SAN FRANCISCO — Jorge De La Rosa was used to pitching with a sore thumb. This time it went numb.
Rockies trainer Keith Dugger and manager Walt Weiss started running out to the mound even before Buster Posey crossed the plate following a two-run home run in the Giants’ 3-0 victory over the Rockies on Tuesday night.
De La Rosa hurt the thumb on his pitching hand trying to bunt in the top of the sixth. He walked Hunter Pence to open the inning and wasn’t able to get the ball down against Posey, who took advantage of a 3-1 delivery to give the Giants the lead.
“I got jammed and it went numb right away,” De La Rosa said. “I made the mistake to Posey and paid for it.”
The visit to the mound was short. He shook his head no in response to a Dugger question and was headed out of the game with a left thumb contusion.
“He was cruising,” Rockies’ manager Walt Weiss said. “We’ve seen him hurt that thumb before and he’s pitched with it a lot. It was hurting pretty good.”
De La Rosa said he had feeling in his thumb after the game and was confident he would make his next start.
Giants starter Madison Bumgarner (15-9) took a perfect game into the eighth inning. National League batting leader Justin Morneau ended it with a double down the right-field line.
“Once I got to two strikes I was just trying to put the ball in play,” Morneau said. “He made a good pitch and I hit the right spot.”
Bumgarner finished the game allowing just the one baserunner, and tied a career high with 13 strikeouts in ending the Rockies’ three-game winning streak with his second shutout of August. It was his second career one-hitter, and his first since June 28, 2012 against the Cincinnati Reds.
“Everything was going right for him,” Rockies’ third baseman Nolan Arenado said. “He mixed in his cutter well and his fastball looked good to hit but it wasn’t. He hit his spots.”
The Rockies won each of Bumgarner’s last three starts against them.
De La Rosa (13-9) had his losing streak to the Giants extended to five games and had his string of 11 consecutive games of pitching at least six innings come to an end.
The pitch to Posey was De La Rosa’s only mistake in a game filled with pitching brilliance. He allowed two runs on four hits over five-plus innings, walking two and striking out five.
De La Rosa was also the losing pitcher when Clayton Kershaw threw his no-hitter against the Rockies on June 18 in Los Angeles.
Matt Belisle took over and retired six straight but it wasn’t enough on a night when Bumgarner was nearly perfect.
Drew Stubbs’ had a potential extra-base hit taken away when Gregor Blanco made a leaping catch against the left-field fence in the first inning and Brandon Crawford just barely got Matt McBride at first to end the fifth inning.
Posey added his second home run with a shot off Brooks Brown in the eighth for a big insurance run.
Footnote. Catcher Wilin Rosario was out of the starting lineup again because of lingering soreness in his left wrist. “He’s getting treatment, and he’s trying to swing the bat in the cage,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “We’ll have to make a determination if he can play in the next day or two.” Matt McBride, who did some catching during spring training, is the emergency catcher. Michael Mc Kenry started behind the plate.
Looking ahead
Rockies’ Franklin Morales (5-7, 5.32 ERA) at Giants’ Tim Hudson (9-9, 2.99), 8:15 p.m. Wednesday, ROOT; 850 AM
With Tim Lincecum pulled from the starting rotation, the pressure is on Hudson to produce if the Giants are going to stay in the playoff hunt. Hudson allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits, walked one and struck out three over 5 innings in San Francisco’s 10-3 win over the Nationals on Friday. He has been fairly solid at AT&T Park, going 5-4 with a 3.60 ERA in 12 starts. He’s 5-2 with a 4.35 ERA in 13 career outings against the Rockies.
Thursday: Rockies’ Jordan Lyles (6-1, 4.05 ERA) at Giants’ Yusmeiro Petit (3-3, 3.59), 1:45 p.m., no TV
Friday: Rockies’ Christian Bergman (1-2, 6.75) at Diamondbacks’ Josh Collmenter (9-7, 4.05), 7:40 p.m., ROOT
Saturday: Rockies’ Tyler Matzek (3-9, 5.14 ) at Diamondbacks’ Vidal Nuño (2-8, 4.66), 6:10 p.m., ROOT
Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
