It's been a tale of two reverse expected seasons for Colorado and San Francisco. The Rockies prevailed in a 3-1 victory at AT&T Park on Thursday night and still hang around at the top of the NL West with Arizona. The giants falter to just 4-7 on the season and lose with Madison Bumgarner on the mound for the third consecutive time. San Francisco's ace went six innings but didn't have his normal stuff by giving up three earned runs on six hits and gave up his second homer of the season. It also hasn't helped that the offense hasn't been supporting him with runs in his recent two losses.
Rockies vs. Giants series capsule
- Game 1: Colorado 3-1
- Game 2: Friday, 10:15 PM ET
- Game 3: Saturday, 4:05 PM ET
- Game 4: Sunday, 4:05 PM ET
Early struggles for Giants ace
It was a tough start for Bumgarner in the first inning. He gave up a single to DJ LeMahieu and walked Nolan Arenado. With just one out, LeMahieu was able to steal third base. However, he was able to settle things down and retire the final two batters to keep the game scoreless. The Giants responded with a leadoff single by Denard Span, but immediately grounded into a double play afterward.
Both sides couldn't produce any hits for the next two innings, but that changed in the top of the fourth. Carlos Gonzalez delivered a single with one out for the Rockies.
After Mark Reynolds had stricken out, Trevor Story slammed his first homer of the season on the first pitch he saw from Bumgarner. That opened up a 2-0 lead for the away side. However, those thrills were softened a bit when their starting pitcher, Jon Gray, had to leave the game in the bottom of the fourth with an injury.
The Rockies overcome Gray injury
Chris Rusin came in for relief, and he didn't miss a beat. He retired nine straight batters in the middle innings before the Giants finally generated offense. Before that, Colorado was able to extend their lead at the top of the sixth. The Rockies got their leadoff runner on, and Nolan Arenado pushed LeMahieu to second with a single himself.
Reynolds delivered this time, punching out a line drive to center field and reeling in LeMahieu to make it 3-0. After a meeting on the mound, Story wasn't able to continue his heroics and struck out.
The Giants finally showed signs of life offensively with a leadoff single by Brandon Belt in the bottom of the seventh. Small ball was the name of the game afterward. Conor Gillaspie was able to hit a ground ball that pushed Hunter Pence from first to third base. After Adam Ottavino had replaced Rusin, Eduardo Nunez was able to smack a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 3-1.
San Francisco had one last gasp in the bottom of the ninth as they loaded up the bases with just one out. However, Nunez didn't deliver this time around and grounded into a double play to end the comeback threat.
