Rockies’ growing pains continue with 9-1 loss to Giants
Growing pains.
On a scale of 1-10, the reeling Rockies are hovering at about a nine right now.
They got spanked, 9-1, by the Giants Saturday night at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Yes, those Giants, who entered the weekend series suffering from a six-game losing streak and a nasty case of anemic offense.
The Rockies, playing a lot of young position players and using a passel of rookie relievers, were the perfect prescription for the Giants’ woes.
The Giants won for the second straight night while the Rockies fell for the 15th time in their last 18 games. Colorado (51-90) has yet to win a series against a National League West opponent this season and owns a 9-31 record against its division rivals. The Rockies’ .225 winning percentage against the NL West is the worst in franchise history.
“There is a lot of education going on this month for a lot of our guys,” manager Bud Black told AT&T SportsNet.
San Francisco right-hander Logan Webb, once again, thoroughly dominated Colorado. He pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits — all harmless singles — struck out four and walked one.
“He kept the ball down and that’s what he does,” Black said. “He’s got unique stuff in this day and age. He’s got a power sinker with a lot of movement down in the strike zone.”
When Webb faced Colorado on July 9 at Oracle Park, he pitched the first complete-game shutout of his career in a 1-0 Giants victory. He struck out 10 in that game. Had Saturday night’s game been somewhat close, Webb might have stuck around to attempt another shutout. The sinkerball specialist dominated the Rockies and recorded 14 outs via groundballs.
Rockies starter Chase Anderson ran into trouble from the get-go. Mike Yastrzemski led off the Giants’ first with a double to center and Thairo Estrada smoked a two-run homer to left. As it turned out, that was game, set and match.
Anderson hung on for 3 1/3 innings before getting the hook in the Giants’ four-run fourth. Anderson was charged with six runs on six hits and he departed with a 6.49 ERA.
“In the fourth, it got away from Chase,” Black said. “He couldn’t make enough good pitches to minimize the damage.”
Rockies right-hander reliever Victor Vodnik made his big-league debut in the sixth inning. The Giants roughed him up for three runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning. Vodnik, along with right-hander Tanner Gordon, was acquired from the Braves in a late July trade for reliever Pierce Johnson.
“There is something to work with there,” Black said. “(Vodnik) has a big arm — 97-98 mph. He looked composed. The changeup, I think, has a chance to be a functional pitch. The fastball and changeup are legit, he just has to get the ball in the strike zone more.”
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