Lincecum, Giants Roughed Up By Rockies
DENVER (CBS / AP) -- Carlos Gonzalez tripled twice, drove in four runs and scored three times Wednesday night, leading the Colorado Rockies to a wild 17-8 win over Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants that recalled the pre-humidor days at Coors Field.
The Rockies collected 22 hits—half of them for extra bases— on a cool, sometimes damp evening, their best offensive output since a 22-hit game at Montreal on Aug. 12, 2000.
Matt Reynolds (1-0) got the win with 1 2-3 innings in relief of Jeremy Guthrie, who failed to hold a 6-0 lead, and Tyler Chatwood picked up his first career save with a three-inning stint.
Guillermo Mota (0-1) took the loss in relief of an ineffective Lincecum, who had his second straight shaky start but wasn't tagged with his second loss thanks to a seven-run fourth-inning rally that briefly gave the Giants the lead.
Looking to bounce back from a poor performance at Arizona in the season opener, Lincecum was tagged for six runs and eight hits in just 2 1-3 innings. He walked two, threw two wild pitches and left trailing 6-zip.
His ERA ballooned to 12.91, but he watched his teammates score seven times in the top of the fourth to take him off the hook.
However, San Francisco's bullpen would give up the game's next 10 runs.
Guthrie allowed six runs before he was replaced by Reynolds. Guthrie gave up nine hits, walked two and allowed two homers in 3 1-3 innings. He's allowed back-to-back homers in each of his two starts for the Rockies. This time, Nate Schierholtz and Brandon Crawford went deep to spark the rally.
After Barry Zito on Monday became the first Giants pitcher to throw a shutout at Coors Field, Lincecum couldn't get out of the first inning unscathed as Gonzalez hit an RBI triple to left-center and scored on Troy Tulowitzki's groundout.
Gonzalez drove in another run with his second triple in the third, this one to right field. He scored when Lincecum's second wild pitch bounced away from rookie catcher Hector Sanchez, whose throw to the pitcher covering the plate was wide.
Sanchez was starting in place of Buster Posey, who has shingles.
Ramon Hernandez's RBI single made it 6-0, and after Lincecum walked Chris Nelson to load the bases with one out and the pitcher coming up, Giants manager Bruce Bochy brought in right-hander Daniel Otero.
Otero got Guthrie to ground into an inning-ending double play, a missed opportunity that loomed ever larger once the right-hander took the mound in the top of the fourth and retired just one of the next seven hitters.
After Melky Cabrera's RBI single and Pablo Sandoval's run-scoring double made it 6-4, Reynolds replaced Guthrie, walked his first hitter to load the bases and then surrendered a two-run single to Sanchez and a sacrifice fly to Schierholtz that gave the Giants the lead.
The Rockies regained the lead in the bottom half of the fourth on Gonzalez's run-scoring groundout, Tulowitzki's RBI single and Michael Cuddyer's RBI double off Mota that made it 9-7.
The Rockies scored seven times in the fifth.
Marco Scutaro's RBI double made it 10-7 and chased Mota, who
gave up five runs, four earned, and six hits in one-plus inning of work. Gonzalez singled home a run off Jeremy Affeldt for his fourth RBI and Helton followed with a run-scoring double that made it 12-7.
That's when things really got crazy.
Hernandez singled home another run, sending Cuddyer to third.
Hernandez took second on an error by first baseman Brett Pill, who redirected the throw home into foul territory along the first-base line. The catcher retrieved the ball and Cuddyer found himself caught halfway between third and home. He retreated and got into a rundown with Hernandez barreling his way to third.
Cuddyer was safe at home when Pill made his second error on the play, and Hernandez reached third safety when Crawford, covering the bag, missed the tag. He wasn't charged with an error, but when the wacky play was over, there were seven Giants—all hanging their heads or shaking them in disbelief—between third base and home plate while the Rockies were wildly celebrating their luck.
Nelson followed with an RBI double and Eric Young Jr. an RBI triple that made it 16-7.
Schierholtz hit his second homer, off Tyler Chatwood, leading off the seventh.
NOTES: The Rockies had eight doubles, three by Cuddyer, who tied his career high, and three triples. ... Posey pinch-hit in the eighth. ... Schierholtz's other two-homer game was last July 6 vs. San Diego. ... LHP Drew Pomeranz is set to make his first start Sunday after a solid outing for Double-A Tulsa on Tuesday night in which he threw four scoreless innings and worked his way out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam at Corpus Christi.
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