9th Inning Meltdown Dooms Giants

Giants Have Lost 4 of Last 5 Games

SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Giants were in prime position to gain ground in both the NL West and wild-card races until they got beat on a strange shattered-bat triple and an uncharacteristically off throw by their second baseman when he couldn't grip the ball.

The Colorado Rockies rode that big break a step closer to making their own postseason push.

Carlos Gonzalez tripled over charging right fielder Cody Ross with no outs in the ninth and scored on Freddy Sanchez's second throwing error of the game, and the Rockies rallied to beat the Giants 2-1 on Monday night.

"When you see the bat shatter, hear the sound, you're going to break in," said Ross, making just his second start in right field since joining the Giants last week. "You think you have the right read on it and the next thing you know it's over your head. ... That's kind of a bizarre broken-bat triple. I've never seen anything like that, really."

The Giants squandered a key chance to gain ground on first-place San Diego in the division and the Phillies in the wild-card race after both those teams lost. Instead, San Francisco still sits five games back in the division and 1 1/2 games behind Philadelphia.

Colorado sits 3 1/2 games behind the Phillies, two behind the Giants.

Gonzalez, a right fielder himself, felt for Ross.

"It was difficult," Gonzalez said. "As an outfielder, you see the bat broke and your first move is going to be running into the infield. It was crazy because I hit the ball on the barrel and I didn't know how that bat broke. I guess it was meant to be. It was crazy. That's how we won the game."

Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez carried a shutout bid into the ninth then gave way to All-Star closer Brian Wilson (3-2) after a leadoff walk to Dexter Fowler. After Ross' miscue, Freddy Sanchez's relay throw skipped past third baseman Pablo Sandoval and Wilson.

Contact Us