They held a baseball game on Sunday afternoon at Coors Field, and a track meet broke out. The Giants did most of the sprinting.
They ripped the Rockies‘ woeful pitching for 25 hits, including 13 extra-base hits — nine doubles, one triple and three homers — on their way to a 19-6 rout.
The Giants’ onslaught included a grand slam by shortstop Willy Adames off Zach Agnos in a seven-run fifth inning. It was the sixth career grand slam for Adames.
The Rockies (22-38) entered the game with two things on the line. First, had they beaten the Giants (23-36), they would have escaped last place in the National League West and planted San Francisco in the cellar. Second, Colorado was looking for its first sweep of the Giants since Sept. 3-5, 2018, at Coors.
No dice. The Giants were aggressive from the outset and kept piling on. The 25 hits were their most since pounding out 27 against the Rockies on Sept. 1, 2020, at Coors Field
“They came out ready to hit today,” Colorado manager Warren Schaeffer said. “It was just a bad game. You have those every now and then. You take winning the series.”
Colorado starter Tanner Gordon pitched three-plus innings, giving up four runs on six hits. Agnos was tagged for seven runs on seven hits, and his ERA soared to 7.78. Juan Mejia gave up three runs on two hits in two-thirds of an inning. Keegan Thompson was ripped for three runs on four hits in two innings. You get the idea.
And, for the fourth time in the last 12 games, catcher Brett Sullivan — Colorado’s human white flag — was called on to pitch in relief. In 1 1/3 innings, he gave up two runs on five hits, including a two-run homer to Jesus Rodriguez in the ninth.
Gordon got the hook in the fourth inning after allowing the first two batters to reach. At that point, he had already thrown 75 pitches.
“You got to set the tone for the game, and just a little sloppy in the beginning, just wasn’t getting ahead of guys,” said Gordon, who was coming off a solid start in Los Angeles when he was charged with one run on six hits over five innings.
“(Today) I was basically the complete opposite of what happened last time,” he added. “I mean, it was super efficient, and it just wasn’t today.”
Sunday’s game was not for baseball purists. It took 3 hours and 38 minutes to complete. There were six errors committed (three on each side), 396 pitches (108 in the first two innings) and 98 foul balls.
Pitching probables
Monday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-6, 8.08 ERA) at Angels RHP Jose Soriano (6-4, 2.65), 7:38 p.m.
Tuesday: Rockies RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (4-4, 4.01) at Angels RHP Grayson Rodriguez (2-1, 7.53), 7:38 p.m.
Wednesday: Rockies RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-7, 7.22) at Angels RHP Walbert Urena (2-4, 2.44), 7:38 p.m.
Thursday: Off day
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
