Offensive struggles and inability to finish innings dooms Rockies in 7-2 loss to Giants

Game Rundown

The Rockies got a run in the second when Nick Hundley hit into a no-out double play but the Giants answered right back in the third, plating a run after a series of singles.

Starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood was on cruise control with two outs in the fifth inning but Hunter Pence went down a got a 1-2 fastball that caught too much of the plate and smashed one over the left-center field fence. 

The Rockies got a run back on an odd play if the fifth when a two-out fly ball off the bat of Nolan Arenado was lost in shallow left field by Angel Pagan. Charlie Blackmon came around to score but Carlos Gonzalez was thrown out at home on the recovery from Pagan. The Rockies wouldn’t threaten to score again.

The Giants pulled away again when Chatwood gave up another two-out home run, this time to catcher Trevor Brown in the top of the 6th. The real punch-in-the-gut about the Brown home run is that it came not only with two outs but also with the pitcher on deck.

Jason Gurka came on in the seventh and was looking good until the two-out home run bug caught him as well, surrendering the second on the day to Brown. It was the catcher’s first ever multi-home-run game and extended the Giants lead to 7-2. The Rockies only managed one baserunner in the final 4 frames against the Giants and couldn’t muster any kind of rally.

Turning Point

Giants Home Runs: The Giants crushed their 15th, 16th, and 17th home runs as a team on the young season and it doomed Tyler Chatwood and the Rockies. “The pitch that Pence hit out he just beat me to the spot, I made some good pitches but he just kept battling,” Rockies starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood said after the loss. “The other two run homer with two outs, I left the up and he (Trevor Brown) hit it out of the park.”

.@hunterpence, no altitude needed: https://t.co/kb73Rmu73s #WeAreSF pic.twitter.com/BL2HskDkRt

— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) April 13, 2016

The Rockies also struggled to finish innings. 6 of the Giants 7 runs came with two-out hits. “It’s tough to say,” Walt Weiss said postgame. “You want to put the inning down. They’re notorious for two-strike hits, two-out runs, they’ve done that well for years. But yeah, it’s just a matter of making pitches and putting the inning down.”

Highlights

The Rockies did make a few good plays defensively including this 7-2 put out from Gerardo Parra.

Don’t run on @88_gparra.

He has a CANNON! pic.twitter.com/KZ3NtJP9Qj

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 13, 2016

Lasting Impact

Since the series win on the road against the D-Backs last week, the Rockies are just 1-3 at home and have been outscored 36-17, all against NL West opponents. That is not a promising outcome in your first homestand trying to beat the stigma of playing at Coors Field.

What’s Next

The Rockies will host the Giants for the second game of the series tomorrow night when Jordan Lyles (0-1, 13.50 ERA) will look to bounce back from his 3 and 1/3rd inning appearance in the home opener when he squares off against Jake Peavy (0-0, 7.20 ERA) first pitch at 6:40pm.