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It can not have been easy for the Colorado Rockies to drag themselves into San Francisco after the brutal nature of their series sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The offense appeared in a bit of a malaise, but the pitching appeared determined to atone for the sins of recent past and make sure that any little bit the bats could give them would hold up.
And that’s exactly what transpired in a 2-0 win.
It was a fantastic night for Jon Gray who dotted the edges with his fastball and slider, scattering four hits over six innings, keeping the Giants out of the run column.
He walked two and struck out six but got the swings and misses when he needed them the most.
The offense didn’t exactly go crazy against former-Rockie Drew Pomeranz but a big swing from David Dahl in the third did the damage they needed.
With one away, he followed up yet another base hit off the bat of Charlie Blackmon by going with a pitch out away from him and lacing it the opposite way for his ninth home run of the season.
Despite a recent slump, Dahl is hitting .318 on the season. His home run turned out to be the only scoring offense in the game.
One of the few tough situations that Gray faced on the mound came in the fifth when Joe Panik led off with a double to center but after getting a groundout and working around Brandon Belt, he struck out Mike Yastrzemski and Alex Dickerson with some wicked stuff to strand the runner.
Similarly in the sixth, Kevin Pillar found his way into a triple, swinging late on a fastball and driving it the other way to put himself in prime position with two outs. But Gray struck out Evan Longoria on a gorgeous slider to once again keep the shutout intact.
Jairo Diaz required a little help from the defense to maintain the goose egg in the seventh. Panik singled to lead off the inning before Diaz bounced back for a pair of quick outs. That’s when Yastrzemski gave the Giants their best scoring chance in the game, doubling on a sharp liner to center.
But Dahl was able to haul it in and fire to cutoff man Pat Valaika whose throw to the plate was just in time to nail Panik.
Scott Oberg and Wade Davis, both of whom needed to get the feel of success back in their bones after some tough late losses, both pitched 1-2-3 innings to complete the shutout and secure the win.
