Gray and Co. still unable to click on all cylinders
SAN FRANCISCO» The Rockies would like to get rolling. Really rolling. As in putting together a string of complete games when the offense and defense click at the same time.
The problem is they keep running into detours, many of them selfmade.
Saturday at windy AT&T Park, in an aggravating 9-4 loss to the Giants, Colorado pitchers were tagged for 17 hits. Right-hander Jon Gray took a step backward during a lackluster start that lasted just 3M innings. Lacking fastball command for the second consecutive start and missing with his slider, Gray was charged with five runs on nine hits.
“It was frustrating from the getgo, really,” he said. “I think sometimes I get worried about things I can’t control. I’m just going to focus on what I can. Just the 60 feet between me and the (hitter). That’s it.”
In the second inning, for example, Brandon Crawford led off with a wind-shifting bloop single that fell between center field Charlie Blackmon, left fielder Gerardo Parra and shortstop Trevor Story. Then Miguel Gomez hit a hot grounder to third baseman Nolan Arenado, who started a would-be double play. However, second baseman Daniel Castro, shading Gomez toward first base, couldn’t quite get to the bag in time to turn two. A subsequent double by Gorkys Hernandez, followed by a hot shot to second by pitcher Chris Stratton to drive in Gomez, gave the Giants their first run.
In the fifth, Gregor Blanco hit a leadoff triple that got through first baseman Ian Desmond and caromed off a ball bag in the bullpen down the right-field line. Gray got the next two outs before he got the hook, and then reliever Chris Rusin gave up an RBI bloop single to right by Brandon Belt.
“I think (Gray’s) command could have been a little better, and he got unraveled a little quick,” catcher Tony Wolters said. “Jon needs to be able to turn the page quick. He’s getting better, at times, when he slows the game down and executes pitches. That’s all he should care about. Just be a robot out there. He needs to be a robot.”
Over his last two games, both losses, Gray has surrendered 11 earned runs over nine innings. Which, of course, translates to an 11.00 ERA. The right-hander has been a pitcher with a split personality all season. In his four victories, he has pitched like an ace, carving up opponents and posting a 0.33 ERA. In his six losses, however, his ERA is 9.60.
Asked if Gray sometimes reverts from a pitcher back into a thrower when he gets into trouble or when he gets traffic on the bases, manager Bud Black said, “It can be viewed that way, and it can be looked at that way, at times. Because Jon does have a good arm and he does possess a good fastball and good stuff, to where he can rare back and get it done.
“But I think there has to be a little bit more pitching here; changing speeds and being able to move the ball around to minimize the damage. Today that didn’t happen. We need Jon to continue to grow and learn from these types of games.”
The Rockies took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Arenado’s RBI single to drive in Blackmon.
A first-inning run is usually a good omen for Colorado, which entered the game with a 20-4 record when it scores the game’s first run. Not on Saturday.
San Francisco took command with a three-run, four-hit third inning, the big hits a two-run double by Crawford and a run-scoring single by Gomez.
The Rockies hung around, thanks to an RBI single to right field by Story that cut San Francisco’s lead to 5-4 in the fifth.
“We have seen more of that from Trevor,” Black said. “The shortening up of the bat and him getting the base hit.”
But in the bottom of the frame, the Giants’ Andrew Mccutchen scorched a two-run double into the left-field corner off Rusin on an 0-2 count, bumping the lead to 7-4. Rusin, one of the best relievers in baseball last season, gave up two runs on five hits in 1L innings on Saturday. Rusin’s 6.75 ERA sits in stark contrast to the career-best 2.85 number he posted last season over 60 appearances.
The Giants put a bow on the victory with Crawford’s loud, two-run homer off Brooks Pounders in the sixth.
“We fought back a couple of different times, which was great,” Black said. “But we didn’t make enough good pitches throughout the course of the day.”
Colorado, which won the first two games here, will attempt to win the series Sunday afternoon.