Sitting in front of his locker, chowing down on a postgame meal of spaghetti and chicken, Matt Holliday spoke like a quiet gentleman.
But earlier Tuesday night, much to the chagrin of San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain, the gentleman turned nasty, in a game full of nasty.
Fueled by Holliday’s rare emotional outburst, the Rockies pounded out 17 hits and rolled 12-4, putting a giant dent in San Francisco’s fading postseason hopes and clinching the season series just one day after routing the Giants 20-8.
The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Holliday, clearly pumped up after getting beaned in the first inning Tuesday, launched a 478-foot homer off Cain in the third inning, the longest ball hit at Coors Field this season. Then as Holliday rounded the bases, he lashed Cain with a verbal assault.
“It kind of gets the blood going when you get hit in the back,” Holliday said. “I wish I wouldn’t have said anything, or had that kind of reaction on the trot.”
Said Rockies manager Clint Hurdle: “I just think it’s just natural reaction after you get drilled in the back with a 95 mph fastball and hit one on the concourse.”
The game got mean in the eighth when Rockies reliever Jose Mesa hit Giants pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney, prompting the Giants to accuse Mesa of headhunting.
“His track record speaks for itself,” Sweeney said. “Him staying in the game is ridiculous. … Don’t throw at a guy’s head.”
In the bottom of the inning, after Garrett Atkins led off with a 422-foot shot to right for his second homer of the game, Holliday got plunked again, this time by Jamey Wright, a former Rockies pitcher. Holliday slammed his bat to the ground in anger, and Wright and Giants manager Felipe Alou both were ejected by home- plate umpire Rick Reed.
“I was a little disappointed, because he is my friend,” Holliday said of Wright. “I sort of thought it was all over with.”
The drama began in the first inning when Cain, the Giants’ talented rookie right-hander, drilled Holliday in the upper back. They exchanged glares and words as Holliday jogged to first base.
Cain entered the game with a 3-1 record and 1.71 ERA against Colorado. But the Rockies already owned a 2-0 lead when they came to bat in the third. First up was Atkins, who hit a 402-foot homer to left. He finished the night 4-for-5 with four RBIs.
Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
