With the San Francisco Giants entering their series finale against the Colorado Rockies, they looked to carry over the offensive success from Saturday night’s victory. Instead, despite another strong offensive showing, the Giants could not hold onto their lead and ultimately fell 13-7.
Blade Tidwell was slated to make the start for the Giants, with Gabriel Hughes taking the mound for the Rockies.
What followed was a hard-fought battle in the early innings, with both sides trading blows on the scoreboard. Through the first three innings, the Giants and Rockies combined for nine runs as both starters struggled to find their footing.
Bryce Eldridge opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. After Rafael Devers doubled earlier in the inning, Eldridge followed with an RBI single to get the Giants on the board.
The Rockies answered with a four-run second inning to take the lead, capped by Adael Amador’s three-run homer.
That lead would not last long. The Giants responded with a four-run second inning of their own to regain a one-run advantage. Drew Gilbert drove in the first run with an RBI single before Devers followed with a three-run homer, his 25th of the season.
The momentum continued into the third inning, when the Giants offense came through again. Turner Hill delivered an RBI single to provide some additional insurance and give San Francisco a two-run lead. After three innings, the Giants led 6-4.
As for Tidwell, he began to settle into his start after the difficult second inning, throwing two scoreless innings in the third and fourth. He returned for the fifth and recorded the first out on a groundout by Brett Sullivan before walking the next two batters, Amador and Jake McCarthy.
Tidwell was lifted following McCarthy’s walk and replaced by Sam Hentges. In the next at-bat, Hentges allowed an RBI double to Cole Carrigg, bringing the Rockies within one run. Colorado followed with a sacrifice fly from Mickey Moniak, tying the game. Both runs were charged to Tidwell because Hentges inherited the runners.
The Giants ultimately escaped the inning without allowing any additional damage, but the damage had already been done. It was a rough overall outing for Tidwell, who finished with 4.1 innings, three hits allowed, six earned runs, five walks, one strikeout and one home run allowed.
The walks were clearly the biggest issue for Tidwell, as his command simply was not there. However, when the Rockies did make contact, it often resulted in damage, as demonstrated by Amador’s three-run homer earlier in the game.
Tidwell finished with just 63 pitches, 35 of which were strikes. Simply put, it was a tough day at the office for the right-hander.
The Giants offense picked up again in the bottom of the fifth when Buddy Kennedy drew a bases-loaded walk to give San Francisco a one-run lead. That advantage would not last long, however, as the Rockies got the run back in the sixth when J.T. Brubaker threw a wild pitch that allowed Colorado to tie the game at 7-7.
From there, things began to slip away.
With the bases loaded, Brubaker hit Carrigg with a pitch, allowing the Rockies to take the lead. Brubaker was removed following the rough outing and replaced by Reiver Sanmartin, who then allowed a two-RBI single to Moniak. The Rockies extended their advantage to 10-7.
That put the Giants in a difficult position, as they would essentially have to play catch-up if they wanted to mount a comeback.
Ultimately, that comeback never came. The Giants fell 13-7, with Hentges taking his fifth loss of the season. The defeat also handed San Francisco a series loss against the Rockies.
The Giants will have Monday off before opening a three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday.