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DENVER – Every time you take the mound at Coors Field, you know that you are likely to participate in a shootout. When you do this after your team scored 19 points in the first match of a double program, you probably expect an extra layer of fireworks.
Yet, Dereck Rodriguez did not see anything like it. Upon his return to the major leagues, the Giants scored only two points. It was a normal game, the type you find at sea level. Fortunately for the giants, they handed the ball over to a pitcher who found that Coors Field is a perfectly normal place to pitch.
Rodriguez made his big league debut here last year and repeated many times that he felt comfortable in the most difficult park of the game for pitchers. He likes rubber. He likes what he feels here. On Monday, he looked at home while leading the Giants to a 2-1 win.
"I like the mound sensations and for me, it's a great thing," he said. "If you feel comfortable with the mound, no matter where you throw."
There are few pitchers that felt like that in Denver, but Rodriguez was the good guy to play in the second game of a dual program that showed a versatile team and – dare to say it – suddenly a good team baseball. The Giants won a shootout and snapped their finger to win this series of 10 wins in 12 games and come back for the first time in four .500 games for the first time since May 7. They continue to look for the leading pack in the Wild Card race.
When Rodriguez returned to the team previously, he found a group that was losing almost every night and was heading nowhere. This time, he felt the difference right after spending a few weeks with the miners getting ready for this start.
"I feel the momentum," he said. "You can feel it, man, you can feel the energy."
Most of this came from a superb offensive performance in the afternoon, and in the evening, the Giants have another Brandon Crawford circuit and a solo shot by Stephen Vogt. The pen was brilliant, with Sam Dyson scoring the eighth goal and Will Smith crossing the heart of the order in the ninth.
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Rodriguez was asked to complete only five innings and he only allowed one point on four hits. He took out six and did it with swagger.
"Body language has said it all," said Vogt. "No matter how you want to call him, he was focused and locked in. He was determined – it was great."
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