-0 lead. The Giants charged back behind three two-out hits in the fifth, capped off by Aaron Rowand’s bullet to center off Jeff Francis (1-2), scoring Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey and giving Cain a lead that he would not relinquish. The Giants extended the advantage in the sixth behind an RBI double by Pablo Sandoval, followed by a run scoring single by Bengie Molina. Brian Wilson made short work of Colorado in the ninth, retiring three straight on eight pitches, for his 13th save.
In the opener, the much hyped (including by yours truly) pitcher’s duel ended up being rather one-sided as Ubaldo Jiminez (10-1) went the distance, striking out nine, as the Rockies beat the Giants, 4-0. Clint Barmes drove in two to back the Colorado ace. Tim Lincecum (5-2) had his fourth straight rough outing, surrendering four runs and walking five through 5 2/3 innings while only striking out three. Pablo Sandoval accounted for almost all of the San Francisco offense, collecting three hits in a losing effort.
In the middle game, both teams matched impressive pitching through ten innings, deadlocked at one, entering the eleventh. In this inning, Clint Barmes broke the tie, stroking a two-out double off Santiago Casilla (1-1), driving in his second run of the game as the Rockies won, 2-1 in eleven innings. Rafael Betancourt (1-1) pitched the tenth for the victory. Manuel Corpas surrendered an infield single to Freddy Sanchez before inducing Pablo Sandoval to ground into a game-ending double play, earning him his fifth save of the season.
Well, it could have been worse. The Giants lost two of three, but the scores were close. Middle game could have gone either way. Cain was great in the third game. Only concern I have is Tim Lincecum. Something’s wrong with the Freak. I think it’s mechanical. On Monday, he was throwing almost exclusively breaking balls. While they are superior pitches, he needs his fastball in the mix to be effective. There’s only two people who can fix his mechanical issues. Fortunately, neither of them is on the Giants coaching staff. Hopefully Lincecum will dissect his motion and have it fixed before his next start.
The Giants get an off day on Thursday and will next travel to Pittsburgh to play the Pirates. On Friday, the Rockies will travel to Arizona to face the Diamondbacks.
