Colorado Rockies rise like a phoenix from the ashes in desperately needed win over Giants

The Colorado Rockies were down 6-1.

They lost the day before 23-5.

Kyle Freeland, the heart and soul of the team, could only muster two innings and gave up four runs in his second consecutive lackluster outing.

They looked lost and listless. They looked ready to lose their third straight in non-competitive fashion. They looked to be stuck in a never-ending spiral of doom and despair.

And then it ended.

With a couple of late-inning rallies from the offense, some great work from the new guys, and a dominant performance from the backend of the bullpen, the Rockies were able to steal a 9-6 win that they desperately needed.

Moment of the Game: Rockies Rally in the 7th

Trevor Story got it all going with a walk. The Rockies caught a break when Yastrzemski misjudged a hard liner off the bat of Nolan Arenado, letting it get over his head for a single that put runners at first and third. Charlie Blackmon fell behind 0-2 but still took an aggressive swing on a high 98 MPH fastball and smashed it off the scoreboard in right for a double.

Because the Rockies had to make sure neither of those balls were caught, they still trailed by one but had the tying run at third and the go-ahead at second. In just his second game in a Rockies uniform, Kevin Pillar came up with one of the biggest hits of the season, not settling for making sure to tie it up with a productive out, he hammered a triple into the left-field gap to score a pair, put his team ahead, and put himself in position to add another.

As it turned out, being just 90 feet away wasn’t as big of a deal when Sam Hilliard blasted his fifth home run of the season to left to put Colorado up 9-6.

And that, somehow, was the final.

Player of the Game: Sam Hilliard

With apologies to Pillar, Hilliard didn’t just provide desperately needed insurance with the homer, he was instrumental in a sixth-inning rally that plated a pair when he came up with a left-on-left base hit through the right side that scored Pillar and put Garrett Hampson on third where he was able to easily score on a sac fly from Josh Fuentes.

Diamond Details

• Mychal Givens made his Rockies debut and plunked the first batter he faced but was otherwise quite sharp, allowing zero hits and striking out a batter. He did get some help from fellow newcomer Pillar in center who tracked down the one hard hit ball Givens gave up to Evan Longoria. Pillar made a nice jumping catch at the wall.
• In the second, Hampson hit his third home run in two games and fifth of the season.