DENVER - A 93-degree night at Coors Field is an absolute nightmare for pitchers, and Friday night's action certainly lived up to expectations.
The Giants and Rockies combined for five homers, including a go-ahead three-run shot by Ian Desmond in the fifth. The Giants played sloppy defense from there, costing themselves a couple of crucial late-inning runs in a 10-8 loss.
The Giants have dropped four straight and 13 of their last 17. Yikes. Anyway, here are five things to know so you can impress the person next to you at the bar on this Friday night …
--- Samardzija is one of the few pitchers who can go toe-to-toe with Madison Bumgarner in batting practice, so it's actually kind of a surprise that it took him 46 starts as a Giant to go deep. Samardzija hit a two-run blast in the fifth, his third in the big leagues and first since 2013. The ball went an estimated 446 feet and was the longest homer by a pitcher since Statcast started tracking them three years ago. It was also longer than any of Bumgarner's in-game blasts.
--- Samardzija screamed as he crossed the plate. The good vibes didn't last long. The Rockies got two runs back right away and then three more on Desmond's two-out homer. The ball looked to be a flyout to right, but kept carrying in classic Coors Field fashion. A livid Samardzija stormed off the field at the end of the inning. He was charged with eight runs.
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--- The Giants have taken a big step back defensively, and nowhere are the problems as glaring as in right field. Hunter Pence had a brutal stretch in the seventh as the Rockies tacked in three runs. He couldn't catch up with a bloop to shallow right-center and also came up short on a liner to deep right-center. Both could have been outs. In between, a single bounced off his glove, allowing a runner to score all the way from first.
--- Bruce Bochy took his first ejection of the year after Samardzija walked the leadoff hitter in the seventh. Ball four was right on the inside edge of the strike zone and Samardzija pointed at home plate umpire Gary Cederstrom. When Cederstrom started walking toward the mound, Nick Hundley got in the way and then Bochy came out to have a few heated words.
--- Joe Panik had a homer and two doubles. He raised his slugging percentage 29 points in one night.
