4-2 lead. Desmonds seventh homer cut the lead to 4-3 in t

DENVER -- San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy can only hope that the Giants offense, which has been faltering for weeks, might have bottomed out Monday when they were shut out at, of all places, Coors Field.The Giants were held to two hits by Chad Bettis, who threw a complete game Monday as the Colorado Rockies won the series opener 6-0.Since the All-Star break, the Giants are a major league-worst 16-31, a tailspin that includes 18 losses in their past 25 road games. The Giants are hitting a mere .219 (91-for-416) with runners in scoring position in the second half. According to STATS Inc., this is the first time the Giants have been held to four or fewer hits in five straight games since 1913.We have to find a way to come out of this, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. We couldnt generate the energy level up to get the offense going. Their guy pitched great. Ill give him that, but at the same time, weve been in this for a little while. Its time for us to wake up here.Were looking for that magic wand. We are looking for someone to get us going ... to see if somebody can jump start us and get this offense going. We are better than this. This thing is contagious. It has been here awhile, too long.Catcher Buster Posey, first baseman Brandon Belt and shortstop Brandon Crawford -- the Giants top three home-run hitters -- have combined for 243 at-bats since one of them last hit a home run -- 142 at-bats by Posey, 71 by Belt and 30 by Crawford, the last of that group to go deep when he homered Aug. 27.The boys have to get their confidence back, no question about that, Bochy said. These things are hard to explain. Crawford, Belt, Posey, the guys that normally have a few more home runs -- but the last thing you can do in this game is start thinking about it and trying for it. Now youre going to get really out of synch. You try to go up there and get a good swing off and see what happens.Jeff Samardzjia will start Tuesday for the Giants. Hes 11-9 with a 4.06 ERA and wasnt involved in the decision Thursday at Chicago when he allowed three runs on five hits in four innings as the Giants lost 5-4 to the Cubs. Samardzjia threw a career-high 47 pitches in the first inning and finished with 87 pitches. In two starts this season against the Rockies, Samardzjia is 1-1 with a 2.30 ERA. In his lone start this season at Coors Field, he allowed two runs in eight innings April 12 and was the winning pitcher in the Giants 7-2 victory.Left-hander Tyler Anderson will start for the Rockies. Hes 5-5 with a 3.43 ERA, which is the lowest in franchise history by a Rockies starter in his first 15 career starts. Anderson has allowed three or fewer runs in 12 outings, including Wednesday when he worked 6 1/3 scoreless innings in the first game of a doubleheader against the Dodgers and won 7-0. In his lone start against the Giants on July 4 at San Francisco, Anderson allowed three runs on four hits, including homers by Angel Pagan and Posey, in six innings and took the loss as the Rockies fell 3-1.Bettis magnificent start Monday gave the Colorado bullpen a day off. Going forward, Rockies manager Walt Weiss will pick his spots to restore the confidence of Carlos Estevez, a 23-year-old rookie with a fastball that can easily touch 100 mph and sits at 97-98 mph. On Sunday against Arizona, Estevez, who is 3-7 with a 5.14 ERA in 56 games with 23 walks, 54 strikeouts and 42 hits allowed in 49 innings, gave up two runs in two-thirds of an inning. He had hit two batters in his previous 55 appearances before hitting two Arizona hitters Sunday in the space of four batters and yielding a two-run single.Estevez had a 3.66 ERA in his first 42 appearances but has since allowed 15 hits and 12 runs in his past 9 2/3 innings.I think every players confidence gets shaken in this league, Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. Its what you do with it, because everybody fails. For Carlos, hes going through some of that right now. Some of its mechanical, and were working on that because it comes down to command. He obviously has major weapons.Its about commanding the ball, staying in good counts. If you cant get in (good) counts and use the weapons, its a tough league to pitch in. Nothings changed for me as far as what I think about Carlos. I think hes got a tremendous future. Hes supremely gifted, and hes a great kid. Hes going to be fine -- just working through some things like every player has to. Custom Packers Jerseys . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. Cheap Packers Jerseys . Burris threw two TD passes, including a key 15-yard fourth-quarter strike to Bakari Grant that effectively countered a Toronto comeback bid and led Hamilton to a 33-19 victory. http://www.custompackersjersey.com/ . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Rashan Gary Jersey Large .