That hurt to watch.
No matter who pitched, the Giants hit and just kept on hitting. Just to get through it, the Rockies had to put in catcher Drew Butera to pitch and end the suffering.
Jon Gray and Jairo Díaz each gave up a touchdown’s worth of runs as the Rockies got manhandled by the Giants on Tuesday night. Every Giant in the lineup got a hit, combing for 27 as a team, and they scored in every inning except the ninth – thanks only to Butera. Alex Dickerson hit three home runs and went 5-for-6 with six RBI, while Brandon Crawford and Donovan Solano also added six RBI apiece.
The Rockies (17-19) dropped to fourth place in the NL West, while the Giants (18-19) moved into third place. Colorado has now lost three in a row and has been outscored 42-7 over the course of the losing streak
Gray pummeled in 2 2/3 innings
Gray got one out into the first inning before Dickerson hit a 480-foot solo homer. Two more singles followed and then Solano hit a two-run double to make it 3-0 in the first. Dickerson hit a two-run homer in the second to make it 5-0. In the third, Brandon Belt singled, Crawford singled, and Joey Bart reached on an infield single to end Gray’s night. Not only was the outing Gray’s shortest of the season, it was his shortest since a 12-2 loss to the Nationals on Sept. 29 of 2018. In that game, Gray gave up five earned runs in two innings. Through eight starts, Gray’s ERA is now 6.69 with a 1.440 WHIP.
Díaz hit hard as bullpen blowouts continue
Not that the Rockies and their lost offense were in it before Díaz came in, but they were officially knocked out of it by the time he was pulled from the game. Díaz continued his struggles of late. He gave up three-run homers to Dickerson and Crawford, as well as an RBI single to Solano. The Giants recorded seven hits and walked once. Despite two strikeouts, Díaz couldn’t get out of the inning. “Jairo had a tough outing. There is no doubt about that. He’s been struggling. We’ve gotta get back to the drawing board and we’ve gotta get him back on track and back on track soon,” Bud Black said after the game, adding that the pitching staff is working with Díaz on his breaking pitches, but the results weren’t there today.
In his last three appearances, Díaz has given up 11 runs on 12 hits with three walks in a total of 2 2 2/3 innings. His ERA on the season is 9.45. It’s a rough turn of events for a guy who had scoreless outings in his first five appearances. Tyler Kinley then took his turn, giving up two runs before Jeff Hoffman surrendered four more runs.
Santos makes MLB debut
Trying to find a little good news, right handed reliever Antonio Santos (No. 20 PuRP) made his MLB debut and was decent. His debut came a little earlier than he probably thought, at least in terms of inning, as the 23-year-old entered the game in the third with two outs and a runner on and the Rockies down 7-0.
Santos rescued Gray in the third and got Mauricio Dubon to fly out. He only gave up two runs over the next two innings, which turned out to be the best Rockies pitching performance of the night. He gave up four hits, two walks, and had two strikeouts. As a starter for Double-A Hartford in 2019, Santos had a 4.93 ERA and 1.250 WHIP. He then transitioned to a reliever in the Arizona Fall League. The Rockies obviously need a lot of help in the bullpen (and rotation), so hopefully this was a positive step for Santos. “He showed some good signs. There is a live arm in there for a young guy,” Black said of Santos. “We’ll see how it plays out as his career moves forward.”
Hampson lone bright spot in offense
The Giants had so much offense, there wasn’t any left over for the Rockies. They were held to two hits through the first seven innings, which were both solo homers off the bat of Garrett Hampson. Hampson doubled his home run total for the season, taking it to four. What’s really depressing to think about in terms of how badly the Rockies bats are slumping is that the Giants could have just beat the Rockies with the three-run homers from Dickerson and Crawford. In the seventh inning, Raimel Tapia hit an RBI double and came around to score on a single from Josh Fuentes. Tapia also hit a sac fly in the ninth for the Rockies’ fifth and final run.
Up next
The Rockies will hope to bounce back to split the short series with the Giants on Thursday when Kyle Freeland (2-1, 3.43) faces off against Logan Webb (2-3, 4.35). First pitch is slated for 1:10 p.m.