Dereck Rodriguez debuts for Giants after ailing Jeff Samardzija exits

DENVER -- San Francisco Giants right-hander Jeff Samardzija was forced to leave his start against the Colorado Rockies after pitching one inning Tuesday night because of tightness in his pitching shoulder.

Samardzija threw 23 pitches in a rough inning and allowed three hits and two runs before exiting with the injury. He was replaced by rookie righty Dereck Rodriguez, the son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez who was making his major league debut.

The Giants lost, 11-4.

"It's frustrating to have a setback,'' Samardzija said. "I always want to pitch. I always feel like I'm OK to pitch. Sometimes other people have to step in and tell you differently. I respect and trust the people around me. You listen to them and go from there.''

The 25-year-old Rodriguez had his contract purchased Monday from Triple-A Sacramento. He was 4-1 with a 3.40 ERA in nine starts for Sacramento.Rodriguez was originally drafted in the sixth round of the 2011 draft by Minnesota as an outfielder. He made the transition to pitcher two years later.

Rodriguez allowed four runs (one earned) on five hits in 3.1 innings.He was removed after being struck in the right shin by a line drive off the bat of Ian Desmond with one out in the fifth.

"I wanted to stay in,'' Rodriguez said. "But after I threw a few warmup pitches, it felt like it wanted to cramp up to where I couldn't push off my back leg.''

Rockies manager Bud Black expressing empathy over the two Giants pitchers getting hurt.

"You don't like to see it. I'm not sure what happened with Samardzija," Black said. "The young kid [Rodriguez], that was rough. Desmond hit a bullet. Every night, there seems to be something on the injury front or something physical in this game, but it's part of competing at this level.''

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.