Chad Bettis throws complete game shutout, Rockies beat Giants 6-0

On a bright Labor Day afternoon, Chad Bettis shone brightest as the Rockies took down the San Francisco Giants on Monday, 6-0. Bettis turned in the best start of his career by going the distance against the NL Wild Card leaders. It was the 29th complete game shutout in Rockies history, the last coming from Chris Rusin on August 16, 2015.

The offense gave Bettis all the support he would need in the third inning. Cristhian Adames and Bettis led off the inning with a walk each, followed by a Raimel Tapia single (his only hit of the game) and a sacrifice fly from DJ LeMahieu to give the Rockies the lead. Giants pitcher Matt Moore then intentionally walked Nolan Arenado to get to Carlos Gonzalez, who promptly deposited a 1-1 pitch into the Rockies bullpen for his sixth career grand slam and 25th home run of the season. Nick Hundley hit a home run two batters later to make it 6-0. A single from the next batter, Stephen Cardullo, chased Moore from the game after recording just eight outs.

That was more than enough for Bettis, who took a perfect game into the fifth inning, allowed just two hits on the day with zero walks and seven strikeouts, one short of his career high. The victory, along with St Louis’ demolishing of Pittsburgh, knocked the Giants down to just a half game lead over the Cardinals for the NL Wild Card lead.

The three-game set continues Tuesday at 6:40 pm MT as Tyler Anderson (5-5, 3.43 ERA) takes on Jeff Samardzija (11-9, 4.06 ERA).