Giants 10, Rockies 7: San Francisco’s reign continues

The Rockies battled, but an eight-run deficit was too much for them to overcome on Tuesday

The Giants attacked from the start, and while the Rockies made things interesting, they were unable to overcome a large early deficit and fell to the Giants 10-7 on Tuesday.

Kuhl’s cold outing

Chad Kuhl’s last start against the Giants was his roughest of the year, but it’s fair to say tonight’s was even tougher. He was accosted early and often by the Giants, who scored in each of his three innings pitched. Tommy La Stella welcomed him to the contest by parking the second pitch of the game into the second deck of right field to give San Francisco an early lead.

That lead was doubled in the second inning thanks to a Brandon Crawford triple and Brendan Rodgers throwing error. Four more runs would score in the third inning by way of hits, errors, and wild pitches, and Kuhl would depart with his team facing a 6-0 deficit.

Kuhl’s final line: three innings pitched with six runs (five earned) allowed on eight hits, one walk, and no strikeouts. Not great. His ERA increased by almost a full run after this outing, now sitting at 3.86 on the season.

Bullpen lows…

Things didn’t improve too much after Kuhl exited. Jhoulys Chacín allowed two runs in his two innings of work (now sitting on an ERA of 8.31), and Justin Lawrence allowed two of his own in his one inning. The two relievers allowed a combined five hits and three walks, though did strike out four. As the Rockies offense attempted to climb back into the game, these middle innings were tough – the Giants were not to be denied, and scored in five of the first seven innings of the game.

The Rockies did not throw a 1-2-3 inning in the contest.

…and bullpen highs

It wasn’t all bad for the Colorado relief corps. Robert Stephenson worked around a leadoff double to pitch a scoreless seventh inning, and Alex Colomé threw a zero on the scoreboard after walking the first batter in the eighth. Lucas Gilbreath then pitched a scoreles ninth, again after a leadoff walk.

Bats claw back

The Rockies were down 10-2 to open the bottom of the sixth inning, and it was fair to assume this one was all but over. The Rockies made things interesting, though, starting with a Yonathan Daza single off of Giants starter Alex Cobb. Charlie Blackmon then lifted a bloop single to left, and was followed by an RBI single from C.J. Cron to put things at 10-3. An RBI knock from Ryan McMahon made it 10-4, but the big blow came from Randal Grichuk, whose three-run home run brought the Rockies within three at 10-7.

Giants reliever John Brebbia shut the Rockies down after Cobb departed the game, but the five runs were something to celebrate at least.

LoDo magic?

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Giants closer Camilo Doval entered and quickly recorded the first two outs of the frame. However, back-to-back walks to Yonathan Daza and Charlie Blackmon brought the tying run to the plate in the form of C.J. Cron. He battled through a tough at-bat before sending a bloop hit into center field – or it would have been if not for a great diving snag by late-game defensive replacement Austin Slater. The play sealed the game and the series for the Giants, who have beaten the Rockies in 12 straight affairs.

Up Next

The Rockies have one more game against San Francisco before they take a needed off day on Thursday. That last game will see Colorado’s own Kyle Freeland (1-4, 4.91 ERA) take on Logan Webb (5-1, 3.48 ERA). Brian Serven is set to make his MLB debut in that contest.

First pitch is at 1:10 MDT. See you then!