A bases-loaded opportunity came not once, but twice, in the first three innings against San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner. But the Colorado bats came up empty both times, and it seemed the Rockies were on track to waste another strong start by Kyle Freeland.
But then the Rockies’ offense woke up and swung the momentum of the game with a three-run seventh, chasing Bumgarner and propelling Colorado to a 5-2, series-opening win over the Giants on Monday at Coors Field.
San Francisco struck first on the very first pitch of the game when outfielder Gorkys Hernandez took a Freeland fastball deep to right field to give the visitors a 1-0 edge. But the long ball didn’t phase the southpaw.
“You have to realize there’s still nine innings of baseball to be played, and a lot of pitches to be thrown,” Freeland said. “You just have to keep pitching and have faith in your offense that they’re going to come through for you.”
The Giants tacked on another run in the third via a Buster Posey double that scored Brandon Belt to make it 2-0. Meanwhile, the Rockies’ offense squandered two huge early opportunities to get to Bumgarner.
Chris Iannetta popped out in foul territory to left to end Colorado’s bases-loaded response threat in the bottom of the first, and when the catcher came up again in the third, he again went to left. This time, he hit a seed that found the mitt of a diving Austin Slater to leave three stranded once again.
“We put together some good at-bats against Bumgarner from the start of the game, and we put some stress on him with the bases loaded twice,” manager Bud Black said. “He made some pitches, though, and Chris hit a bullet to end (the third) on a nice play by Slater.”
Even as the offense sputtered, however, Freeland homed in, not allowing a baserunner through his final four frames of work en route to turning in a three-hit, seven-inning outing for his fourth straight quality start.
Black noted the continued progression of Freeland’s changeup played a critical role Monday, and in his recent surge overall.
“It’s a pitch he’s very confident in when behind in the count, and even deep in the count,” Black said. “He’s been a quick study, and there’s been some things on the delivery side that he’s incorporated to help him with the change.”
And when the seventh inning rolled around, with Freeland cheering emphatically from the top step of the dugout, Colorado loaded the bases with no outs on Bumgarner to bring on right-hander Reyes Moronta.
Moronta walked Nolan Arenado to make it 2-1, Trevor Story hit into a double play to tie the game, and then Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford made a throwing error on a routine grounder to give Colorado the 3-2 advantage it didn’t relinquish.
“That was an unexpected error by their shortstop to give us the go-ahead run,” Black said. “But that’s why you play — because you never know what’s going to happen, but you keep playing and keep fighting like our guys do.”
Tom Murphy added a pinch-hit RBI double and Charlie Blackmon had a sacrifice fly for insurance in the eighth, while Scott Oberg and Wade Davis combined to pitch the last two scoreless innings.
Looking ahead
Giants RHP Mark Stratton (8-5, 4.55 ERA) at Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela (2-1, 6.23), 6:10 p.m, ATTRM; 850 AM
Senzatela makes his first start of 2018 to much anticipation after being called up Saturday from Triple-A to replace struggling Jon Gray in the Rockies’ rotation. In 10 April appearances out of the bullpen, the right-hander had a 6.14 ERA and probably would have been recalled to the majors sooner if a minor groin injury hadn’t slowed his progress. Senzatela hasn’t seen the Giants yet this season but posted a 4.24 ERA in 23 1/3 innings against San Francisco in 2017 while being hit for a .224 average and four home runs. Meanwhile, the Rockies’ offense looks for the same result against Stratton that it got last week by the bay, when Colorado chased him after four innings with eight hits and five runs. — Kyle Newman, The Denver Post
Wednesday: Giants LHP Andrew Suarez (3-4, 4.18 ERA) at Rockies LHP Tyler Anderson (5-3, 4.23), 6:10 p.m., ATTRM
Thursday: Off day
Friday: Rockies RHP German Marquez (6-8, 5.14) at Mariners RHP Felix Hernandez (8-6, 5.11), 8:10 p.m., ATTRM
Saturday: Rockies RHP Chad Bettis (5-1, 5.10) at Mariners LHP James Paxton (8-2, 3.39), 2:10 p.m., ATTRM
