Rockies 5, Giants 3: Blackmon’s blast into bay boosts the boys

Charlie Blackmon’s historic homer backed up Márquez’s good start in the victory

The Rockies went into San Francisco to face a tough assignment – Carlos Rodón at sea level. They came to play though, and key hits plus a solid start were enough to give them the 5-3 victory on Tuesday.

Rox strike early

How about Connor Joe, huh? He didn’t wait long to increase his on-base streak, taking the fifth pitch of the game into opposite field for a homer, his fifth of the season. The long ball, Joe’s first since April 25th in Philadelphia, extends Joe’s on-base streak to 33 games in a row.

The Germán Márquez you knew

Germán Márquez has not looked himself all season, seeming to always be fighting command and hard hits throughout his starts. This one seemed no different, as he allowed three runs in the very first inning, throwing 33 pitches in that frame alone. Two of those runs came off the bat of Wilmer Flores, who uncorked on the first pitch he saw to send a ball over the left field wall to give the Giants a 3-1 lead.

That would be all he would allow, though. Márquez mixed his pitches and was able to lock down the Giants offense, working out of tough situations and keeping San Francisco off the board. Look to the fifth inning as a prime example, as Márquez faced Joc Pederson with men on first and second with one out. After a wild pitched moved the runners into scoring position, it seemed the Giants were moments away from extending their one-run lead. Instead, Márquez got Pederson to weakly ground out to first (too weak for a run to score), and coaxed a line out of Thairo Estrada to end the threat.

Márquez tossed six innings and allowed three earned runs on four hits while walking four and striking out seven (including three in his final inning). The walks are still too high, of course, but this was much closer to the dominant starter we’ve seen over the past few seasons.

Blackmon’s homer special, for many reasons

The Rockies managed to eke out another run in the third inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from C.J. Cron, but San Francisco’s one-run lead seemed ironclad for most of the game, even as Colorado managed to chase Giants starter Carlos Rodón early. Rodón threw 98 pitches in just four innings of work, as the Rox lineup showed patience and discipline in their at-bats. They fouled off 33 of Rodón’s pitches throughout his appearance, which no doubt led to his early departure.

Even so, Colorado entered the sixth inning still facing a 3-2 deficit. José Iglesias got things going with a leadoff base hit, and Randal Grichuk followed up with one of his own. Elehuris Montero grounded to first to move both runners up, and up stepped pinch-hitter Charlie Blackmon to face the newly-entered pitcher, lefty José Álvarez. Entering Tuesday’s contest, Blackmon had faced Álvarez in nine at-bats, and had recorded a hit just once.

But today was not just any day.

On the 11-year anniversary of his MLB debut, Blackmon deposited a 1-2 changeup straight into McCovey Cove to give them the 5-3 lead. This home run was “Chuck Nazty’s” 200th career round-tripper, and it had to feel special for him given the situation. Blackmon gave the Rockies new life in a moment that he and Rockies fans won’t soon forget.

The Rockies bullpen then relayed perfectly to the end, as Tyler Kinley, Alex Colomé, and Daniel Bard pitched a clean inning each (three innings, one hit, four strikeouts!) to complete the feel-good victory.

Up Next

We’ll stay in the bay as the Rockies and Giants play the second game of their series. Antonio Senzatela gets the ball for Colorado, while Alex Wood toes the rubber for San Francisco.

First pitch is at 7:45pm MDT. See you then!