San Francisco Giants reliever Tyler Rogers reaction after he gave up a three run bottom of the eighth inning home run to the Colorado Rockies Jake Cave at Coors Field in Denver on Fri Jul 19, 2024 (AP News photo)

Friday, July 18, 2024

Coors Field

Denver, Colorado

San Francisco Giants 3 (47-51)

Colorado Rockies 2 (35-63)

Win: Jalen Beeks (6-4)

Loss: Tyler Rogers (1-3)

Time: 2:45

Attendance: 40,115

By Stephen Ruderman

Coors Field struck again to start the second half, as the Giants blew a 3-0 lead and a five-inning shutout performance from Kyle Harrison, and the Rockies came back to win a flatout weird game by a final of 7-3 on Friday night.

Following a thrilling win on a walk-off little league home run by Mike Yastrzemski on Sunday to cap off the first half, Logan Webb and Heliot Ramos went to Arlington, Texas for the All-Star Game, and the rest of the team had four much-needed days off. Friday night, they reconvened in Denver to open the second half and pennant race.

With the Giants playing at Coors Field, you just knew that it was going to be a weird and wild night. In fitting Coors Field fashion, it was overcast and rainy at the start of the game, as the Giants went down 1-2-3 against Rockies’ starter Cal Quantrill in the top of the first inning.

Kyle Harrison made the start for San Francisco Friday night in his third start back off the Injured List. In his first start back on July 6 in Cleveland, the Guardians got to him for four runs over three and a third innings. However, he fared much better last Friday, when he allowed just a run to the Twins over five and a third at Oracle Park. Harrison got off to a solid start Friday night with a scoreless bottom of the first.

Quantrill retired the first two men he faced in the top of the second, but Matt Chapman lined a double to left field with two outs, and Yastrzemski drew a walk. That brought up Thairo Estrada, who lined a base-hit to left that went under the glove of the diving Sean Bouchard in left and went to the wall. Two runs scored, and Estrada went into third with a triple.

Harrison pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the second, and the Giants had Quantrill back on the ropes in the top of the third. Jorge Soler lined a base-hit to right, and LaMonte Wade doubled Soler over to third. Heliot Ramos was unable to knock in Soler on a ground out to first base, but Bailey was able to on a ground out to second.

Harrison threw a scoreless bottom of the third, and Quantrill was in trouble once again in the top of the fourth. Chapman walked to start the inning, and Estrada was hit by a pitch with one out. The Giants then suffered a really bad break.

Brett Wisely hit a bullet off the bag at first that ricocheted and hit First Base Umpire Chris Conroy. The ball caromed over to first-baseman Michael Toglia, who slid to the bag to get Wisely. The ball was ticketed for extra bases, and the Giants were likely to get two more runs and a 5-0 lead, but it wouldn’t happen, and Soler struck out to end the inning.

Harrison survived a bit of a jam in the bottom of the fourth, and Quantrill threw a 1-2-3 top of the fifth. Harrison escaped another jam in the bottom of the fifth, and after 93 pitches over five shutout innings, he was done.

Harrison was solid, but his wildness, which has been his weakness, once again got to him Friday night. While he gave up just one hit, he walked four, which got him into trouble and extended his pitch count. Still, he has had two-straight solid outings, and he is having an all-around solid season.

Despite the tough break in the top of the fourth, the Giants seemed to be in control Friday night, but this was Coors Field, and as we all know, things can change very quickly. Quantill pitched a scoreless top of the sixth to end his night, and Randy Rodriguez took the ball for the Giants in the bottom of the sixth.

Elias Diaz was grazed by a pitch with one out, but after Home Plate Umpire Brian O’Nora sent him down to first, Diaz claimed he wasn’t hit. Bob Melvin challenged the call, and it was upheld. It was close, but one of three things happened: O’Nora blew the call; Diaz didn’t feel it; or Diaz was trying to pull an Albert Belle and wanted to keep hitting.

Anyway, Brenton Doyle immediately hit a home run out to left-center to put the Rockies on the board and make it a 3-2 game. The Giants wasted a golden opportunity against Tyler Kinley in the top of the seventh, and Ryan Walker came in and ran into trouble in the bottom of the seventh.

Jake Cave doubled to lead off the inning. Sam Hilliard got Cave over to third with a fly out to left, and Charlie Blackmon struck out swinging. Walker now had a chance to get out of the inning unscathed, and with the Giants’ lead still intact.

Ezequiel Tover was now the hitter, and he hit a ground ball half way between second and third that third-baseman Matt Chapman fielded to his left, 360’d and threw the ball away, which allowed Cave to score to tie the game.

It was a tough break, and Chapman, one of the most sure-handed third-basemen in all of Baseball, would probably tell you that he should have had Tovar at first. It was ruled a base-hit, and since Tovar moved to second, Chapman got a rare error. Rare, because errors have gone mostly extinct this season.

Off to the eighth! Jalen Beeks, who finished the top of the seventh for Kinley, was back out for the top of the eighth, and threw a 1-2-3 shutdown inning.

The very-reliable Tyler Rogers came in for the bottom of the eighth, but at Coors Field, he ran into trouble too. Brendan Rogers reached on an infield hit to short; Toglia doubled Brendan Rogers over to third; and Cave hit a three-run home run to right to give the Rockies their first lead of the night.

Sam Hilliard popped out to third for the first out, and Melvin brought in Luke Jackson, who struck out Blackmon for the second out. Tovar then lined a home run down the left field line to make it 7-3.

There’s no getting around it. That was a brutal bottom of the eighth inning. Rogers and Jackson combined for 44 pitches, and the Rockies scored four runs.

Victor Vodnik then finished off the game with an eight-pitch 1-2-3 top of the ninth.

Jalen Beeks got the win, and Tyler Rogers took the loss. The Giants fall to 47-51, and in order to bounce back tomorrow, they just have to acknowledge that this is Coors Field, where weird things happen.

Giants’ ace Logan Webb (7-7, 3.47 ERA), who gave up three runs in the bottom of the third in the All-Star Game on Tuesday will take the ball for San Francisco Saturday night in the second game of the series. He’ll be opposed by veteran left-hander Kyle Freeland (1-3, 6.00 ERA). First pitch will be at 6:10 p.m. in Denver, 5:10 p.m. back home in San Francisco.