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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
DENVER (AP) -- The San Francisco Giants tried to force Rolando
Arrojo from the game, roughing him up for five runs in the third
inning and maiming him with a line drive off his left knee.
But Arrojo stood his ground, staying loose during a rain delay
and following his rough inning with three straight shutout frames
to help the Colorado Rockies rout the Giants 15-6 on Monday night.
Jeff Cirillo had three hits and three RBIs, and Darren Bragg had
a pinch-hit three-run homer for Colorado.
|  | | Giants trainer Stan Conte checks the leg of Kirk Rueter after he was hit by a line shot in the first inning. Rueter couldn't continue. |
Todd Helton and Jeffrey Hammonds each had two RBI as the
Rockies extended the best home record in the majors to 26-8.
Arrojo (5-5) went six innings, allowing seven hits and five
runs, only two of them earned.
"Arrojo showed us a lot tonight," Rockies manager Buddy Bell
said. "He got smoked on that line drive, right in the knee. He's
got a pretty good knot on it right now.
"His ability to stay out there, No. 1, shows a lot about the
guy. And No. 2, it saves our bullpen. He threw at 15-minute
intervals during the rain delay and he ran and walked. He wanted to
go back out there."
Cirillo said the Rockies, who pounded 16 hits, "will just try
to win every single game at home. I can't explain it, why we hit so
well here. But why change the formula?"
Giants pitchers issued 10 walks, and five of those batters
scored.
"You can't walk people here and expect to win," Giants manager
Dusty Baker said. "You can never walk 10 in any park."
Colorado jumped on Giants starter Kirk Rueter for four runs in
the first inning, knocking the left-hander from the game after he
bruised his right ankle when struck by a line drive.
Brian Hunter doubled and scored on Larry Walker's triple to
right-center. Cirillo and Helton walked, and Hammonds lined a
two-run single to center. Scott Servais followed with an RBI
single, and Rueter departed when hit by Neifi Perez's liner, on
which Hammonds was caught in a rundown between third and home.
Baker said losing Rueter so early "puts pressure on our bullpen
for the series and the next seven days. We don't have many days off
to recover from this. Kirk has a welt the size of a golf ball just
above the ankle."
The Rockies made it 5-0 in the second off Mark Gardner (4-4) on
two walks, a hit batter and Helton's RBI single.
The Giants tied it in the third, sending nine men to the plate.
With one out, Gardner reached when right fielder Hammonds' sliding
catch was ruled a trap. Marvin Benard singled off Arrojo's left
knee, and Bill Mueller was hit by a pitch. Barry Bonds hit a
grounder between first and second that appeared to be a double-play
ball, but first baseman Helton booted it for an error, allowing two
runs to score.
Jeff Kent then hit an RBI single, J.T. Snow a sacrifice fly and
Ellis Burks an RBI double.
At that point, the game was delayed by rain for 1 hour, 34
minutes.
Cirillo's RBI double keyed a three-run fourth for the Rockies.
Walker opened the inning with a single, and Cirillo doubled to
right-center. After a walk and a groundout, Cirillo scored when
catcher Doug Mirabelli dropped second baseman Kent's throw on a
grounder, and Helton scored on Perez's fielder's choice grounder.
In the fifth, Hunter tripled and scored on Mike Lansing's
grounder, and Helton added a run-scoring double.
Cirillo had a two-run single in the sixth, and Bragg hit a
429-foot shot off John Johnstone in the seventh.
Mueller hit his fifth homer, a solo shot off Mike DeJean in the
ninth.
Game
notes
Hammonds was ejected by home plate umpire Ed Montague for
arguing a strike call in the fourth. ... Umpire Tony Randazzo, late
for the game because of a canceled flight, took his place on the
field in the third inning. ... In an unintentionally timely
promotion by the Rockies, fans attending the rain-interrupted game
received umbrellas. ... It was the first of eight meetings in 11
days for the NL West rivals, who won't meet again this season.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
San Francisco Clubhouse
Colorado Clubhouse
RECAPS
Minnesota 10
Anaheim 6
Detroit 13
Cleveland 2
NY Mets 10
Florida 5
Cincinnati 3
St. Louis 2
Colorado 15
San Francisco 6
Arizona 6
Houston 1
San Diego 9
Los Angeles 5
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