DENVER — The Giants got another big homer from a rookie, but at Coors Field, it wasn’t enough. The first day of a six-game road trip was a Coors Classic, and for the Giants, a 9-8 loss to a Rockies team that remains right in the thick of it in the National League West.
The Giants trailed by five runs through five, but managed to claw back and take the lead by scoring in three consecutive innings. Alen Hanson tied the game with a two-run shot in the eighth and Chris Shaw put the Giants on top for the first time by finding the second deck for his first career hit and homer.
Tony Watson gave the lead right back. With two on in the bottom of the inning, the Giants pulled their infield in and paid for it when Noel Cuevas bounced a two-run single up the middle.
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—- Shaw’s homer had an exit velocity of 108 mph and went an estimated 468 feet. It was the longest homer by a Giant since Brandon Belt’s 475-foot blast to the third deck here three years ago.
—- Hanson set the stage for Shaw by tying the game one batter earlier. With two outs in the eighth, Gorkys Hernandez was hit by a pitch. Hanson followed by driving a Seunghwan Oh fastball into the seats in right. The homer was Hanson’s seventh. He’s the only Giant with two pinch-hit homers.
—- Madison Bumgarner tied a career-high by giving up three homers. He had done it six previous times. The Rockies got two in the first, with DJ LeMahieu hitting a two-run shot to left and Trevor Story smoking a two-run shot to dead center. Bumgarner threw 35 pitches in that inning and was nearly pulled, but made it through five.
—- The fifth should have been an easy inning for Bumgarner. Instead, it ruined his line. Kelby Tomlinson booted a double-play ball with one out, putting runners on the corners for Story. Bumgarner threw him a 3-2 cutter that didn’t cut at all, and Story smacked a three-run shot to left to give the Rockies a 7-2 lead.
