Offtopic/fun » give him for the what if phase of the res

DENVER -- The Colorado Rockies got to Matt Cain early. It wasnt enough. Angel Pagan hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the sixth inning, Cain settled down after a shaky start and the Giants rallied from a six-run deficit to beat the Rockies for the 10th straight time, 8-6 on Thursday night. Wilin Rosario, Todd Helton and Nolan Arenado went deep to put Colorado ahead 6-0 in the third inning, but Jhoulys Chacin couldnt hold the lead as the Rockies lost for the 16th time in the last 24 games. "Sometimes six runs is enough," Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez said. "Cain pitched terrible but Chacin pitched even worse. Just a bad game for him." Brandon Crawford added a three-run double to help San Francisco and Marco Scutaro extended his hitting streak to 15 games. The NL West-leading Giants also extended their mastery over the Rockies, improving to 31-9 since 2011. Cain (3-2) struggled early, giving up homers on consecutive pitches to Helton and Arenado in the second, along with a three-run homer to Rosario an inning later. After that, Cain found his rhythm before being pulled with an out in the seventh. He allowed one hit and a walk to the next 14 batters, which enabled his offence to rally. In 6 1-3 innings, he gave up nine hits but still moved to 3-0 this month. "To his credit, he hung in there and pitched into the seventh inning," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "Youve got a guy whos one of the better pitchers in the league, youve got to get to him early. Youve got to be able to put him away and not hang around." Jeremy Affeldt held the Rockies hitless in two innings of relief work before handing the ball over to closer Sergio Romo, who got two outs to earn his 13th save in 15 chances. The Rockies only had one hit after Rosarios home run. "A six-run lead, weve got to put those games away," Weiss said. "Weve got to put together a complete game on both sides of the ball." Chacin (3-3) was solid early before the hard-throwing righty fell apart. He yielded a season-high eight runs in 5 1-3 innings to a powerful Giants lineup that came into the game hitting an NL-best .267. With this performance, Chacins ERA soared from 2.70 to 4.07. Trailing by six, the Giants climbed back into the game with a five-run fourth inning. Brandon Belt brought in a run with a walk, with Crawford later adding a bases-clearing double. Cain also got into the scoring act, driving in Crawford with a single. It was Cains second RBI of the season. Gregor Blanco tied the game in the sixth with a sacrifice fly to centre. Pagan gave the Giants an 8-6 lead with a two-out, two-run single over the head of reliever Adam Ottavino, who was brought in for Chacin. "I couldnt make the pitch to get out of the inning," Chacin said. "It was really tough, especially for the team. We lost the game after scoring six runs in the first three innings. It just didnt happen." Cain struggled with his command early. He gave up three runs each in the second and third innings. Cain allowed back-to-back homers to Helton and Arenado. Helton stood at home plate to watch his two-run homer -- not so much to admire his handiwork as see if it would curve foul. It didnt and he trotted around the bases. On the next offering from Cain, Arenado lined a 91 mph fastball into the seats in left-centre. It was his fourth homer of the season. Rosario had the big blow in the third, hitting a three-run homer to right. Cain has allowed 13 homers this year. He gave up 21 all of last season and just nine in 2011. "We were able to score six runs, and then Chacin, whos always a pitcher that gives us a chance to win, it just didnt happen tonight," Gonzalez said. "It was just a bad game." Instead of accompanying the team to Toronto for a two-game series, Cain arrived a day early in Denver. His teammates gave him grief over the move, but manager Bruce Bochy insisted it made sense. "Its the right thing to do," Bochy said. Before the game, Colorado juggled its roster by placing left-hander Jeff Francis (groin) on the 15-day disabled and designated infielder Reid Brignac for assignment. The team also recalled infielder D.J. LeMahieu and right-hander Rob Scahill from Triple-A Colorado Springs. LeMahieu had a pinch-hit single in the sixth. NOTES: Arenado made a diving grab at third in the eighth to throw out INF Brett Pill. ... The Rockies lost for just the second time this season when scoring six or more runs. The other loss was 9-6 at San Francisco on April 9. ... Bochy said the plan remains to pitch struggling RHP Ryan Vogelsong on Monday. "I talked to Vogey for quite a while and he said, Hey, if you need me in the pen the next couple of days Im available," Bochy said. "Hes earned some things, including a longer leash. Thats something hes earned." ... Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner (4-1) will take the mound Friday against the Rockies, who will counter with LHP Jorge De La Rosa (4-3).Sports Jerseys From China . Michell Burger, a woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year, when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in his bathroom. Sports Jerseys Sale . