Pudge's son shows hitting roots in MLB debut

DENVER -- The authenticators and folks happy to save souvenirs for Dereck Rodríguez after his Major League debut Tuesday night didn't miss much.
"They took my bat away, my batting gloves, pretty much everything I had on except my sliders [sliding pants]," Rodriguez said.
From the Giants' perspective, Rodriguez's performance probably was the most redeeming aspect of their 11-4 loss to the Rockies. The son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez who switched to pitching after beginning his professional career as an outfielder collected plenty of keepsakes, including the baseballs he threw for his first pitch and his first strikeout, as well as the one he drove to right field for his first hit, a fifth-inning RBI double.
"It was awesome," Rodriguez said. "I hit for the first three years of my career and then I end up getting a base hit in my first big league game. So that was pretty cool."

Rodriguez relieved Jeff Samardzija after the Giants starter left the game with shoulder stiffness after one inning. Though Rodriguez yielded four runs and five hits in 3 1/3 innings, he performed capably, since Giants errors made three of the runs unearned.
It wasn't an entirely charmed night for Rodriguez. Colorado's Ian Desmond hit a line drive off his right calf in the Rockies' half of the fifth, ending his stint prematurely.
"He had a good fastball, but he also had good secondary pitches," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.

Had it not been for the injury, Rodriguez could have pitched considerably longer. The Giants purchased his contract Monday from Triple-A Sacramento, where he thrived in nine starts (4-1, 3.40 ERA).
"He was going to keep going," Bochy said.
Fortunately for Rodriguez and the Giants, the ball hit more calf than bone. But tossing a couple of practice pitches ended his hopes of pitching longer.
"I wanted to stay in but after I threw those pitches, I really couldn't push off my back leg," Rodriguez said.