Travis Ishikawa slams Ubaldo Jimenez as Giants snap 7-game skid with 11-8 win over Rox

By Arnie Stapleton, AP
Saturday, July 3, 2010

Jimenez not sharp, Giants beat Rockies 11-8

DENVER — The San Francisco Giants couldn’t beat Ubaldo Jimenez despite tagging him for seven runs in the third inning. They had no trouble getting to the Colorado Rockies’ beleaguered bullpen for an 11-8 win Saturday night that snapped a seven-game skid.

Struggling right-hander Manny Corpas (2-5) was charged with two runs in the seventh after the Rockies rallied from a 7-1 deficit to put Jimenez in line for his 15th win.

Corpas allowed Nate Schierholtz’s leadoff triple in and Andres Torres’ tying RBI single. Corpas was lifted for Joe Beimel after giving up a single to Freddy Sanchez, and Torres scored on Pablo Sandoval’s sacrifice fly to center to give San Francisco a 9-8 lead.

Aubrey Huff’s two-run homer, his 15th, off Matt Flores in the ninth capped the wild night of scoring.

Denny Bautista (2-0) got the last two outs of the sixth and Brian Wilson worked 1 1-3 innings for his 22nd save in 24 tries.

Trying to improve to 15-1, Jimenez was roughed up in the third, when Travis Ishikawa’s first career grand slam gave the Giants a 7-1 lead. His teammates took him off the hook, however, and actually put him in line for the win until Corpas blew an 8-7 lead in the seventh.

Jimenez failed in his bid to become the first pitcher since David Wells in 2000 to win 15 games before the All-Star break. He’ll get one more shot at it Thursday against the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals.

But gone is his shot at tying Denny McClain’s major league record of 16 wins before the midsummer classic, which McClain set on the way to winning 31 games in 1968.

Jimenez’s ERA has jumped from 1.15 to 2.27 in his last three starts, during which he’s allowed 17 earned runs in 17 2-3 innings. He has a win and two no-decisions in that span thanks to an offense that keeps bailing him out.

This time, the Rockies rallied for four runs in the sixth, when Jimenez was lifted for a pinch-hitter, to take an 8-7 lead.

After allowing two runs in the third inning, Jimenez and the Rockies thought they were out of trouble when Huff hit a hard one-hopper to second base with one out. But first base umpire Paul Nauert ruled shortstop Clint Barmes’ relay to first was late, drawing Colorado manager Jim Tracy out of the dugout.

The Giants then rallied for five more runs to take a 7-1 lead, and Rockies first baseman Melvin Mora would stare down Nauert after a 6-4-3 double play that ended the fourth inning.

After the safe call at first, Jimenez whizzed a fastball past Juan Uribe’s armpits for a wild pitch that allowed Huff to score from third base, making it 3-1. Then, he threw high to Buster Posey for ball four to load the bases and Ishikawa sent Jimenez’s 88 mph first-pitch changeup into the right-field bullpen for his second homer of the year and first career grand slam.

It was also the first grand slam Jimenez had surrendered in 100 career major league starts plus one relief appearance.

Carlos Gonzalez’s 14th homer, a two-run shot, in the bottom half of the third made it 7-3, and Ian Stewart tripled home another run with nobody out in the fourth but was stranded at third base. Stewart later left the game with a bruised right elbow after getting plunked by a pitch by Barry Zito in the sixth.

Zito, who allowed six earned runs on eight hits in 5 1-3 innings, was pulled after allowing a one-out single and hitting Stewart.

Dan Runzler gave up Brad Hawpe’s pinch-hit RBI double that made it 7-5, Dexter Fowler tied it with a two-run single and Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly gave Colorado a short-lived 8-7 lead.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy was ejected in the sixth after arguing a close call at first base in which Nauert called the runner safe on a drag bunt by Jonathan Herrera.

NOTES: The Giants’ skid was their longest since dropping eight straight in June 2007. … Barmes extended his hitting streak to 11.

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