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. https://www.discountsportsjerseyscheap.com/ . -- The Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major professional sports franchise to accept Bitcoin virtual currency for ticket and merchandise purchases. Wholesale Sports Jerseys . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. Clearance Sports Jerseys . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City.It has been 50 years since Sandy Koufax last pitched in the major leagues, but his legacy still looms large, as vast as the sun that shines over Dodger Stadium on a cloudless Southern California afternoon. Indeed, in our #MLBRank of the greatest left-handed pitchers of all time, this was the order of the top three:1. Sandy Koufax 2. Randy Johnson 3. Clayton KershawI suppose that order isnt even necessarily so controversial -- I suspect some might scoff at Kershaw, just 125 wins into his superlative career, ranking ahead of the likes of Warren Spahn, Steve Carlton and Lefty Grove -- but Im here to suggest this: I believe the panel is wrong.Sandy Koufax, mythological figure and all, isnt the greatest left-hander of all time.The declaration for Koufax as best ever rests with his five-year run of dominance that ended in 1966 with his retirement at the peak of his powers, no longer willing to endure the cortisone shots to dull the pain in his elbow.To take a shot every other ballgame is more than I wanted to do and to walk around with a constant upset stomach because of the pills and to be high half the time during a ballgame because youre taking painkillers, I dont want to have to do that, he said at his retirement announcement.Lets start here, and with apologies to Spahn, Carlton and the criminally underrated Grove, compare our top three guys and their best five-year runs:In those five seasons, Koufax led the National League in ERA all years. In two of those seasons, he missed some time with injuries, but in the other three he topped 300 innings and compiled win-loss records of 25-5, 26-8 and 27-9, win totals that seem almost unfathomable in todays games of pitch counts and five-man rotations and quick hooks for starters.Its an impressive record, no doubt; Koufax won three Cy Young Awards and an MVP award (and finished second in two other votes). In 1963, he threw 11 shutouts. In 1965, he struck out 382 batters and held batters to .179 average while throwing 27 complete games -- more than Kershaw has thrown in his career.It was, of course, a different era, a good era for pitchers, and few places were better to pitch than Dodger Stadium, then notorious for the highest mound in baseball. Koufaxs ascent in 1962 to the best pitcher in the game coincided not just with a sudden improvement in his control, but with the opening of Dodger Stadium. And Koufax loved Dodger Stadium. His home/road splits from 1962-1966:Home: 57-15, 1.37 ERARoad: 54-19, 2.57 ERAHe was most extreme in 1964, when he posted 0.85 at home and 2.93 on the road.dddddddddddd Despite the ERA difference, note that there wasnt a large difference in win-loss record. Dodger Stadium was simply a tough place to hit, and Koufax took advantage of that. He could allow more runs on the road yet still win games. Thats where the ERA+ figure above comes in. That number attempts to adjust for home park effects and the overall run-scoring environment of the league. So while Johnson has the highest ERA of the three, he has the best adjusted ERA (higher is better). Its close, but Koufaxs domination is now put into a different perspective. Then we look at Wins Above Replacement, and Johnsons five-year total exceeds Koufaxs.Then the kicker: These arent even the five best seasons of Johnsons career. He won four straight NL Cy Young Awards with the Diamondbacks from 1999 to 2002, but 1998 -- when he was traded from the Mariners to the Astros -- was a ho-hum 19-11 season with a 3.28 ERA. In 1997, hed gone 20-4 with a 2.28 ERA. In the strike-shortened 1995 season, he went 18-2 with a 2.48 ERA.Even if you think Koufax had the best five-year peak, how can you rank him over Johnson, who had the same or better peak and a much longer career?On the other hand ... we still have the Koufax mythology, the World Series wins, electing not to pitch on Yom Kippur, the credit everyone seems to give him for the what if phase of the rest of his career that never happened. He started seven World Series games, with an 0.98 ERA. He lost three of those games, though he gave up a total of just three earned runs in those defeats. Most famously, he started Game 7 of the 1965 World Series on two days of rest and threw a three-hit shutout.Johnson, meanwhile, won three games in the 2001 World Series, but also struggled at times in the postseason and once went seven starts in a row without a win. Kershaw has his postseason apologists and while he was better in last years division series, he has yet to deliver that signature playoff performance that well be talking about 50 years later and is 2-6 with a 4.45 ERA in 10 starts.So theres something to the Koufax legend that matters beyond the statistics. We want those stories, we want performances to tell the next generations about, to remind them we love the game.So if you want Koufax as your No. 1 guy, I understand. But Johnson tops my list. Hes the greatest left-hander of all time.At least until we see what Kershaw does over the next decade. ' ' '