Rockies 6, Giants 2: Nolan Arenado homers twice in win

The Rockies beat the Giants 6-2 on Sunday in a well-played game all around. Offensive contributions from the team’s stars and a stellar showing from the bullpen bolstered a decent start from starter Kyle Freeland. It was as crisp of a win as you could ask for.

Kyle Freeland’s solid start

It wasn’t exactly an “I’m back, baby!” type of start from Kyle, but he had a nice outing on Sunday. Freeland allowed two runs on five hits over five innings. Both of the runs he allowed were solo home runs by Donavan Solano. He maintained pretty good command as well, walking just one batter and striking out five.

Freeland left after 84 pitches. If this were 2018, he would have come back out for the sixth inning. But it’s understandable that Bud Black didn’t want to tempt fate and expose Freeland to potentially see a good start turn sour. As it was though, it was a good start, and it’s the type of performance we’d love to seem more of over the next couple months.

Bullpen sharp

The Rockies’ bullpen kept the Giants scoreless over four innings to lock down the win. Wade Davis pitched the fifth, and it was one of his better outings of the season. He allowed a single, struck out a batter, and didn’t walk anyone. Jake McGee, Jairo Díaz, and Scott Oberg combined to allow just two hits in their scoreless innings.

Nolan’s home run swing returns

In the third inning, Nolan Arenado hit his first home run since July 20th. It was his 23rd of the year. Then, in the fifth inning, Arenado hit his second of the day and 24th of the season. After a miserable month, here’s to seeing a lot more of this in 2019:

Trevor leather

In addition to hitting a home run, Trevor Story made a ridiculously good play at shortstop, which doesn’t need description and demands a view:

Up next

The Rockies are off on Monday. On Tuesday they begin a six game road trip that will take them to Houston and then San Diego.