21 Apr 14

Things at the “mile-high carnival funhouse” (as Henry Schulman calls Coors Field) went from bad to worse by the third inning. Ryan Vogelsong suffered his shortest start with the Giants after he retired four batters and allowed 5 runs on 3 home runs. In the third, David Huff, sprinting toward his first hit in the majors, strained his left quadriceps and had to leave the game before hurling another pitch. He likely will land on the disabled list.

The offense for several games has been sputtering, but the pitching declined so that a win far exceeded the reach of the Giants. The damage had been done when Yusmeiro Petit tossed four innings before handing the game over to Jean Machi and Juan Gutierrez.

The Giants have the pleasure of two more games at Coors where the games can resemble pin ball and where the stress on bullpens is proportionately inexorable. Watching a game there calls for a wait-and-see, perceiving approach. Anything can happen, and it can happen fast.

The Phillies shut out the Dodgers, 7-0, at Chavez Ravine, so the Giants kept pace with the Dodgers and remain but one game behind their arch-rivals.