Rock Solid Recap: Jhoulys (yo-lees) Chacin (cha-sheen)

That's exactly how you win in San Francisco.

Rockies 4, Giants 1

Winning Player: Jhoulys Chacin

Admire this line: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K

Despite the 3 walks, Chacin pounded the strike zone today for all seven innings. When he did walk a guy, he made good pitches to get the next guy out. He didn't allow innings to spiral out of control by pitching scared or getting down on himself, he went on the attack and got outs.

Without the benefit of free passes and good hitting counts to create traffic, the Giants offense was unable to string together hits, and thus they were unable to create runs.

It's a simple formula. Not always easy to execute, but that's exactly how you do it.

And did you notice how dead the crowd was? Few teams feed off their crowd like the Giants do, so eliminating that element early was a nice plus. They only got excited a couple times late in the game.

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Running Thoughts: Chacin vs. Sanchez

More Lineups Changes

That's to be expected on a Sunday, but these are fairly significant.

Dexter Fowler leads off.  Clint Barmes hits second and plays second.  Why, I don't know.

Carlos Gonzalez hits third, Tulowitzki fourth, Jason Giambi in for Helton is fifth.

Melvin Mora starts for Ian Stewart and hits 6th.  So I guess Tracy has determined that Stewart can't hit lefties?  That's nonsense and a little bit of overmanaging.  Just let Stewart play.  Or maybe Mora is turning into his new Olivo, since Olivo is now scuffling.

Ryan Spilborghs hits seventh.  Paul Phillips gets his first start and hits eighth.  Jhuolys Chacin on the mound.  We all have our fingers crossed for the youngster.

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Looking Ahead: How To Win In San Francisco

Trips to San Francisco are death to the Colorado Rockies.

It's been that way for years.

It'll likely continue that way as long as the Giants maintain their incredible starting pitching. That is, unless the Rockies learn to change their approach.

It's a different game AT&T Park. It almost has a playoff feel to it because run scoring chances are so scarse for the Rockies (and every team that plays there), that every wasted one is costly.

It also feels like every run scoring chance the Giants get, they cash in.

Why does it feel that way?

Well, that's because they realize every single run they scratch out means a lot to their pitching staff. They value each chance, not because they fear it's their last, but because they know cashing in means their chances of winning have significantly increased.  Their pitching doesn't need much breathing room.

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