Jeff Samardzija has to get at least an aside here: he pitched a damn fine game. And he struck out Rockies rookie phenom Trevor Story three times! But this is The Trevor Brown Story. The young catcher got a start because Buster Posey had a bruised foot and he made the most of it, blasting two* 2-run homers to lead the attack. His first off starter Tyler Chatwood in the 6th made a 3-2 lead a 5-2 lead. His second off reliever Jason Gurka in the 8th made it 7-2. The backup backstop is a 10th-round pick from the 2012 June draft. He played college ball, like Brandon Crawford, at UCLA. He made his debut last September. Hunter Pence was the other lineup beast, also hitting a 2-run homer and notching 3 RBI.
Giants starter Jeff Samardzija probably should have come away with only one run allowed as Angel Pagan missed a pop fly to left that fell for a single. He called off BCraw but then could not make the play. The other run came in on a double play. The Shark retired the final nine on 24 pitches. The tally was 31 batters faced over 8 innings (111 pitches), 6 hits, 2 walks, 5 whiffs. That's what we like to see. Once again he couldn't rely on his splitter/forkball much but he had great command of his heater. He was popping 95 on the gun and locating it nicely. George Kontos finished up. Winning on the road is always good, winning in Denver is even better. Goofy stuff happens to the Giants in Coors Field. And the damn place chews up pitching staffs, so tonight's win was a great way to start the road trip.
Jake Peavy tomorrow at 5:40 Pacific and Matt Cain Thursday at 12:10.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
p.s. Who, you ask, leads the team in dingers? Why, rookie catcher Trevor Brown does, with *three!
p.p.s. Just when you thought there would be no more photos, here's another (the last, I promise):
