San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies recap

Credit:

-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants recorded a slim win against division rivals Colorado Rockies by a scoreline of 3-2, in their Cactus league action today. Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey and Angel Pagan were among those starting.

1st: Juan Nicasio started on the mound for the Colorado Rockies, and started the game brightly, striking out Angel Pagan, getting Juan Perez to ground out and striking out former teammate Tyler Colvin despite surrendering two singles to Brandon Belt and Buster Posey. Madison Bumgarner, on his second spring start, added another shutout inning, leaving the score at 0-0 heading into the second inning.

2nd: Nicasio stayed in the game, and continued his good form, getting Tony Abreu and Adam Duvall to ground out. He finished off the inning by catching Nick Noonan looking on a fastball. Likewise, Bumgarner continued to chop down the lineup, despite not striking out any batters, he sat down Matt McBride, Kent Matthes and Charlie Blackmon to complete a 1-2-3 inning.

3rd: Rockies starter, Nicasio continued to sit down the Giants. Retiring Ehire Adrianza, Angel Pagan and Juan Perez in order, as the Cactus League fixture continued to fail to produce any runs. The pitching duel continued, as Bumgarner continued to post zeros in his spring, sitting down the Rockies including striking out Tom Murphy.

4th:  Nicasios stellar afternoon finished in the fourth, as veteran Latroy Hawkins came in to pitch. He opened the gates for the Giants to score the first runs of the day, Colvin brought home Belt, after his leadoff double, and then Abreu brought home Colvin to give the Giants a 2-0 lead. Ryan Vodelsong entered the game, and held down the lead for San Francisco, compiling a 1-2-3 inning with one strike out.

5th: Matt Belisle entered the game for the Rockies, and worked around a single from Juan Perez to retire the side. Gary Brown, Roger Kieschnick and Angel Villalona entered as defensive subs for Pagan, Colvin and Belt in the bottom of the fifth, who helped Vodelsong complete another scoreless inning to maintain the Giants slim 2-0 lead. With Vodelsong not allowing a run, the Giants starters were still yet to allow a run this spring training.

6th: The rockies utilised their fourth pitcher of the day, bringing in Yohan Flande from the bullpen, and once again, induced three ground ball outs to retire the Giants 1-2-3. Guillermo Quiroz and Brandon Hicks replaced Posey and Adrianza defensively. Vodelsong became the first starter to allow a run in the Cactus League, allowing Brandon Barnes to score on a Ryan Wheeler double.

7th: The Giants began the seventh strongly, three singles from Adam Duvall, (who has pinch ran for after some discomfort upon running to first) Nick Noonan and Gary Brown resulted in a RBI and the third run of the afternoon for the Giants off Flande. Edwin Escobar replaced Vodelsong on the mound, and despite loading the bases, he escaped the inning with no harm done.

8th: Pedro Hernandez entered the game, and although he allowed singles to Quiroz and Mark Minicozzi, who entered as a pinch hitter for Tony Abreu, he recorded all three outs unscaved. George Kontos, who is battling for one of the bullpen spots up for grabs, entered the game and excelled. He got the Rockies 1-2-3, to preserve the Giants slim lead.

9th: Hernandez remained on the mound, and worked around a two out single to Juan Perez to retire the side, leaving the game poised at 3-1 for the bottom of the ninth. George Kontos remained in the game, but wasn’t as impressive. He struggled through the ninth, getting out of a bases loaded jam to record the save. Having given up an RBI to Jason Pridie, the game finished with a Giants win at 3-2.