Former San Francisco Giants third base coach Hector Borg (80) greets Casey Schmitt at third base after hitting a home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wed May 20, 2026. Borg was been replaced and reassigned by the Giants on Fri May 29, 2026. (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

San Francisco (22-34) was sitting pretty going into the bottom of the ninth leading the Colorado Rockies (20-37) 6-3. A couple of home runs later, the Rockies waltzed away with the walk off win 8-6 Friday night. It was a heartbreaker for the Giants, and a tough outing for closer Caleb Kilian who gave up five hits and five runs.

Game recap: Each team had a runner on base in a scoreless first inning. Colorado took the first lead of the game in the bottom of the second inning 1-0. Throwing errors resulted in the Rockies run. Ezequiel Tovar stole home and Edouard Julien stole second reaching third base on a San Francisco error. This was not the start that the Giants wanted to see.

San Francisco rallied in the third and fourth innings. Willy Adames sacrificed Bryce Eldridge home to tie up the game at one apiece. The fourth inning yielded two runs for the Giants taking a 3-1 lead. Daniel Susac sacrificed Matt Chapman home in the third inning. Going into the fourth inning another run for San Francisco. Harrison Bader singled Jung Hoo Lee home and the Giants had the 3-1 lead.

The Rockies starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen went 3 2/3 innings giving up five hits, three runs and two walks. He had two strikeouts and was relieved by Jaden Hill. San Francisco also had a pitching change in the fifth inning. Logan Webb pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up three hits, one run, three walks with five strikeouts. He was relieved by Matt Gage.

Jung Hoo Lee made the catch of the game in the outfield in the fifth inning robbing the Rockies of a certain run. With two outs and two runners on base, Troy Johnston slugged a ball into right field, but Lee made a miraculous catch sprawled out on the field ending the inning, the score remaining 3-1 in favor of the Giants. Lee upon his return had been doing it all night already with two two hits and one run.

The Giants had a great opportunity in the top of the sixth inning with two runners on base but two outs. Willy Adames struck out for the third out and San Francisco squandered the chance to extend their lead.

San Francisco took the 3-1 lead into the top of the eighth inning. The Giants had Chung Hoo Lee on third with one out. Bryce Eldridge drove Lee home on a sacrifice fly and San Francisco was getting the job done leading 4-1 and Lee had his second run of the game.

Colorado put the Giants on alert in the bottom of the eighth inning. They were not finished by a long shot. With two outs Ezequiel Tovar sent a Keaton Winn pitch out of the park with Troy Johnston on base and just like that the score was 4-3 in favor of San Francisco. The game had become uncomfortably close with a single inning left to play.

The Giants got an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning when Rafael Devers tripled driving in Luis Arraez and it was then that San Francisco went on a hitting frenzy. After the Devers triple, Matt Chapman singled followed by a Jung Hoo Lee single his fourth of the game.

The Chapman single drove in Devers and it was looking oh so good for San Francisco. The Rockies finally got out of the inning but were three outs away from losing the first game of the series.

The Giants Caleb Kilian came in to close out the ninth inning. The Rockies were trailing by three runs and put two runners on base with no outs. When it was looking so promising for the Giants two outs away from the win it all went sideways.

Hunter Goodman hit a home run with Jake McCarthy and Tyler Freeman on base and this game was tied 6-6. Now the Giants would need to fight to survive and see the tenth inning. There would be no tenth inning for San Francisco. Ezequiel Tovar hit his second home run of the game with Willi Castro on base and that was the ball game, a walk off and a 8-6 win for Colorado.

Game notes: It has sure been an interesting couple of days for San Francisco. In the news right now Hector Borg is out as third base coach being re-assigned to another role with the team. Ron Wotus will return to the coaching box until further notice. That coaching position has been shaky at best for the past two seasons.

Some of Borg’s decisions cost the Giants runs and right now they need all the runs that they can get. There was some good news for San Francisco as they completed the first game of a three-game series with the Colorado on Friday night.

The positive news for San Francisco was the reinstatement of pitcher Logan Webb and right fielder Jung Hoo Lee. Webb started Friday’s game had a good outing pitching 4.1 allowed three hits and one earned run. Lee had a great night against the Rockies with four hits and two runs scored.The Giants can really use both of these guys right now.

Over the weekend the Giants were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks and with Friday’s loss are now 13 games below .500. They will be looking to get back on track as they take on Colorado again on Saturday at Coors Field.

The Giants suffered a devastating loss in game one Friday when it looked like they would come away with a win only to lose in a walk off. Saturday they will be looking to even up this series. Adrian Houser will take the mound for the Giants. His win/loss record is 2-4 with a 5.30 ERA. The Rockies probable starter will be Ryan Feltner. He has a 1-1 win/loss record and a 6.30 ERA. First pitch for this game is scheduled for 6:10 PM.