When two struggling offenses meet in the cold, damp air of the San Francisco Bay, one would expect runs to be at a premium. That was indeed the case on Thursday as the Rockies (finally) toppled the Giants 5-3 in 12 innings.
Merciful relief
The Rockies struggled to string hits together all night (sound familiar?) so when it got to the 12th inning, they decided to walk instead. Chris Iannetta and Charlie Blackmon walked and Nolan Arenado came to the plate with two on and two outs with the opportunity to continue his Giant-killing ways. Instead, he walked, setting up Carlos Gonzalez, who had been miserable at the plate since coming off the DL on April 30, to bloop a two-run single into short center field to give the Rockies the lead.
Wade Davis worked around two walks in the bottom half to seal the win almost exactly four hours after it began.
Unexpected Offense
Without DJ LeMahieu the Rockies lineup gets really thin really quick. Put David Dahl on the bench and it’s downright anemic. That’s probably why it was so surprising when, in the top of the second, the bottom half of the lineup delivered. Trevor Story hit a one out single, followed by an Ian Desmond walk. Tony Wolters popped out and then, miracle of miracles, Daniel Castro managed his second extra-base hit as Rockie when he doubled in Story and Desmond. Not to be outdone, Chad Bettis (career .057 average) singled in Castro to make it a 3-0 game. Who said the lineup was bad?
Bettis pitches well, falters late
Chad Bettis wasn’t blowing anybody away but was plenty competent, inducing groundouts and strikeouts aplenty. It was 3-1 Rockies when Buster Posey drew a two-out walk, Bettis’ first of the night. Five pitches later Brandon Belt, who was hitting an incredible .301/.405/.562 entering the contest, poked a home run off the railing above Triples Alley in right center field to tie the game.
Bettis finished with a still respectable 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R/ER, 2 BB, 5 K line and was rewarded with a no-decision. He also had that RBI single. Not a bad way to mark one year cancer free.
Up Next
These two teams square off on Friday at 8:15 pm MT again. It will be a battle of southpaws as Kyle Freeland takes the mound for the Rockies and Derek Holland starts for the Giants.