DENVER — The recipe for the Rockies to somehow get back into contention amid their May freefall played out like clockwork on Wednesday at Coors Field.
In a 5-3 victory that broke a 12-game losing streak to the Giants, Colorado got solid starting pitching, a lights-out-performance by the bullpen, error-free defense and one huge hit. First baseman C.J. Cron blasted a 454-foot, two-run homer that broke a tie in the eighth inning.
“I like the fact that we played a good, clean game,” Black said. “When we play we clean game, we win. Look back at our wins, that’s usually how it’s drawn up.”
Kyle Freeland turned in a quality start, allowing three runs on seven hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. The southpaw dealt with traffic in five of his six innings but managed to strand seven runners in his first career start without registering a groundball out.
“Kyle pitched with a lot of heart, a lot of grit,” Black said. “They stressed him a couple times and he limited the damage…. He made a lot of big pitches and had to work hard (for the outcome).”
After Freeland worked out of a jam in the first, Charlie Blackmon kick-started the Rockies’ offense with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the frame. His shot into the Colorado bullpen off San Francisco’s Logan Webb marked Blackmon’s 37th career leadoff homer but his first since 2019.
A few batters later, Brendan Rodgers scored Ryan McMahon on a double over the head of Mike Yastrzemski to make it 2-0. The Giants right fielder badly misplayed Rodgers’ drive, taking a roundabout route and then drifting backwards on the ball.
But, as Freeland battled and used strikeouts to work around four bloop hits, the Colorado bats went silent. Colorado only produced two baserunners from the second inning through the seventh inning.
“My slider and my curveball were both working well,” Freeland said. “They had great action into righties and away from lefties. I was getting it down on the dish, and I was getting ahead and staying ahead (in the count).”
After Freeland struck out Austin Slater to end the sixth and the southpaw’s day at 103 pitches, right-hander Robert Stephenson took over. He blanked San Francisco in the seventh, then Tyler Kinley worked a scoreless eighth to lower his ERA to 0.63 in 16 games. That’s the lowest ERA for a Rockies pitcher through the first 16 appearances since Adam Ottavino in 2018 (0.53 ERA).
Black said Kinley’s consistency this year is because of subtle offseason tweaks to the posture of his delivery, with an emphasis on keeping his head calm and centered while coming down the mound.
Plus, Kinley’s slider — which he used to strike out Brandon Crawford and Joey Bart on Wednesday — has been wipeout.
“He’s manipulating the slider a little bit better this year,” Black said. “You can tell he has a great feel for it.”
Colorado’s offense finally re-awoke in the bottom of the eighth when Connor Joe led off with a single against Giants southpaw Mauricio Llovera. Joe pinch-hit for catcher Brian Serven, who was 0-for-2 in his major league debut. Blackmon followed with a sacrifice bunt before Yonathan Daza singled home Joe to tie the game.
Cron then smashed his 10th home run just short of the left field concourse. With his first homer since May 3, Cron’s the first National League player to reach 10 home runs this year.
“I was trying to keep the line moving,” Cron said. “I got to 3-0 (in the count) and I didn’t know if they were going to try to pitch around me. I (was taking all the way) on 3-0, then was ready to hit 3-1 and it was a good pitch to hit (on an elevated changeup).”
Daniel Bard, who took the loss in his past two outings, set the Giants down in order in the ninth for his 10th save. Colorado (18-19) is off Thursday before its homestand concludes with a three-game series against the Mets starting Friday.
