DENVER - The Giants lost 6-2 on Tuesday night. Their bullpen imploded at Coors Field. Their lineup did not do what you're supposed to do at Coors Field. They have lost 17 of their last 19 games here, which is a problem since, you know, the Rockies are in the division and the Giants have to travel here three times a year.
Now that we got all that out of the way, there was a positive. A big one.
If the Giants ever turn it around on their trips to Denver, they'll need a better lineup, yes, but also pitchers capable of surviving the thin air and endless outfield alleys. On Tuesday night, Dereck Rodriguez thrived. He gave up one run - a solo homer in six innings, and in two appearances here he has allowed just two runs in 9 1/3 innings.
"I forgot how much fun it is to pitch here," Rodriguez said afterward.
Excuse me?
"I love this mound here," he continued. "It's just really fun pitching here. I just really like the mound for some reason."
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Rodriguez admitted that the reason might be a simple one. This is where he made his big-league debut back in May, and this park will always hold special meaning to him because of that. But it's still not a place pitchers are supposed to enjoy, especially when the Rockies are rolling. Rodriguez took the field Tuesday night, thought about all that, and decided that, well, he wasn't too impressed.
"Before the game today I felt this would be a test facing the first-place team here in Colorado. I put a challenge for myself," he said. "I executed and it went well."
Rodriguez dominated by doing something so few pitchers can do at Coors. He pitched like he normally would, throwing all four pitches and mixing it up. He was not worried about flat cutters or hanging curveballs. He simply attacked as he always does.
Rodriguez threw 18 curveballs, getting five of his 15 swinging strikes with the pitch. He went to it for a particularly nasty sequence in the third. Nolan Arenado buckled on an 0-2 curve and made a face as he walked out of the batter's box. Carlos Gonzalez, who later would break the game open with a bases-loaded triple, worked a 3-2 count and then swung over the top of a bender that dipped toward Gonzalez's back foot.
The one blip on Rodriguez's line was a solo homer from David Dahl in the second. Rodriguez struck him out in the fourth and then froze him with a high curveball with a runner on in the sixth.
Rodriguez said he wasn't thinking about what the Colorado air might do to his curveball.
"I was just going out there and throwing like it's any other field," he said. "That's what helped me. There were a couple pitches that didn't move, but I didn't give up on it."
The rookie made it all sound easy, but there was a complication Tuesday night. This was just his second professional game in September, and the Giants are well aware that he's pushing new limits as a young starter. Rodriguez was pulled at 93 pitches, and manager Bruce Bochy later said he has to take care of Rodriguez this month.
"These guys are not used to pitching in September," he said, also referencing Wednesday starter Andrew Suarez. "We want to take care of him. He was around 100 pitches and his spot was coming up."
The game blew up once Rodriguez took a seat. Reyes Moronta, so dominant for most of the year, was charged with four earned. For the fifth time since the All-Star break, Rodriguez gave up two-or-fewer runs and took a no-decision. But the Giants know you can't look at wins and losses with a pitcher who has thrown like vintage Matt Cain and now apparently will get his results, too.
"This guy has done a really amazing job every time out," Bochy said. "He's done a terrific job keeping us not just in the game, but (pitching) better than a quality start. He comes in here and gives us another one."
