Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado continues to blister Cactus League pitching.
(AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)
GIANTS 10, ROCKIES 4
At Salt River Fields
Scottsdale, Ariz. -— Nolan just kept on rollin’, but starter Jorge De La Rosa and reliever Jason Motte had a tough Sunday afternoon.
Nolan — Arenado, that is — went 2-for-3 with a double and a single in his first two at-bats, raising his batting average to a white-hot .606 (20-for-33). He leads the Cactus League in hits, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
The three-time Gold Glove third baseman has a hit in all 12 games in which he’s played, and has multiple hits in seven straight games.
De La Rosa, who entered the day having allowed only two runs on five hits in 6 2/3 innings, got pinballed by the Giants. They beat him up for four runs on eight hits over five innings.
Opposing pitcher Clayton Blackburn, Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford all cranked out doubles, and Matt Duffy hit crushed a triple off the center-field wall.
“Everything was bad. It was a bad game today,” De La Rosa said. “(Physically) I felt really good. I had no luck there, especially with (Brandon) Belt (who had two broken-bat base hits.)”
There were two pieces of good news for De La Rosa. One, his arm feels strong. Two, it’s still just spring training.
“I hope everything bad happens now and not in the season,” he said, managing a smile.
The Giants treated Motte like it was batting practice. The free-agent acquisition, who is competing for the closer’s job, gave up four runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning, including an enormous homer to center by Belt (4-for-4, four RBIs).
“He just left too many pitches over the plate,” manager Walt Weiss said.
HITS
** Non-roster invitee Yohan Flande continues to push for a spot in the bullpen. The lefty pitched a clean sixth inning, striking out two.
** Center fielder Charlie Blackmon launched his first homer of the Cactus League, a solo shot to right to lead off the Rockies’ first inning.
** Catcher Nick Hundley hit a two-out solo homer in the sixth. His shot to left was his first homer of spring.
** Reliever Miguel Castro continues to look untouchable. He pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, striking out one. He has yet to give up a run, has allowed one hit, struck out five and walked none in four innings.
MISSES
** Reliever Justin Miller gave up two runs, including a homer, in his 1 1/3 innings of work.
** Carlos Gonzalez’s bat stayed cold. He went 0-for-3 and is hitting .206.
** Dustin Garneau, the likely backup catcher now that Tom Murphy has been sent down to Triple-A, also is struggling at the plate. Filling the designated hitter role Sunday, he was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, dropping his average to .118.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Rockies travel to face the Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium, 2:05 p.m. MDT (No TV, no radio)
Rockies’ pitchers — RHP David Hale, RHP Chad Qualls, LHP Jason Gurka
Rangers’ starter — RHP Sam Dyson
