© TNS
SAN FRANCISCO – Another day, another six-inning start from Dereck Rodriguez. The rookie pitcher notched another quality start, but he and the Giants took a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies.
Rodriguez was hit hard early, with Charlie Blackmon cracking a leadoff double to start the game. Rodriguez retired the next three Rockies batters, but he had no such ease in the second inning.
After securing a fly out from Trevor Story, another out was wasted by Austin Slater at first base. Slater failed to secure a ground ball from Carlos Gonzalez, giving the always dangerous Rockies a free baserunner.
Ian Desmond followed the error with a single before Rodriguez walked Chris Iannetta to load the bases for Rockies starter Antonio Senzatela. Senzatela ripped a two-run single to give the Rockies a 2-0 lead and Rodriguez walked his next batter in Charlie Blackmon to load the bases. It allowed a sacrifice fly to give the Rockies a 3-0 lead.
The 31-pitch second inning ballooned Rodriguez’s pitch count to 42 pitches at the start of the third. But from that point on, Rodriguez was the same dominant pitcher he’s been all year.
He retired his next 12 batters before running into trouble in the sixth inning with two outs. A pair of singles from Gonzalez and Desmond resulted in a bases-loading intentional walk to Iannetta, leaving Senzatela up in virtually the same position he had in the second, only with two outs. Rodriguez blew a fastball by him for his fifth strikeout, ending his night with one earned run and six innings pitched.
His night wasn’t as dominant as some of his outings, but the one earned run dropped Rodriguez’s ERA to 2.31, the fifth-best mark in the major leagues for pitchers who have pitched at least 100 innings.
Like Jacob deGrom, the New York Mets’ Cy Young candidate with a 1.71 ERA, Rodriguez (6-4) has failed to receive run support on a disappointingly consistent basis.
Dereck Rodriguez went six innings, gave up one earned run. This will be the 10th time this season he has given up fewer than three runs and taken a loss or no-decision.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) September 16, 2018
After Rodriguez departed, Ray Black came in, throwing five straight 95+ mph balls. He walked Charlie Blackmon before battling to get a called strikeout on the 11th pitch of DJ LeMahieu’s at-bat. What happened next was vintage Joe Panik and Brandon Crawford defense:
Crawford and Panik still work well together … pic.twitter.com/Q0wTNCsIcp
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) September 16, 2018
The Giants offense, on the other hand, was limited, as it often is. That was true except for the efforts of Panik, Slater and Chris Shaw. You may be asking, is this the same Chris Shaw who entered the game 1-for-22 with 13 strikeouts? The same Chris Shaw who has been whiffing at and chasing pitches and nearly twice the league average? Yes, that Chris Shaw.
Entering the game, Shaw fell behind 0-2 or 1-2 in 13 of his 25 plate appearances. He’d only worked a three-ball count four times, in which he mustered two walks, a sac fly and a fly out.
On Sunday, he fell behind worse than 0-1 just once and the results paid dividends. After falling behind 0-1 in his first at-bat, he worked the count to 3-2 before ripping a single – his second major-league hit.
He grounded out in his second at-bat, but returned to the plate with purpose in the sixth. After Panik picked up his second single of the day and Evan Longoria walked, Crawford and Slater both struck out.
It left the Giants looking at a situation they’ve found themselves in all too often this season: leadoff baserunners that never get moved over. Shaw took it upon himself to flip the script on that trend.
With an overshift leaving three infielders on the right side of the infield, Shaw pulled a ball between the second and first basemen, scoring Panik to give the Giants their first run of the day. It was Shaw’s fourth RBI in his two-and-a-half week MLB career.
Scott Oberg retired the Giants’ side in the seventh, but in the eighth, Panik reached base for the third-straight time on a walk against Adam Ottavino. Longoria ripped a ball down the line that would have been a sure double at the least, but it fell foul by inches. Longoria went on to strike out and Crawford grounded out, leaving Slater up with two outs and Panik at second.
Slater shot a ball into center field for his first hit of the day, scoring Panik and cutting the Giants’ deficit to 3-2. Shaw came back up and hit a high fly ball to left field that was caught to end the inning. Reyes Moronta threw a shutout ninth inning.
The Giants failed to add a run in the bottom half against Wade Davis and lost the game, but took the series 2-1.