SAN FRANCISCO — The Rockies’ agonizing, frustrating, how-bad-can-it-get season just got significantly worse.
Veteran left-hander Kyle Freeland injured his right shoulder while trying to make a diving play on Brett Wisely’s infield, bunt squibber near the mound during the seventh inning of Sunday’s game at Oracle Park.
The Giants, riding a complete-game shutout by right-hander Logan Webb, beat the Rockies 1-0 to clinch the three-game series.
Freeland, 30, said his shoulder “popped out of the socket” and then popped back in. He underwent X-rays at the ballpark Sunday and will undergo an MRI in Denver on Monday to determine the extent of the damage to his shoulder.
“The X-ray was just to see if (the shoulder) was back in place and to see if there were any broken bones,” the Denver native said. “There wasn’t, so that’s good news. Right now it looks like it was just a dislocated shoulder.”
Kyle Freeland on his right shoulder injury. Not a lot of athletes would talk in this situation. He’s a class act.
— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp)
There is no timetable as to how long the lefty will be out. Second baseman Brendan Rodgers dislocated his left shoulder diving for a ball during spring training and he ended up having surgery and has still not played a game this season. The hope is that Rodgers can play the final two months of the season.
Freeland said the pain was substantial.
“That was one of the worst feelings I’ve had, pitching-injury-wise,” he said. “It’s the first time I’ve dislocated a joint in my life. … When I dove for the ball is when it separated, and then when I tried to push up off the ground to make the play, I had no strength in my right arm and I couldn’t get up.”
Added manager Bud Black: “I think it was a pretty typical subluxation. You don’t like to see anything like that happen on the field. It just turns your guts.”
Freeland, who stayed on the ground for several minutes and was in obvious pain as he departed the field, cradling his right arm. He is the fourth Rockies starter to go down with an injury this season, joining right-handers German Marquez (elbow, Tommy John surgery), Antonio Senzatela (sprained elbow ligament) and Ryan Feltner (fractured skull). It’s a major reason why Colorado’s rotation has a 6.47 ERA, the worst in the majors.
With a 34-57 record (.373 winning percentage), the Rockies head into the All-Star break with the second-worst record in franchise history. Only the 2005 club (31-56, .356) had a worse mark at the break.
Asked if, perhaps, the baseball gods have cursed the Rockies this season, Black answered: “I don’t know about that. But you feel bad for the players and for the overall team. But you don’t wallow in it, you accept it. But you hurt for the players, especially the guys who are injured. But that is our lot right now.”
Veteran third baseman Ryan McMahon said he “honestly couldn’t believe it” when he saw Freeland go down.
“He’s been our kind of constant over these last couple of years,” McMahon said. “He’s been healthy, he’s been the guy we have pointed to. Hopefully, he can bounce back soon. But when you see a guy like that, who has so much fire and is so competitive, go down, it’s gut-wrenching as a teammate.”
Freeland was pitching a terrific game when he was hurt, having given up just one run on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings. He induced two key double plays to escape trouble in the third and fourth innings.
His one big mistake came in the fourth against San Francisco third baseman J.D. Davis. Davis led off with a 421-foot homer to center, crushing Freeland’s 85.4 mph first-pitch sinker.
Freeland took another loss, falling to 4-10, and now has an ERA of 4.72. As usual, the Rockies failed to provide him with run support. He’s received a not-so-grand total of 10 runs of support in his nine road starts. No other starting pitcher in the National League has had worse run support than Freeland.
Webb, meanwhile, toyed with the Rockies. He gave up seven hits, walked none and struck out 10, including striking out Kris Bryant, McMahon and Elias Diaz to finish the game. He became the second Giants pitcher to throw a shutout this season, joining Alex Cobb, who blanked St. Louis on April 23.
Pitching probables
The Rockies are off for the All-Star break, Monday through Thursday.
- Friday: Yankees LHP Carlos Rodon (0-1, 3.38 ERA) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (7-7, 6.40), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
- Saturday: Yankees RHP Clarke Schmidt (4-6, 4.43) at Rockies RHP Chase Anderson (0-4, 7.76), 6:10 p.m., ATTRM
- Sunday: Yankees RHP Gerrit Cole (9-2, 2.85) at Rockies’ RHP Connor Seabold (1-6, 6.65), 1:10 p.m., ATTRM
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