Rockies have no answer for Bumgarner in loss to Giants

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The Colorado Rockies were clearly in an uphill battle from the get-go on Tuesday night.

They found themselves not only in a matchup with one of the best pitchers of the last decade, Madison Bumgarner, but also in a bit of a bind when it comes to their own rotation.

As a part of the ongoing search for a fifth member of the starting rotation to provide some kind of stability, Colorado turned to Chi Chi Gonzalez who made his season debut despite pedestrian numbers in the minor leagues.

Gonzalez actually held his own against a Giants lineup that has struggled for most of the year, but a key rally in the fourth and the Rockies inability to find an answer for Bumgarner led to a 4-2 loss.

The home team took the lead in the bottom of the third, though it looked like they would get more after opening with back-to-back singles, the second as part of a hit-and-run that allowed the grounder to get through and put runners at the corners.

Bumgarner grounded to third and Arenado came home with it to keep the run off the board for a moment but the rundown took too long and both runners were able to advance. That allowed Brandon Belt’s ensuing flyball to center to plate the first run of the game.

The Rockies counterpunched on a solo blast off the bat of Ian Desmond in one of the very few times the visitors were able to line up a hard hit against the perennial All-Star.

The Giants came back for a pair in the bottom of the fourth when Gonzalez walked Brandon Crawford then surrendered singles to Donovan Solano and Bumgarner, all with two outs, to swing the game.

Colorado was gifted a run in the sixth when Alex Dickerson lost a ball in the lights but Austin Allen took Bryan Shaw deep in the seventh to push the lead back to a pair of runs and make the final score 4-2.

German Marquez will take on Jeff Samardzija in the rubber match on Wednesday afternoon.