DJ LeMahieu saved the day for the Rockies. After a missed call in the 8th inning led to two Giants’ runs and an 8-7 deficit for the Rockies, LeMahieu rocketed a home run to left field to give Colorado a 9-8 lead. It was all part of this beautifully erratic win expectancy chart:
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/11616883/chart_15.png)
The win prevented a three-game sweep, as well as a season-high five game losing streak. The Rockies are now 39-42 through their first 81 games, and they can head to Los Angeles tomorrow riding a win.
Same Gray, different day
The result of the game was great, but Jon Gray’s struggles continued. Gray allowed a double to start the game, and Brandon Belt followed that up by launching a home run into McCovey Cove. He settled down after that though and struck out five batters through three innings. The now characteristic inning of unravel took place in the fourth. It began with a walk that immediately led to a mound visit from Bud Black. Three hits and a walk later, and the Giants had turned a 5-2 Rockies lead into a 5-5 tie. With two runners on, Gray struck out Hunter Pence and Alen Hanson to keep it that way. The highlight, as usual, is that Gray still struck out seven in 4+ innings.
Thomas Harding posted a twitter thread about Gray’s velocity, which was low early but crept up to 94-95 in the fourth and fifth innings. That’s a trend that extends back at least two starts.
Up next
The Rockies begin a weekend series with the Dodgers Friday. Lefties Tyler Anderson and Rich Hill face off in game one — first pitch is at 8:10 MT.