Monday afternoon, six months after he signed his richest contract, three hours before his biggest hit this season, Yorvit Torrealba sat at his locker spinning yarn and spreading fun. He regaled Greg Reynolds about stories of catching the rookie’s idol, Jason Schmidt. Torrealba then talked up reliever Josh Newman to a reporter, wondering why there hasn’t been more coverage about the “kid from Iowa.”
One problem. Newman’s an Ohio boy. The mistake drew laughter, the levity and passion reminders of Torrealba’s importance to the Rockies.
Both were on display at Coors Field, long overdue as they were, when the catcher smoked a two-RBI double in the sixth inning, shoving the Rockies to their third straight win, a 4-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
“I thought it was foul. I was saying, ‘Please! Please! Stay fair,’ ” Torrealba said. “It’s definitely a great feeling to come through in the clutch. We haven’t done that all year long, and hopefully that gets us going.”
There were other important moments, namely the sleeves-rolled-up performance of starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa and the nervy double-play turn by second baseman Omar Quintanilla as he endured the baseball equivalent of an intersection collision.
But nothing stood out like Torrealba’s hit, probably because it’s the type of game-changing swing that has been missing from him and this team. The Rockies entered hitting .233 with runners in scoring position. Torrealba was worse, saddled with a .200 clip in 20 at-bats.
He nearly drew chalk against reliever Vinnie Chulk. With two out and two aboard, Torrealba lined a sinker down the left-field line. Chulk agonized over the hit.
“I looked at it 100 times on video already. I hit my spot, but that’s not good pitch selection there,” Chulk said.
Garrett Atkins, who hit cleanup because of his success against left-handed pitching, and Ryan Spilborghs scored easily.
“Maybe I ran through a sign,” Spilborghs said. “But it doesn’t matter, because we won.”
This season has been a grind for Torrealba, marked by long stretches on the bench. On Monday, he threw his fist into the air after the final pitch, a move that became his signature last fall.
Brian Fuentes’ save was made possible by Quintanilla’s work at second in the eighth. Aaron Rowand grounded to Atkins, who fired to second. Emmanuel Burriss, a pinch runner for catcher Bengie Molina, plowed into Quintanilla, who somehow managed to get enough on the throw to double off Rowand.
The only thing missing was the exchange of insurance cards.
“I could see him coming out of the corner of my eye, so I knew I was going to wear it,” Quintanilla said. “I am a tough player. It whiplashed me, pinched my neck and back a little bit, and now my foot hurts. But we needed the out there.”
Reliever Taylor Buchholz stranded Fred Lewis at third with a harmless flyball a few seconds later. It was a critical stop in a homestand that is finally hinting of hope.
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
TODAY: Giants at Rockies, 6:30 p.m., FSN
Aaron Cook (6-2, 2.82 ERA) finally revealed vulnerability in a loss last week to Arizona. He couldn’t command his sinker at the knees, too often leaving it elevated. But the right-hander is undefeated at Coors Field, holding hitters to a .192 average. Tim Lincecum (5-1, 1.92) pitches mean, unabashedly going for strikeouts. He leads the majors with 63. The Rockies posted eight hits in an April 29 victory against Lincecum. Todd Helton is 5-for-8 with a home run off the 23-year-old. Troy E. Renck, The Denver Post
Wednesday
Giants’ Jonathan Sanchez (2-3, 4.59 ERA) vs. Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez (1-4, 5.29), 1:05 p.m., FSN
Thursday
Off
Friday
Mets’ Oliver Perez (4-3, 4.25) vs. Rockies’ Greg Reynolds (0-1, 3.09), 7:05 p.m., FSN
Saturday
Mets’ John Maine (5-2, 2.81) vs. Rockies’ Jeff Francis (1-4, 5.87), 1:55 p.m., Fox
