Barry Zito pitched Sunday. Why didn't Pablo Sandoval catch?
Sandoval caught Zito's previous two games, and both were gems for Zito. Much better than his first two starts with Bengie Molina catching. Molina didn't catch Sunday.
It was Steve Holm.
Yes, Steve Holm, making his 2009 debut.
What gives?
Sandoval would have caught, but he had a tight groin. The Giants were afraid to have him squat behind the plate. So they kept Sandoval at third base. Molina was on the bench, resting in the homestand finale.
As it turned out, Holm scored the game's only run, crossing the plate on Rich Aurilia's single in the 10th. He opened the inning with a walk off Manuel Corpas, advanced to second on Randy Winn's sacrifice. Aurilia singled to left-center, the third game-ending hit of his career.
The Giants earned a series win and have won their first five home series for the first time since they moved to San Francisco in 1958.
GIANTS 1, ROCKIES 0: Rich Aurilia's RBI single in the 10th ended it. It started with seven scoreless innings from Barry Zito. He gave up two hits. The Giants offense was stifled by Colorado starter Jason Hammel, who got out of his biggest jam (bases loaded, sixth inning) on a Travis Ishikawa comebacker. The Giants took two of three in the series.
