Giants 9, Rockies 8: You can only come back so many times (11/F)

The Colorado Rockies were looking to bust out the broom against the San Francisco Giants this afternoon, only to have the Giants take said broom and snap it over their knee. Despite several comebacks while behind throughout the game, the Rockies never held a lead and couldn’t make a comeback happen a final time as they fell to the Giants in 11 innings.

Kyle Freeland’s day was ruined on one bad pitch

Apart from some weirdness in the second inning, Kyle Freeland pitched a mostly flawless baseball game for 6 ¹⁄₃ innings and 99 pitches. In the second inning he gave up a leadoff double to Evan Longoria but would have immediately followed that up with a groundout to Ryan McMahon if not for some shenanigans. McMahon reached out his glove to snag a sharp hit by Thairo Estrada for the easy out... and the ball went through it. It was counted as an error and Freeland now had two runners on and no outs. Two singles later the Giants had two runs on the board. Freeland kept the Giants offense dormant for the next four innings and carried a 2-2 tie into the seventh inning. He allowed a single and a double to kick off the inning but induced a groundout for the first out. He was looking to strike out his next batter but lost him on a full count to load the bases. 6 ¹⁄₃ innings. 99 pitches. Skipper Bud Black came to the mound to ask Freeland one question: “are you good?” Freeland stayed in the game and with his 100th pitch Evan Longoria crushed a 93 MPH fastball low and inside for a grand slam.

That was the note on which Freeland’s day ended. His final line had him throw 6 ¹⁄₃ innings while allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits and three walks. He struck out five.

The bullpen locked it down in regulation but couldn’t hold it down in extras

The Rockies bullpen did an excellent job in relief of starting pitcher Kyle Freeland through the rest of regulation. Dinelson Lamet came in for the final two outs in the seventh inning to stop the bleeding with a strikeout, a good bounceback from back-to-back shaky outings. Justin Lawrence pitched a flawless 1-2-3 inning in the eighth with a strikeout of his own as he looks to cement himself as a member of the big league bullpen. Carlos Estévez pitched his ninth straight scoreless outing in the month of August with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

The bullpen had a difficult time keeping it together in extra innings. Lucas GIlbreath made his third straight appearance and didn’t have the same stuff we’re used to seeing. He gave up a single straight to center to allow the runner on second to score and walked a batter with two outs. Robert Stephenson came in to try and collect the third out but promptly gave up an additional run with a single to right field. The earned run was credited to Gilbreath. Rookie reliever Jake Bird pitched the top of the 11th inning and unfortunately was tagged with the loss despite not giving up a hit. Lamonte Wade Jr. advanced the runner on second with a sacrifice bunt and Wilmer Flores hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score the run.

Dinger Day, indeed

The Rockies celebrated the birth of their mascot Dinger appropriately with three home runs and a solid offensive showing to keep pace with the Giants despite the loss. Brian Serven kicked off the fireworks with a two-run home run in the fifth inning after a Sam Hilliard single. When the Rockies were trailing by four runs in the seventh inning after Evan Longoria’s grand slam, Elehuris Montero drove his fourth career home run out of the park to shorten the gap. The Rockies put up an additional three runs in the eighth inning to tie things up. Ryan McMahon—batting out of the leadoff spot for the first time in his career—doubled and was driven in with a Charlie Blackmon single. Randal Grichuk hit the third home run of the game with a two-run shot to the deepest part of the yard to tie the game up at 6-6 going into the ninth.

The Rockies lost the lead in the top of the tenth and were able to mount a comeback in the bottom of the inning. Ryan McMahon led off the inning with a single to score the runner on second in Wynton Bernard and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Charlie Blackmon once again drove McMahon home with a single. The Rockies had a chance to walk things off after Randal Grichuk singled and Garrett Hampson drew a walk, but Sam Hilliard popped out in foul territory to send things to the 11th inning. Trailing in the 11th, Sam Hilliard attempted to tag up on a Wynton Bernard flyout to right, but a strong throw from Giants right fielder Lamonte Wade Jr. led to him being tagged out at third base. Hilliard was originally called safe but after review from New York, the call was overturned. It appeared that Hilliard was tagged on the foot before he was able to touch the bag.

Coming Up Next

The Rockies have the day off to reset on Monday before a short two game series against the Texas Rangers. The Rockies will not face their old friend Jon Gray during the series. Germán Márquez will take the mound on Tuesday night against Rangers righty Dane Dunning. First pitch is at 6:40 PM MDT.