The decisive moment of Jon Gray’s start Wednesday in the series finale against the Giants came in the fourth inning, when he mishandled opposing pitcher Derek Holland’s bunt to load the bases with one out while holding a 4-2 lead.
“That was a big moment,” manager Bud Black said. “I went out to the mound, just to let the guys know, ‘Hey listen, let’s get an out here, and then Jon will get (Gorkys) Hernandez and the score will be 4-2 in the fourth inning.'”
But the right-hander proceeded to issue consecutive walks to tie the game, and San Francisco dinged relievers Harrison Musgrave and Jake McGee for three more runs after that as the Rockies fell 7-4 at Coors Field.
“There were some really good at-bats in the fourth with well-thrown pitches by Jon in and around the plate, and they took their walks,” Black said. “It was a game where Hernandez, (Buster) Posey and Jon were battling.
“And obviously, Jon threw a lot of pitches — 90-plus pitches in three-plus innings is not recommended.”
Nolan Arenado got things going for Colorado with a three-run, no-doubt homer to left in the bottom of the first, giving the Rockies an early 3-0 lead.
When San Francisco came back with two runs in the second off a Gray wild pitch and a Pablo Sandoval RBI single that followed, the Rockies — looking as if they had carried over momentum from Tuesday’s 11-run laser show — responded with a Charlie Blackmon RBI single in the bottom of the frame to make it 4-2 Colorado.
But once the Giants tied the game and chased Gray in the fourth — the second time they’ve done so to Gray in as many outings, roughing him up for five runs in 3 ⅔ innings May 19 at AT&T Park — San Francisco owned the momentum the rest of the night.
Gray said he felt like he “picked around the corners and got behind too much,” and that his fastball was simply flat.
“My slider’s getting really good — it was really good tonight — but I didn’t have anything else working,” Gray said. “A lot of that has to do with the mindset when throwing the fastball, because that sets up that pitch. I’ve got to really drive it in the strike zone and really make them feel it.”
Upon relieving Gray, Musgrave induced an Andrew McCutchen double play to get out of the inning without further damage. But San Francisco tagged the southpaw, who in May had yielded just one run in eight innings of work coming into the game, for two hits on two runs in the fifth to go up 6-4.
From there, two innings by Scott Oberg and one apiece by Jake McGee and Chris Rusin gave the Rockies a chance to come back as they had the night before, even with Buster Posey’s RBI single off McGee in the eighth. But Colorado was bested by the Giants’ bullpen.
While the Rockies made Holland look average over five innings, Reyes Moronta, Tony Watson, Sam Dyson and Hunter Strickland locked down the final four frames, allowing only three hits while sucking the energy out of the home crowd.
“I thought we had some really good at-bats — Gorkys robbing CarGo (to end the fifth) with two on with a diving play was a big momentum change, and that would’ve been a big run,” Arenado said. “It just wasn’t meant to be for us today.”
Colorado (30-26) remains a game ahead of Arizona atop the National League West standings, with the Dodgers (3.5 games back) coming into town for a three-game set starting Friday.
Looking ahead
Thursday:ڴ
Friday: Dodgers LHP Alex Wood (1-4, 3.75 ERA) at Rockies LHP Tyler Anderson (3-1, 4.72), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
Saturday: Dodgers RHP Walker Buehler (3-1, 2.20) at Rockies RHP German Marquez (4-5, 4.21), 5:15 p.m. ATTRM/FOX
Sunday: Dodgers RHP Brock Stewart (0-0, 4.61) at Rockies RHP Chad Bettis (4-1, 3.68), 1:10 p.m. ATTRM
Monday: Off
