DENVER – The Colorado Rockies must have been celebrating “Singles Day” at the ballpark because they managed to beat the San Francisco Giants for the third day in a row Saturday afternoon on the “power” of 13 one-baggers and just one bloop double.
Kyle Freeland continues to be the poster child for the mental fortitude displayed by all the Rockies rookie pitchers. He struggled at times to avoid hard contact but avoided the big hit and threw his best pitches when it matters most.
Colorado got their first run with two outs in the second on three consecutive singles from Carlos Gonzalez, Trevor Story and Tony Wolters who delivered the go-ahead RBI.
Freeland pitched with traffic through the first three innings, but stuck with a trust in his stuff and in the Gold Glove defenders behind him:
Wow. Just WOW. pic.twitter.com/yL9xcTySvG
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) June 17, 2017
The Giants finally got to him in the fourth on a two-out single from Gorkys Hernandez who might as well be renamed “Thorn In Rockiesside.” On the play, Hundley collided for a moment with his former protege, Wolters, and the two seemed to have and uneasy moment, but a fist-bump his next time up showed that the issue was quickly put in the past. Pros go hard.
The Rockies retook the lead in the sixth, again on a two-out rally of singles. Ian Desmond lined one to left then swiped second for his team-leading seventh stolen base of the season which was also the 150th of his career. CarGo then drew a walk to bring Story to the plate. After laying off a few tough pitches and working into a 2-2 count, Story shortened his approach and took a simple swing to drive a groundball up the middle and give the Rockies a 2-1 lead.
Freeland only got three strikeouts but they were all huge. The first two escaped a jam in the first, the final one (one his 94th pitch) came against the final hitter he faced, was a K to Brandon Belt with a runner at second in a one-run ballgame in the sixth. He gave up eight hits but just one run, walking just one hitter unintentionally.
Raimel Tapia continues to make his presence felt, getting a one-out single in the sixth, showing some good base running instincts (completely the opposite of Friday night’s ugly pickoff at second) moving up to second on a LeMahieu groundball. Tapia scored on yet another two-out single, this time from Colorado’s King of Clutch, Nolan Arenado.
Tapia is now 12-for-his-last-23 which is a .521 batting average since getting a start on June 10. On the season, his average is now up to .324.
Scott Oberg came on in the seventh and gave up a pair of hits but also struck out a pair to strand runners at first and third.
The Rockies responded by getting two more insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh. Mark Reynolds got a lead-off single and moved up on a Desmond bunt. Gonzalez was then intentionally walked, reaching base for the third time in the game, and proving that pitchers and opposing managers still fear him. After a lineout from Story, Wolters again delivered with two outs, pulling a single through the right side of the infied to score Reynolds.
Pinch-hitter Pat Valaika tacked on another run with a bloop double to right, scoring Gonzalez, and giving the Rockies a 5-1 lead. That was the Rockies first and only extra-base hit in the game, and it might not have been had Hunter Pence handled the hop correctly.
Adam Ottavino once again provided the Colorado bullpen with a clean inning, striking out two in the eighth.
Jake McGee pitched the ninth with the game one run away from a save situation and issuesd a one-out walk but got a line-drive, game-ending double play to secure the win.
The Rockies are now 9-1 against the Giants this season. They moved to 45-26 and still have the best record in the National League. With the Houston Astros not playing until later today, the Colorado Rockies currently have the most wins in all of MLB.
