Baggs' Instant Replay: Giants 9, Rockies 8

BOX SCORE
DENVERAngel Pagan tied Willie Mays in the record books, Madison Bumgarner offset another hit-pocked start by mashing a three-run home run into the next county and the Giants rallied from a four-run deficit before squeaking out a 9-8 victory over the Colorado Rockies Tuesday night.But as the Giants stretched their lead to six games in the NL West, the real muscle and motor was provided by none other than Brandon Belt, who continues to grow into the player so many believed he could be.Belt matched his career high with four RBIs, he lined a tiebreaking, two-run double in the fifth inning and added a solo home run in the seventh, continuing what has been a tremendous second-half run.The Giants might have a major problem on their hands at the other corner infield spot with Pablo Sandoval, who was 0 for 4 and had two more defensive misplays before he exited on a double-switch in the sixth inning.But Belt is providing plenty at first base. He is a .351 hitter over his last 36 games, including a dominating .418 average against right-handers over that span.Hes also 12 for his last 28 with runners in scoring position.Pagan had a special night, too. He knocked in a run with a triple in the sixth inninghis 12th of the season, matching the Giants single-season franchise record in the San Francisco era. Mays set the mark in 1960 and Steve Finley matched it in 2006.Sergio Romo served up a two-run pinch home run with two outs in the ninth, leaving the last out for Javier Lopez. He got Jason Giambi to hit a weak flare to end it.Starting pitching reportBumgarner matched a career (and season) high by allowing 11 hits, he gave up exactly four earned runs for the fourth consecutive start and he left a bit of a mess for George Kontos to clean up in the fifth inning while failing to qualify for his 15th victory.From every angle, it was not a good start. Bumgarner left plenty of sliders and fastballs in hittable locations. But he had a fair bit of bad luck as well. The Rockies reached on four infield hits, two of which took unfortunate bounces off third base.Thats how the Rockies got their first run, when Jordan Pacheco doubled in the second inning after the ball took a flat bounce off the bag and got past Pablo Sandoval. Chris Nelson followed with an RBI single.The Rockies three-run third inning was Bumgarners undoing, although it couldve been worse. Pitcher Jhoulys Chacin started the rally with a leadoff double off the base of the wallthe first of five hits allowed by Bumgarner in the inning. Dexter Fowler reached on a bunt single, Carlos Gonzalez doubled and the Rockies even pulled off the rare event of scoring a catcher, Wilin Rosario, from first base on a single. (Rosario was running with the pitch and never stopped as Pacheco nearly split the gap in right-center field.)The Giants gave away an out on a fumbled play in the middle infield, but Bumgarner managed to escape a full-scale calamity by getting DJ LeMahieu to ground out with the bases loaded.Bumgarner gave up singles to three of the four batters he faced in the fifth inning, although Rosario hit another doink job off third base and Nelson reached on a charitably scored single when Sandoval bobbled a slow roller. With his pitch count at 92, Bumgarner surrendered the baseball.Bullpen reportKontos hasnt been so reliable with inherited runners, but he struck out two to prevent two of Bumgarners runners from scoring to earn credit for the victory. From there, the Giants had 12 outs to get and Bochy had 13 relievers from which to choose.They stuck with the strikeout. Jose Mijares and Guillermo Mota combined to record all six of their outs by missing bats; counting Bumgarners whiff of Pacheco in the fifth, the Giants registered nine consecutive outs via strikeout.Jeremy Affeldt gave up two soft singles that led to a run in the eighth, though Santiago Casilla got a double-play grounder (well turned by Brandon Crawford) to tamp down the threat. And after the home run got Romo in the ninth, Lopez recorded his seventh save in nine chances.At the plateThe Giants were coming off a rough performance with runners in scoring position in Mondays loss and couldnt do anything in the early innings against Chacin.But they managed an untraditional four-run rally in the fourth that tied the score. How untraditional? It started with a Buster Posey infield single and ended with Bumgarners three-run home run.Belt plated their first run with an RBI ground out and it looked like that would be all the Giants would get when third baseman Chris Nelson snared Crawfords hard ground ball down the line. Instead of a double, Nelson scrambled to his feet and recorded the force at third base.But with two outs, Bumgarner took a big ol country cut at a 2-1 fastball and crushed it deep into the left field bleachers, an estimated 416 feet away. It was Bumgarners second home run this season (not including dozens upon dozens he hits in batting practice), and it marked the first three-run homer by a pitcher since July 28, 2005, when Brad Hennessey single-handedly beat the Brewers 3-0 in Milwaukee.Bumgarner was expressionless as he ran the bases.The Giants kept swinging against the Rockies bullpen, which might be full of knuckle draggers by the time this season mercifully ends. It was Belt who came through with two out in the fifth, hitting a well struck, two-run double to put the Giants ahead.Its never a bad idea to pad your lead at Coors Field, and the Giants did that by scoring two more in the sixth. Aubrey Huff improved to 3 for 5 with a walk as a pinch hitter, and added some comic relief as well, when he singled off the wall. Huff got more than halfway to second base before he realized his balky legs would betray him, then stopped and staggered back to first base. He completed the play with a Willie Mays Hayes style slide that ended a foot short of the bag. Somehow, after all that, he was safe.Huff had Willie Mays Hayes covered, and then Pagan matched the real Mays. Pagan never stopped running on his drive to the wall in right-center field. His next target on the triples list is a bit far flung, though:George Davis set the Giants all-time record with 27 triples in 1893.Pinch runner Francisco Peguero scored on Pagans triple, and Marco Scutaro followed with a sacrifice fly that gave the Giants an 8-5 lead.They added another run in the seventh when Belt hit his sixth homer of the seasona solo shot into the forested bullpen area off right-hander Edgmer Escalona. It turned out to be a run they needed -- which is usually the case at Coors Field.In fieldSandoval had rotten luck when two bouncing balls hit third base, but he also couldnt come up with two other plays cleanly. He recovered from a bobble in time to throw out Josh Rutledge in the fourth and escaped an error when the scorer credited Rosario with a hit in the fifth.Crawford committed a throwing error when he threw high to Belt in the sixth inning. Crawford originally was charged with another error in the third when he made a poor decision and flipped to second base for the short force with two outs. Crawford had an easy play at first base and so perhaps second baseman Marco Scutaro didnt expect to field a throw. Scutaro had overran the bag, anyway. The official scorer reviewed the play a few innings later and took away the error on Crawford, calling it a straight fielders choice. More importantly, Bumgarner retired the next hitter to strand the bases loaded.AttendanceThe Rockies announced 26,631 paid. Dutiful bunch.Up nextThe Giants finish their three-game series at Coors Field on Wednesday night. Tim Lincecum (8-14, 5.11) takes the mound against left-hander Jeff Francis (5-4, 5.38).