Win streak snapped as Colorado can't coax offense in 4-3 loss to San Francisco

It started like a typical Jon Gray outing: perfect through two innings and no hits until the third inning.

It was also a lot like a typical Rockies’ game from 2017-18 with the home club trailing, yet moving toward the necessary momentum to win late, maybe even in walk-off fashion.

Alas, it didn’t play out as the Coors Field faithful would have liked in a 4-3 loss to the Giants.

The Wolf of Blake Street worked into the fourth before San Francisco notched their first hit; however, the next batter produced a home run that would turn the tide for the purple.

“He’s a warrior. He kept us in that ballgame,” Tony Wolters said of Gray’s performance Wednesday night.

Defensive woes from both sides produced two unearned runs that helped create lead changes for both side.

Colorado benefitted first thanks to an early RBI single from Charlie Blackmon that scored David Dahl who reached on an error and moved up on a wild pitch.

It became a 2-0 lead when Sam Hilliard singled and stole second base, setting the stage for textbook run manufacturing thanks to a well-placed groundout by Wolters and sacrifice fly by Dahl.

Once the Giants scored four unanswered runs, it appeared as if Colorado was set for another comeback when Nolan Arenado tagged his third home run in as many days.

A leadoff single by Wolters in the eighth was the final opportunity for the Rockies, but the top of the lineup simply could not gain traction against Chatfield High School’s Tyler Rogers.

Player of the Game: Jon Gray (6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K)

While he did produce a quality start, Gray pitched much better than his run line might display. Were it not for the home run by Brandon Belt, Colorado easily could have been leading when Gray left the game in the seventh.

He threw only 61 of his 92 pitches for strikes, including only 10 of 21 first pitch strikes, but Gray didn’t walk a better nor give up an extra-base hit to anyone not named Belt.

Moment of the Game: Brandon Belt barely bops one out

Had the auxiliary scoreboard in right field been located in left field, Sam Hilliard may have had an opportunity to rob Belt’s homer as the first baseman’s fly ball was essentially a long pop up with an expected batting average of only .030, meaning it typically produces an out 97% of the time.

Defensive Gem: Sam Hilliard lays out once again

In a game with two defensive errors by Trevor Story and Daniel Murphy on routine grounders, there simply weren’t any plays worth of notoriety in the early going. Not until Hilliard move back to left after an inning in right field.

On a blooper off the bat of Wilmer Flores, Hilliard came a long way to make a sliding grab of the ball with a .630 expected batting average.

Diamond Details

• Charlie Blackmon extended his hitting streak to nine games with a first-inning, run scoring single. He entered Wednesday’s contest batting .485 (16-for-33) and tied for the most hit in the NL.
• Trevor Story’s 26-game on-base streak dating back to Sept. 10 of last season was snapped with an 0-for-4 night at the plate.
• Tyler Anderson will start Thursday’s matinee for San Francisco against fellow lefty Kyle Freeland. Anderson, a 2011 1st Rd pick by Colorado, spent four seasons with the first team pitching to an 18-24 record with a 4.69 ERA and producing an impressive 6.4 bWAR.