Todd Helton is a former Gold Glover and teammates still refer to him as a vacuum cleaner. So there is always a danger the Rockies’ defense will suffer when he’s not in the lineup. Tuesday in San Diego, the ball found first baseman Melvin Mora. He stretched too soon on Clint Barmes’ throw, failed to scoop a pick by Jason Hammel and pulled his foot on a toss from Barmes for his only error. Mora, however, prevented a run by throwing out Tony Gwynn at home on a groundball in the third inning.
A blast at the beach.
Carlos Gonzalez grabbed the team lead with his 12th home run, a missile that cleared the center-field fence and just missed hitting a kid who was playing in the sandbox at Petco Park.
Pinch-hit help.
Jason Giambi has a secret weapon in his conversion to pinch-hitting: former A’s teammate and current Padre Matt Stairs. “I text him and ask advice about it. He’s really helped me understand the role.”
Troy E. Renck, The Denver Post
