San Francisco

Giants Destroyed in Fifth, Crumble vs Rockies

The Giants gave up 13 runs in the fifth inning Thursday night.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants gave up 13 runs in the fifth inning Thursday night.

It was the first time they allowed at least a dozen runs in an inning since … well, since last week.

For the second time in seven games the Giants filled up a scorebook the wrong way. Matt Cain and Vin Mazzaro combined to give up 10 hits, walk one and hit one in a 37-minute top of the fifth, and there’s no coming back from that. The Giants lost to the Rockies 17-7 on a night when the questions about the back end of the rotation continued to get louder.

Cain gave up a three-spot in the first, badly hanging a changeup that Nolan Arenado blasted to left for his 12th homer against the Giants in the last two seasons. Cain briefly settled in, retiring seven of eight going into the fifth, but his night quickly blew up.

Trevor Story got the 13-run inning going with a homer, and errors by Brandon Crawford and Kelby Tomlinson compounded the damage. Cain didn't record an out and ended up getting charged with six earned. Mazzaro, making his second appearance for the Giants, couldn’t make it out of the inning after he came on for long relief. Derek Law eventually had to come in, and he received a standing ovation from a punchy crowd after getting an inning-ending groundout from the 17th Rockies batter to come to the plate.

The 13 runs were the most the Giants have ever allowed in an inning at AT&T Park, easily eclipsing the previous mark of 10. It was their worst inning since the 1997 team allowed 13 in one inning against the Expos, and it was the biggest offensive inning in Rockies franchise history.

The Giants have allowed double-digit runs in an inning just eight times since 1984. Amazingly, two of those games have come in the last week.

Starting pitching report: This was just the second start of Cain's career in which he failed to record a strikeout. His ERA is up to 7.84, and his WHIP is up at 1.71.

Bullpen report: Mazzaro, called up over the weekend, took the mound with a 0.00 ERA. He walked off at 63.00.

At the plate: Law had the first plate appearance of his professional career. He did not wear gloves. He grounded out to second.

In the field: Tomlinson’s error was his third in 10 starts.

Attendance: A guy proposed during Kiss Cam. Seriously. He sat through that fifth inning and decided tonight was still the night to be romantic.

Up next: Madison Bumgarner comes to save it all. The left-hander faces right-hander Chad Bettis (3-1, 3.89).

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