San Francisco Giants starter Alex Wood throws against the Colorado Rockies line up in the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Aug 15, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Two of the biggest plays of the series finale between the San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies came within minutes of each other.

Lamonte Wade, Jr., threw out Elias Diaz at the plate on a Connor Joe base hit that preserved the Giants led to end the top of the seventh inning and then Kris Bryant came off the bench to reach on a botched fielding play between Joe and Garrett Hampson that allowed Bryant to reach on a fielding error, as the Giants defeated the Rockies 5-2 before a crowd of 33,337 at Oracle Park.

Bryant reached second on the fielding error, then he gave the Giants a two-run cushion, when pinch hitter Austin Slater doubled in Bryant.

After Darin Ruf, the third pinch hitter in a row for the Giants was hit by a pitch on his elbow guard, Tommy LaStella singled to load the bases, and Wilmer Flores singled in Slater for the second run of the inning.

Brandon Belt was unable to drive in a run that could have broken the game wide open, as he flew out to Joe in left field for the first out of the inning. Just like Belt, Brandon Crawford was unable to help out at the plate, as he struck out for the second time in a row.

Robert Stephenson was able to get out of the jam, as he got Mike Yastrzemski to pop out to Ryan McMahon to end the threat.

Alex Wood pitched the first 6.2 innings for the Giants, as he gave up two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out six.

It was the 10th win of the season for Wood, who raises his record to 9-0 in games following a loss and the Giants are now 11-0 as a team in games Wood starts following a team loss.

With the victory, the Giants are now 40-18 at home this season, the best home record in the major leagues and just ahead of the Chicago White Sox, who are 40-21.

This was the Giants seventh win in a row in day games, and have won nine out of their last 10 games in day games.

The Giants finally got to Rockies starter Jon Gray in the bottom of the fifth inning, as Curt Casali singled to centerfield to score Yastrzemski, who led off the inning with a single, then stole his third base of the season. Following a walk to Wood to load the bases, Wade, Jr., struck out for the first out. Tommy LaStella hit a two-run double that just missed being a grand slam by inches to give the Giants a 3-0 lead.

Gray went 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out five and saw his record fall to 7-9 on the season.

Diaz got the Rockies on the board in the top of the seventh inning, as he singled to score Hampson. Charlie Blackmon came off the bench to single Yonathan Daza to get the Rockies within one run; however, Dominic Leone was able to get out of the jam, when Wade made that great throw to get Diaz to end the inning.

NOTES: Jay Jackson was reinstated form the injured list prior to the game, while Sammy Long was optioned to Sacramento. Luis Gonzalez was recalled from Sacramento and placed on the 60-day Major League Injured List, as he recovers from right shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum.

This is the Giants second best start thru 118 games since the team moved to California in 1958, trailing only the 1993 team that was 79-39 thru the same amount of games.

UP NEXT: Kevin Gausman takes the mound on Monday night, as he searches for his 12th win of the season, while Rich Hill will go for his seventh win of the season for the New York Mets. This is the beginning of a stretch that the Giants will see each other six times over the next 9 games, that concludes on August 26 at Citi Field in New York.