DENVER – Coming off a relatively successful road trip that saw the Colorado Rockies win four of nine games, the consternation over the offense was beginning to reach fever pitch.
Some respite from their season-long struggles both with the bats and at home seemed to be in order with the Reds in town, but the hits have kept coming against the San Francisco Giants, powering an impressive 11-4 victory over their divisional foes. They recorded 15 hits, including eight doubles.
Starter Kyle Freeland was unable to extend his quality-start streak but he pitched well early and showcased his athleticism, helping the cause with the bat, putting his team in great position for the eventual big win.
Colorado jumped all over Giants starter Jeff Samardzija in the bottom of the first. Charlie Blackmon—who hit a triple-deck foul ball earlier in the at-bat—settled for a line drive single, and moved to third on a single from Gerardo Parra.
Nolan Arenado put another scare into Samardzija, ripping one just foul down the left-field line. Then, with Parra in motion, Arenado grounded out to shortstop, scoring the run and staying out of the double play. Parra came around to score on a triple off the wall in right from Trevor Story, recording his fourth RBI in the last two first innings.
In an unfortunate twist for San Francisco, Samardzija had to come out of the game after just one inning with right shoulder tightness. But the tough news led to a nice story when Dereck Rodriguez, son of Hall-of-Famer Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, entered the game out of the bullpen, making his MLB debut.
The Rockies weren’t able to do much against the rookie until the fourth, getting a two-out double from Freeland on a great swing, then finding some help on Kelby Tomlinson’s second straight misplay of a Blackmon groundball.
Blackmon was able to move all the way to third on the play when first baseman Brand Belt’s attempt to throw him out at second skipped into left field. He scored on a double to right off the bat of the apparently still-hot Parra. And Parra came around on a double off the high wall in right-center by Arenado to make it 5-0, Rockies.
The Giants got one back in the fifth on a pair of doubles from Mac Williamson and Rodriguez, getting a bit revenge for giving one up to Freeland himself.
Colorado answered in the bottom half with a single from Ian Desmond, another opposite-field double for Ryan McMahon, and a sac fly off the bat of Chris Iannetta. It looked like the Rockies had plated another run on a hustle play from Freeland, attempting to run out a groundball to second base, but upon review, he was narrowly out.
But San Francisco was finally able to break through against Freeland in the sixth, climbing back into the game with a pair of solo blasts from Buster Posey and Evan Longoria. A single from Belt chased Freeland from the game, robbing him of his eighth straight quality start.
The newly recalled Scott Oberg came on and immediately surrendered a double to Mac Williamson, making things tense at Coors Field, and perhaps bringing back memories of the struggles that saw him sent back to Triple-A earlier in the season. But he kept his cool, getting a soft line out from Brandon Crawford and a groundout to first, making a nice play himself to cover the bag, to end the inning.
Mike Dunn allowed the first two batters he faced in the seventh to reach via a single and walk, but got a fly out from Posey and induced a ground ball double play off the bat of Andrew McCutchen.
Colorado regained all the momentum in the bottom of the seventh. Carlos Gonzalez singled to lead things off and stole second base. He scored on a bloop double to right from Desmond who scored on a single up the middle from Iannetta.
David Dahl delivered the dagger with a deep line drive homer over the wall in left-center field, a very difficult spot for lefties to hit home runs to. It was the first pinch-hit home run of his career and came on the first pitch. And just like that, the Rockies were up 10-3.
Longoria got one back, taking Bryan Shaw deep in the eighth, making this the 18th multi-home run game in his illustrious career.
But the home club even got that one back in the bottom of the frame on a double from Arenado and Gonzalez’ eighth base hit in the last three games. That made the final score 11-4.
The Rockies have scored at least five runs in each of their five games so far on this homestand.
They improve to 30-25 on the season, 11-12 at home.
Final Stats:
Kyle Freeland: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Scott Oberg: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER
Mike Dunn: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB
Bryan Shaw: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 K
Chris Iannetta: 2-for-3, R, 2 RBI
Ian Desmond 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI
Gerardo Parra: 2-for-5, 2 R, 1 RBI
Nolan Arenado: 2-for-5, R, 2 RBI
Carlos Gonzalez: 2-for-5, R, RBI
David Dahl: 1-for-1, R, RBI, HR (4)
What’s Next:
The Rockies look to sweep the series on Wednseday evening. Jon Gray will look to build off his strong finish, and hope to forget his poor start, to his last outing. He faces off against lefty Derek Holland. First pitch at 6:40 Mountain Time.
