Rockies beat Giants 5-1 on the strength of singles and two-out hits

The Rockies beat the Giants 5-1 at Coors Field this afternoon.

Starter Kyle Freeland allowed a fair amount of traffic, but he was able to get out of it with minimal damage. He got help from the defense behind him as well—a couple of nice defensive plays, a double play, and a pickoff all helped. In all, Freeland pitched six innings and gave up eight hits and one one. He walked two batters and struck out three.

The offensive Story of the game was singles and two-out hits. The Rockies had 14 hits on the day, 13 of them were base hits. All five of the team’s wins were with two outs.

The Rockies got on the board with three consecutive two-out hits in the second inning. Carlos González, Trevor Story, and Tony Wolters all singled to right field to give the Rockies an early 1-0 lead.

The club did some more small things in the third inning. With one out, DJ LeMahieu singled, and Mark Reynolds followed that up with a walk. Ian Desmond hit an infield single to load the bases for CarGo. He hit the first pitch hard back to Matt Cain, who slowed it down for Kelby Tomlinson at shortstop for the third out of the inning.

The Giants tied the game in the fourth. With one out, Nick Hundley doubled to right field, barely making it there safely after a strong throw from CarGo. Freeland was able to get Aaron Hill to fly out for the second out of the inning, but Gorkys Hernández singled Hundley home to make it a 1-1 game.

The fifth inning displayed the value of defense. Tomlinson led off with a slow hopper to third base. Arenado bare-handed it and fired it to first base for the out. Joe Panik followed that with a single to right field, but he was erased at second base on a fielder’s choice. That left a runner on first base with one out. Buster Posey then hit a fly ball to deep right field. CarGo made a diving play near the foul line for the third out. the plays by Arenado and CarGo saved at least one run in the fifth inning.

The Rockies manufactured a run in the fifth to take a 2-1 lead. Desmond singled on a line drive to left field and proceeded to steal second base. He advanced to third on a cross up between Cain and Posey, and Story drove Desmond home with a single.

Kyle Freeland was in a bit of trouble in the sixth. Austin Slater led off the inning with a single, and he advanced to second base after Hundley grounded out. But Freeland got Hill to line out softly to shortstop. After intentionally walking Hernández, he faced pinch-hitter Brandon Belt with two on and two outs. Freeland struck Belt out with a high fastball to end the inning and preserve the 2-1 lead. That was all for Freeland

The Rockies added more in the sixth and seventh innings. In the sixth, Raimel Tapia singled and advanced to second on a fielder’s choice. Arenado drove him home with a single to center field. The following inning saw Reynolds single and move to second base after a Desmond sacrifice bunt (that’s how it was scored, anyhow). Story lined out to center field, and the Giants intentionally walked CarGo. Wolters then singled Reynolds home with two outs. Pinch-hitter Pat Valaika hit a pop fly that landed in front of Hunter Pence in right field, and that scored Wolters to make it 5-1.

Scott Oberg, Adam Ottavino, and Jake McGee combined to pitch three scoreless innings to secure the win, as well as the sweep. The series finale is tomorrow, when the Rockies will attempt the four-game sweep. Tyler Chatwood will face Ty Blach. The game begins at 1:10 MT