clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

The Colorado Rockies dominated the Giants in every way

The Rockies crushed the Giants 11-2 in a game where the offense and pitching shined bright.

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Well that was worth the wait.

After a delay of more than two hours, the Rockies dominated the Giants in terms of run scoring and run prevention. The Giants only held the edge in the upholding of idiotic unwritten rules designed to suck the joy out of on field success.

In yesterday's victory, reserves and role players led the team to the win. They did their part today, too. But even more encouragingly, guys like Nolan Arenado and Troy Tulowitzki had excellent days at the plate and did what we've been expecting them to do. In Arenado's first plate appearance, he knocked a rare triple. It was his first of the season and the seventh of his career. Ben Paulsen drove him in on a groundout.

But who cares about the second inning—the fourth inning was where it was at. The Rockies scored eight runs, making it the most prolific inning of the season so far. They did so by doing pretty much everything well. They squared up balls, they were patient at the plate, and even hit and runs were perfectly executed. This is how it played out, with batter, result, and number of pitches seen.

Nolan Arenado—single—seven pitch plate appearance

Ben Paulsen—groundout—two pitches seen

Brandon Barnes—hit by pitch—three pitches seen

Nick Hundley—single, run scores—eight pitches seen

Daniel Descalso—single, run scores—two pitches seen

Chad Bettis—groundout, run scores on hit and run—four pitches seen

Charlie Blackmon—walk—five pitches seen

Rafael Ynoa—single—six pitches seen

Troy Tulowitzki—single, two runs score—two pitches seen

Nolan Arenado—home run, three runs score—one pitch seen

Ben Paulsen—groundout—three pitches seen

In all, the Rockies brought eleven batters to the plate. Ben Paulsen made two of the three outs, while pitcher Chad Bettis made the third. And two of those outs plated runs. Whether role player or star, everyone contributed to the eight run outburst.

There was some jawing between Buster Posey and Nolan Arenado after Arenado's three run home run—Arenado evidently admired the homer too much, which he should have done because it was damn beautiful—although there was, thankfully, no beanball exchanges thereafter. By the end, Arenado fell a double short of the cycle. His four hit game was the fifth of his career.

Chad Bettis managed to just about overshadow all of that. Bettis allowed a leadoff single to Nori Aoki. Then, he didn't allow another hit until an eighth inning single to Matt Duffy, who was promptly erased on a double play. Bettis attacked the zone during the entire game, but the Giants couldn't put the barrel on anything. His fastball, which sat in the low to mid 90s, had life, and his breaking pitches were deceptive. The Giants got to Bettis for two runs in the ninth inning, running him from the game after recording just one out. It remains the best pitching performance by a Rockies starter so far this season. One outstanding game won't earn Bettis a permanent rotation spot, but what it does do is earn him more opportunities to do just that.

The worst things we can say about the game are that Chad Bettis didn't throw a complete game and Nolan Arenado didn't hit for the cycle. Otherwise, everything was great.