Giants Observations: Logan Webb Sharp in Streak-Snapping Loss to Rockies

What we learned as Giants' bullpen spoils Webb's solid outing originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

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For the first time in over a year, the Giants walked off the field at Coors Field without taking part in a handshake line. 

The Colorado Rockies scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth, stunning the Giants' bullpen and winning 5-3 in the finale of a three-game series. The loss was the first for the Giants against the Rockies since August 14 and their first at Coors Field since May 5. It snapped a 12-game winning streak against Colorado. 

The streak was their longest against one opponent since the mid-1940s, but it was all Rockies at the start on Wednesday. Charlie Blackmon hit a leadoff homer on a two-strike changeup and another run was tacked on in the first. The Giants put Logan Webb back on even footing right away, with Mike Yastrzemski's single and Austin Slater's sacrifice fly tying the game. 

Yastrzemski hustled home a run to give them a lead in the fourth, and Webb did the rest through the seventh. He had allowed just two runs to that point, but Connor Joe's leadoff single got the Rockies going in the eighth. Blackmon bunted him over and Yonathan Daza's single off lefty reliever José Álvarez tied the game. 

C.J. Cron followed with a 454-foot blast to left, his 10th homer of the season. The homer was the first off Álvarez since last June 1, a streak of 57 innings. The longest active homer-less streak now belongs to old friend Kevin Gausman, who has gone 53 innings without giving one up. 

Look Who's Back

Webb hasn't had his usual stuff or command in recent weeks, but he certainly looked a lot closer to his old self on Wednesday. He locked in after that first inning, retiring 16 straight before Joe's single in the bottom of the eighth ended his day. Webb completed seven innings for the first time since April 16, when he threw eight strong innings against the Padres in his second start of the season. 

The key for Webb was an unexpected one. Coors Field is where good breaking balls go to die, and Webb has had issues with his slider in recent weeks, but he threw 41 of them, getting seven swinging strikes. The Rockies had just one hit off the pitch, Joe's single that was on the last pitch Webb threw. 

Small Ball At Coors?

Mike Yastrzemski entered the day with a .795 slugging percentage and eight homers in 20 career games at Coors Field, but he relied on speed, smarts and opportunistic baserunning to give the Giants a 3-2 lead in the fourth. 

Yastrzemski led off with a liner to center that he turned into a double by hustling into second base just ahead of the throw. Slater followed with a 388-foot flyout to the track in left, and Yastrzemski tagged up and advanced to third. When Darin Ruf hit a fly ball to right, Yastrzemski again tagged up and made it home ahead of a strong throw. It's not often you see purely manufactured runs at Coors Field, but this one certainly qualified, and probably had Yastrzemski looking for the oxygen tank in the dugout. 

The Mountains Are Red-Hot

The Giants entered the day with the second-highest OPS in baseball from their 7-8-9 hitters, and Thairo Estrada -- batting seventh -- kept adding to that. The second baseman had just two hits in 22 at-bats against lefties this season, but he doubled, walked and doubled in three plate appearances against Kyle Freeland. In the eighth, he added a single to center. 

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With the huge day, Estrada is now 12-for-24 against the Rockies this season. He had multiple hits in all three games in Denver this week and finished with seven overall, raising his average from .238 to .271.

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