Photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher Carson Whisenhunt throws against the Colorado Rockies during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, July 9, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
By Vince Cestone
SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants needed just one thing to get back on track after getting pummeled by the Toronto Blue Jays at home earlier this week–the Colorado Rockies.
Behind rookie Carson Whisenhunt, the Giants continued their home dominance on Thursday night against the Rockies, beating them 8-2 as 32,301 fans watched.
The Giants started the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when Casey Schmitt homered with 2 outs and nobody on base. The Giants had an early 1-0 lead and were off and running against Colorado.
But the Rockies would strike back in the fourth against Whisenhunt. After designated hitter Hunter Goodman led off with a single, first baseman TJ Rumfield then walked. The next batter Tyler Freeman grounded into a 5-4-3 double play, potentially ending the rally. But Will Castro had other plans as he hit a home run to left-center field to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead.
The Giants punched right back in the very next inning. After Willy Adames grounded out, Bryce Eldridge launched a home run into McCovey Cove to tie the game at 2. That’s the 109th Giants splash hit home run in Oracle Park’s nearly three-decade history.
San Francisco took the lead in the very next inning. Catcher Drew Cavanaugh led off the fifth inning with a long single to right off of the Willie Mays wall. Heliot Ramos then hit a dribbler to the third baseman for an infield hit. That set it up for Luis Arraez, who doubled in a run to give the Giants a 3-2 lead. The next batter Schmitt walked, allowing the next hitter Rafael Devers to smash an RBI single to increase the lead to 4-2. The lead could’ve grown even more, but the following hitter Eldridge lined out to the second baseman.
The Giants tacked on four more insurance runs in the eighth inning. The rally started with two outs when Arraez singled. The next batter Schmitt doubled Arraez to third. Then, Devers doubled to increase San Francisco’s lead to 6-2. Adames followed with a long home run, way up the right-field bleachers, to give the Giants an 8-2 lead. That would end up being the final score.
Whisenhunt looked sharp in his return to the Giants from Triple-A Sacramento. He went 5 2/3 innings, giving up three hits and two earned runs. He did walk four, but he struck out four batters.
For the Rockies, starting pitcher Ryan Feltner didn’t fare as well. In 4 1/3 innings, he gave up four runs on six hits. He walked four batters and struck out three.
The Giants bullpen finished the game after Whisenhunt was taken out, throwing scoreless, two-hit ball the rest of the way. San Francisco is now 34-6 against the Rockies in their last 40 games at Oracle Park.
Up next, the Giants will play game 2 of the series against the Rockies at Oracle Park on Friday night. Robbie Ray (8-6, 3.45 ERA) will take on Tanner Gordon (0-2, 6.95) at 7:15 p.m. Ray figures to be traded before the Aug. 3 deadline, so this could be his last start at Oracle Park as a Giant.
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