Tony Vitello Gets Brutally Honest After Rockies Rout Giants

The final score was 13-7 in favor of the Colorado Rockies. There wasn’t a lot of good for San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello to talk about. So, he didn’t.

He also didn’t sugarcoat what he had to say after the game. He was brutally honest about his assessment of the team and the game.

San Francisco allowed the Rockies to score seven unanswered runs and take two of three games at Oracle Park. The Colorado Rockies- you know the ones. The ones that have a 50-74 record on the season. The ones that are last in the division.

But wait, this is the Giants we are talking about here and they are just a bit above the Rockies with a 51-73 record.

“It had more the feel of a lower-level game, a junior college game as opposed to a big-league game with how some of the things transpired," Vitello said, via the San Francisco Chronicle. "And I was a JUCO guy, so I'm not disrespecting JUCOs."

Considering that Vitello came from the ranks of college directly to managing in the majors, this hits a little harder.

Unfortunately for San Francisco, it was difficult to argue with.

Giants Completely Lose It Against Rockies

It was the beginning of the sixth inning and the Giants were ahead 7-6. Everything seemed fine, until it wasn’t.

Colorado scored four times in the sixth despite only getting one hit in the inning. Wait, what?

San Francisco’s pitchers issued four walks, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. Then Mickey Moniak stepped up to the plate and delivered a two-run single.

The Rockies just kept their foot on the gas at that point and scored seven unanswered runs to turn a one-run deficit into a 13-7 victory.

The Giants pitchers issued ten walks in the game. Ten. Eight of those runners went on to score.

Apparently that was enough. Enough for Vitello to decide that his team needed to have a talk.

He held a team meeting following the embarrassing loss. His explanation for doing so might have been even more pointed than the junior college comment.

In the post-game interview, Vitello said, “I mean, people paid money to sit through that.”

He said that if people had to suffer through it, then his team could sit through a meeting. He went on to explain that it wasn’t a tirade, a single player or even the one loss. It was about fundamental mistakes that continue to cost his team.

Rockies Add Insult to Injury for Giants

San Francisco Giants left fielder Turner Hill Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The loss was probably more painful because it was to the Rockies. The loss solidified a series win for the Colorado team. That was the first series victory the Rockies have had over the Giants since 2020.

San Francisco has now fallen to 10-18 since the All-Star break and maybe more importantly they have lost five consecutive series.

There were plenty of negatives, but there were a few bright spots as well. Rafael Devers hit a three-run home run, Turner Hill recorded his first Major League hit and the Giants finished with 11 hits.

All of that gets lost, though, because San Francisco couldn’t execute the basics of the game.

For a manager who has repeatedly expressed the importance of playing clean baseball, Sunday was a disappointment, and Vitello made that very clear.

Add us as a preferred source on Google