San Francisco Chronicle

Chatwood and wall take big toll on S.F.

- By Henry Schulman Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: hschulman@sfchronicl­e.com Twitter: @hankchulma­n

A cheery crowd filed into AT&T Park, paid tribute to Jackie Robinson on the 70th anniversar­y of his majorleagu­e debut, then watched the Giants’ day take a decided turn south in a wretched 5-0 loss.

The one accomplish­ment Saturday in a Tyler Chatwood two-hitter cost the Giants a left fielder.

With two outs in the fourth inning, three runs in and the Rockies leading 4-0, DJ LeMahieu lined a ball over Jarrett Parker’s head in left field that looked like extra bases and another Colorado run. But Parker caught it, crashed into the wall and broke his right collarbone.

Parker is headed to the disabled list, his big chance to prove he belongs in a majorleagu­e lineup ruined. Manager Bruce Bochy said Parker naturally was down. But once the initial shock and pain subsides, maybe Parker can take some consolatio­n in knowing how much his teammates loved his courage on the play.

“I had no idea that ball was even catchable,” pitcher Matt Moore said after allowing a lot of rockets in 51⁄3 innings. “It was smoked off the bat, and to see him just stay locked in on that, hats off to him.

“I’m terribly sorry he’s going to deal with that. Hopefully it’s a speedy recovery for him. It sucks when something like that happens.”

Bochy would not provide a prognosis. Nor did the Giants say who would come from the minors to replace him. The only healthy minor-league outfielder on the 40-man roster is Orlando Calixte. Kelby Tomlinson can play left field, where the Giants also are covered with Chris Marrero and Aaron Hill.

Marrero was an important Giant for the second game in a row. A day after hitting his first big-league homer, Marrero was one of Parker’s replacemen­ts in left when he singled with two outs in the sixth inning. Chatwood was perfect until then.

Chatwood also allowed a Joe Panik single in the seventh and walked Denard Span in the ninth before finishing his first career complete-game victory. He had an eight-inning complete game loss to the Dodgers in 2013.

The Giants were shut out for the first time since Chatwood and two relievers combined on a five-hitter Sept. 28.

“His timing was real quick,” said Nick Hundley, who caught Chatwood with the Rockies last season. “We didn’t do a real good job of slowing him down. We looked a little rushed. We let him dictate the tempo. We’ll adjust the next time we face him.”

Chatwood is not just another of those Brand X pitchers who tend to dominate the Giants. He led the majors with a 1.69 road ERA last year and has a quality assortment of secondary pitches to go with a mid-90s sinker that on Saturday yielded 17 groundball outs.

Still, Chatwood was not the first pitcher to shut down the Giants on a 3-3 homestand that ends Sunday, likely their final game without Buster Posey. They have scored 18 runs in the three wins, four in the three losses.

“I think it’s more the pitching we're facing,” Bochy said. “This offense, I really believe it’s going to be more consistent than what happened in the second half (last year). The hope is when you run into a well-pitched game like that, that your guy throws a good game. But Matty was off today.”

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States