San Francisco Giants notebook: 3 things I heard during the Colorado Rockies sweep
By Kevin Henry
San Francisco Giants: Brandon Crawford’s changing role
While Crawford is one of the faces of the team, his role has also changed this season as well. The 36-year-old came into Thursday’s game hitting just .188 on the season. However, his teammates, including Thursday’s starting pitcher Alex Cobb, said that Crawford has adjusted to less playing time and working through his struggles at the plate like a true professional.
“You’re just happy because you see guys go through changes in their career and struggles and they have one of two ways to go about it. They can either be a tough teammate to be around or they can be the same guy and maybe you’re not contributing as much as you’d like on the field, but you can still contribute in the clubhouse and be the guy that we expect him to be,” Cobb said. “He’s been that throughout this whole season. When those guys get rewarded with big moments like that, I ran up and just gave him a big hug after that because I’ve been there. I’ve been through struggles and I know how good it feels to make an impact and to contribute to a win.”
Cobb also contributed as well, of course, to Thursday’s win. Colorado scored four runs on Cobb in the first inning had him and the Giants on the ropes. However, Cobb, while he battled tightness in his left hip, powered through the next four innings without allowing a run.
“Obviously I had a very difficult first inning where stuff wasn’t completely sharp and I felt a little bit underwater throwing the ball,” Cobb said. “Then I got into a groove and, once you get into that groove, you want to stay in that groove and keep pitching.”