Rodriguez delivers, but offense does not
Starter has taken over hard-luck role formerly held by Cain
SAN FRANCISCO >> Another impressive effort from Dereck Rodríguez. Another San Francisco Giants loss.
As Matt Cain enjoys retirement, Rodríguez has taken over the role of the hard-luck starting pitcher who’s adored by fans but ignored but his offense.
Though no Giants starter has received much support from a lineup that ranks among the worst in baseball, Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Rockies in a Rodríguez start was the latest example of San Francisco failing to provide for a pitcher who deserved better.
“I just go out there and throw the best game I can regardless of what’s happening offensively,” Rodríguez said. “I know what I can control and that’s the pitching part and that’s the part I go out there and try to dominate in.”
The Giants yielded just one earned run in their three-game set against Colorado, but failed to pull off a sweep as the offense produced two hits in 12 at-bats with a runner in scoring position.
In 14 games this month, the Giants have scored more than three runs just once, a 9-8 loss to the Rockies September 3 at Coors Field.
The only rough inning Rodríguez encountered was the second as an error on a routine grounder to first baseman Austin Slater started a Rockies rally.
Colorado loaded the bases with one out for starting pitcher Antonio Senzatela, who recorded his second hit of the season with a two-run single to left field to break a scoreless tie. A sacrifice fly from second baseman D.J. LeMahieu extended the Rockies’ lead to 3-0, but that was all Colorado managed against the Giants rookie right-hander.
“That was an eventful inning,” Rodríguez said. “But after that, that was pretty much the only inning that got me.”
LeMahieu was the first of 14 consecutive hitters Rodríguez retired before Colorado loaded the bases with two singles and an intentional walk in the sixth. But with Senzatela at the plate, Rodríguez exacted his revenge by striking out his fifth hitter of the day.
Rodríguez’s early struggles forced manager Bruce Bochy to send reliever Ty Blach to the bullpen in the second inning, but the starter finished the day with his 14th quality start in 17 starts this season.
“He’s just so competitive out there,” Bochy said. “He’s got a good idea of what he wants to do. He slows the game down. He’s got good poise out there.”
Though Rodríguez allowed three runs against Colorado, just one was earned as he dropped his
season ERA from 2.35 to 2.30, which is the fifth-lowest mark among all pitchers with at least 100 innings this year. The only starters with a superior number include National League Cy Young front-runner Jacob deGrom and others in consideration for postseason honors.
No pitcher has suffered from offensive ineptitude like deGrom, who has won just eight games despite posting a 1.71 ERA, but Rodríguez has come close as the Giants have made him a winner just twice in 10 postAll-Star break starts.
“I can’t say enough about this kid’s makeup,” Bochy said. “He goes out there and gives us a great game every start. He doesn’t get concerned with the run support, he just competes so well.”
While Rodríguez’s performance this season is the best by a National League rookie pitcher since deGrom won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2014, Rodríguez happened to arrive in the major leagues in the same year a pair of prolific rookie power hitters, Juan Soto of the Nationals and Ronald Acuña, Jr. of the Braves, have turned the competition for the honor into a two-man race.
“Those two are going to be special for a long time,” Rodríguez said.
The Giants starter didn’t receive any run support until the bottom of the sixth, when fellow rookie Chris Shaw drove in second baseman Joe Panik with a single to right field. Sunday marked the first multi-hit game of Shaw’s career as he entered the day with one hit in his first 22 major league at-bats.
“I know I’m going to come around,” Shaw said. “I just need to get some consistent at-bats going and kind of get back into that feel that you create as a hitter.”
Though Shaw hasn’t played as much as fans expected following the trade that sent outfielder Andrew McCutchen to the Yankees, Bochy said the coaching staff has worked on tinkering with the mechanics of Shaw’s swing and improving his plate discipline.
“I know he’s been pressing a little bit, but they’re human,” Bochy said. “They look up there and their average is whatever but it’s important to go up there and take good swings.”
Slater knocked in the other run as his eighth-inning single gave him an RBI in three straight games.