Wood, Giants haunted by Arenado trade in third straight loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
For eight years, Nolan Arenado tormented the Giants. On Friday night at Coors Field, one of the prospects the Colorado Rockies acquired in that blockbuster trade with the St. Louis Cardinals 18 months ago picked up where the All-Star third baseman left off.
Elehuris Montero crushed two homers off Alex Wood, fueling the Rockies' 7-4 win over the Giants.
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The loss is the Giants' third in a row and drops them below the .500 mark to 59-60.
Wood's struggles began in the second inning. After a leadoff single by Randal Grichuk, The 24-year-old Montero connected for a two-run homer to give the Rockies an early lead. Three batters later, Brian Serven singled to center, causing Wood to show his frustration by tossing his glove into the air.
Former Giants outfielder Connor Joe, who has found a home in Colorado, hit a solo homer off Wood in the bottom of the fourth inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Wynton Bernard and Jose Iglesias began the inning with back-to-back doubles, pushing Colorado's lead to 4-0. Wood retired the next two batters but walked Grichuk before giving up a 425-foot three-run homer to Montero.
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The second homer by Montero ended Wood's night. In 4 2/3 innings, he allowed seven hits and seven earned runs while walking two and striking out three. His ERA jumped from 4.18 to 4.54.
Joc Pederson finally got the Giants on the board with a solo home run in the sixth inning. The blast was his first since June 25, ending a 36-game homer-less streak.
The Giants were able to claw back, scoring three runs in the seventh inning. First, Joey Bart was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing in a run, and then Austin Slater pinch-hit for LaMonte Wade Jr. and drove in two runs with a single to right. But that's as close as they would get.
San Francisco built good momentum by winning the first five games of their just-completed seven-game homestand. But then they lost the last two to the Arizona Diamondbacks and dropped the opener in Denver.
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With the Milwaukee Brewers losing earlier in the day to the Chicago Cubs, the Giants missed out on a chance to pick up a game in the National League Wild Card race, leaving them 4 1/2 game behind the Brewers and six games behind the San Diego Padres for the last playoff spot.
