San Francisco Giants beat the Rockies 7-2 behind a stellar start from Jeff Samardzija

Despite not having Buster Posey in the lineup, the Giants cruised to an easy 7-2 victory over the Rockies. Tyler Chatwood got roughed up for five runs on 11 hits in six innings of work, while Jeff Samardzija tossed a gem, going eight innings and allowing just two runs.

The Rockies got on the board first when Nick Hundley grounded into a run-scoring double play in the second inning.

The Giants quickly countered with a run of their own after Denard Span doubled and Hunter Pence drove him in with a base hit to left field. Gerardo Parra attempted to cut down the tying run, but fired the ball way off target, allowing Span to score with ease. Parra was quickly tested again when Brandon Belt singled to left field, and Parra threw a strike to home plate to nail the go-ahead run.

The Rockies nearly bounced back the next inning to re-take the lead, but couldn’t cash in with a runner on third and one out as Trevor Story and Carlos Gonzalez couldn’t come through.

The Giants started to figure out Chatwood in the top of the fifth, as Joe Panik doubled and was scored on a 455 foot, two-run home run off the bat of Hunter Pence.

The Rockies lucked into a run to bring the score to 3-2 after Brandon Crawford and Angel Pagan misplayed a Nolan Arenado pop up, scoring Charlie Blackmon. Carlos Gonzalez attempted to score on the play as well, but was thrown at home plate.

The Giants started to pull ahead after another two-run homer, this time from Buster Posey’s backup Trevor Brown (of course), giving the Giants a 5-2 lead.

Brown came through again in the eighth (well, duh), hitting another two-run home run off of Jason Gurka to officially put the game out of reach as the Giants extended their lead to five.

Carlos Gonzalez reached base in the bottom of the ninth, but the Rockies were unable to put together a rally and went out quietly as the Giants took game one of the series.