DENVER — When a reliever enters for an injured pitcher, he gets all the time he needs to properly warm up. The Giants were sadly not very good for “pace of play” on Tuesday night.
An hour after Jeff Samardzija was pulled with right shoulder tightness, Dereck Rodriguez had to come out of his MLB debut because a 108 mph liner off Ian Desmond’s bat smoked his right calf. The rest of this night didn’t go any better for the Giants.
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The undermanned pitching staff was once again battered as the Giants fell 11-4 at Coors Field. In seven games on this trip, they have given up 50 runs, but the pitching is far from the only issue. The lineup, mostly healthy, couldn’t sustain a rally. The defense continued to be awful.
It added up to a sixth loss in seven games on this trip. Here are the details:
—- Rodriguez did well the first time out, showing the kind of stuff and command that allowed him to shoot through the minors as a converted outfielder. He pitched 3 1/3 innings before the injury, giving up just one earned run on five hits, a walk and four strikeouts. There were three unearned runs thanks to a Kelby Tomlinson error. Rodriguez topped out at 95 mph and got 10 swings-and-misses on his fastball. He also had an RBI double to deep right, which surely pleased his father.
—- Swapping Buster Posey and Andrew McCutchen in the lineup was a mixed bag. Posey hit a long homer to left, snapping a streak of 126 at-bats without one. McCutchen had two early singles but hit into a killer of a double play with two on in the seventh.
—- Evan Longoria homered twice, getting to 10 on the season. All of last season’s third basemen combined for nine homers.
—- Kelby Tomlinson has four errors in two games here, including a costly one with two outs in the fourth. He also isn’t hitting. It’s hard to see how he survives the upcoming Joe Panik promotion.