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. Custom Rashan Gary Jersey . -- Former San Diego Chargers safety Paul Oliver was found dead at his Atlanta-area home Tuesday night, and a medical examiner said Wednesday that the ex-player committed suicide. Certainly the biggest shock of the day Saturday, the last big day of prep races for next months Breeders Cup, was Tepins loss in the First Lady at Keeneland. But it wasnt just that Tepin could finish only second at 2-5 that was so surprising, it was also the manner in which the First Lady upset was sprung.Photo Call, of all horses, bounded to the early lead and quickly dared everyone else in the First Lady field to catch her. It wasnt like Photo Call hadnt shown speed before. She had. This year. In all of her recent races. But those races in which Photo Call showed speed were all slow-paced, extended-distance events, most of which she didnt even run particularly well. So when Photo Call opened a sizeable early lead through a second quarter-mile in a fast 23.19, you could be forgiven if you were wondering what happened to the real Photo Call, and who is this imposter?Yet even when Photo Call turned for home with a gigantic lead that seemed in double-digit territory, I still kind of thought that Photo Call would tire and Tepin would catch her, just as Tepin did last March in the Hillsborough when Isabella Sings tried the same, front-running gambit. Only this time, Photo Call was a much better horse than Isabella Sings (even if she hadnt shown it in a while), and Tepin wasnt going to have her tank emptied in the stretch, not with the Breeders Cup just four weeks away.Photo Call held on to win by almost three lengths. And this was the first time Tepin was beaten by open lengths since August 2014, a staggering 26 months ago.Tepins connections were up front beforehand about not wanting to take too much out of Tepin on Saturday, which is why she went in the First Lady in the first place instead of the Shadwell Turf Mile against males. They didnt want her to have to run an A race, and she didnt.That said, this is now two straight races from Tepin since her historic victory at Royal Ascot that were not A performances. She did beat males winning last months Woodbine Mile, but that was not Tepin at her top. I know very well to never, ever underestimate a champion, and Tepin is absolutely all of that. But this is something to think about as she now targets a defense of her title in the Breeders Cup Mile.The irony of Saturday is Tepin lost against a female, and Miss Temple City prevailed over males in the richer Shadwell Turf Mile, a race she ran in, in part, to avoid having to face Tepin.This is the second time this year Miss Temple City opted for a Grade 1 start at Keeneland against males instead of taking on Tepin. She won the first one, too - last Aprils Makers 46 Mile the day before Tepin won the Jenny Wiley.Miss Temple Citys connections might consider sending a very nice gift basket to Tepins people. But dont make the mistake of taking Miss Temple City as a mere lucky opportunist. She is very good - she ran much better than her two losses at Saratoga would suggest on paper - and she beat a stronger group of males in the Shadwell than she did in the Makers 46.But for me, the Shadwell was all about Ironicuss fast closing second. This was Ironicuss first start since his troubled-trip second to nonee other than Flintshire in the Manhattan on Belmont Stakes Day due to foot issues, and he might have gotten up had not an opponent shifted out in front of him in mid-stretch.dddddddddddd In any case, Ironicus is now primed for a peak performance in the Breeders Cup Mile, and I think he is very dangerous in that spot.One other standout turf female who raced on Saturday must be mentioned here, and that is Lady Eli. Lady Eli, so breathtaking in the first phase of her racing career, made it all the way back from the scourge of laminitis to win the Flower Bowl. And now she sets her sights on the Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Turf, for which she is Americas top hope.This is just a remarkable story. Remarkable, too, was the rousing applause fans in attendance at Belmont Park on Saturday gave Lady Eli on her return to the winners circle. Downstate New York racing fans throw receptions such as this around like sewer covers. So it was great to see, and thoroughly deserved.Saturday notes** Sadly, the devaluation of the once-great Jockey Club Gold Cup continued Saturday with Hoppertunitys decision over Effinex and three others.I dont want to knock Hoppertunity. Hes had the tall order of facing California Chrome, Beholder, and Shared Belief in several of his races and, like many others, he was simply not up to the task. Still, Hoppertunitys only victory in his 13 starts immediately preceding the Gold Cup was a nose decision in the San Antonio last February over Imperative, another who rarely wins. Lets just say this Gold Cup was not a key prep for the Breeders Cup Classic.** I liked both preps for the Breeders Cup Juvenile - the Champagne and the Breeders Futurity. The Champagne was a terrific race. Practical Joke got up by a nose despite a bad start over Syndergaard, who was admirably game after setting a scorching pace and fighting back after getting hooked by Practical Joke in mid-stretch. These are two fine colts.Classic Empire also showed a lot of substance winning the Breeders Futurity decisively. Because he wheeled and lost his rider at the start of the Hopeful (won by Practical Joke), the Breeders Futurity was Classic Empires first representative start in three months, and he was stretching out to two turns for the first time, to boot. Moreover, Classic Empire was wide throughout, a concession of ground that would have been significant in almost any situation, but one that was even more noteworthy considering the inside appeared to be very live Saturday on Keenelands main track. This was a very strong effort.** On the face of it, the Frizette seemed like a strongly run race, with Yellow Agate getting up by a head over Libbys Tail, with a chasm of more than nine lengths back to the third finisher. The clock says otherwise, however. Yellow Agates winning Beyer Figure was a modest 77, only marginally better than the even more modest 73 Beyer Dancing Rags was assigned for winning Fridays Alcibiades.For the record, Classic Empire and Practical Joke each earned 88 Beyers. ' ' '